New Interesting Book in Pullen’s Library!

There is a new and interesting book in Pullen’s library, Ann Williams McColl’s More Than War. The book is Ann’s collection of her father’s letters to her mother while he prepared to go to war and while he served in the army infantry in France, Belgium, and Germany during World War II. Throughout the book, Ann provides narration that is explanatory and informative, often putting the letters in their historical context by identifying what was going on in the war at the time particular letters were written. The book is of special interest to us because Ann’s father and mother, Turner Williams and Alexa Williams, were long-time devoted members of Pullen.

The letters give the reader both the war from a soldier’s perspective and the development of a courtship from November 1942 when Turner was in the Army Reserve Corps at NC State to his military discharge in February 1946. Over the course of the years, Turner’s letter salutations move from “Dear Alexa” to “Lex, Darling,” to “My Dearest Darling Lex.” In addition to the letters and narrations, the book is made all the more engaging by war photographs, Turner’s excellent sketches, and copies of the handwritten letters. We are grateful to Ann for donating her work to our library.

Lisa Grabarek