July 16, 2019
The evening of December 7, 1941, Winston Churchill turned on the radio at his country residence and heard the shocking news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The house guest by his side was the most important American in Britain, Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s special envoy, Averell Harriman.
Winston Churchill and Averell Harriman were two of the most prominent figures of the 20th century, similar yet different in background, personality and experience. The relationship they forged during history’s greatest conflict, from the dark days of 1941 to the Yalta Conference in 1945, is a unique part of both British and American history. And the intertwined story of their families continued for decades after.
Join Community Library favorite Lee Pollock and historian Catherine Grace Katz as they describe the fascinating, interconnected lives of Winston Churchill, Sun Valley’s own Averell Harriman and their families during war and peace.
Lee Pollock is a popular writer, historian and public speaker on the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill and a regular presenter at The Community Library. He serves as a Trustee and Advisor to the Board of The International Churchill Society and was the Society’s long-time Executive Director. He also served as Publisher of the Society’s Journal “Finest Hour” and lead the development of the National Churchill Library and Center in Washington, DC.
A native of Montreal, Canada, Lee is a graduate of McGill University and hold’s a master’s degree from The University of Chicago. He is a frequent editorial writer on Churchill topics for The Wall Street Journal, The New Criterion and other publications. He is the author of “Action This Day: Adventures with Winston Churchill”.
Catherine Grace Katz is an author and historian from Chicago, IL. She received degrees in History from Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, where she wrote her thesis and dissertation under the supervision of Professors Niall Ferguson and David Reynolds. Catherine previously worked as a financial analyst at BlackRock in New York and served as an Adjunct Fellow at the bi-partisan think tank American Security Project. Her first book, “The Daughters of Yalta”, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2020.