MOORE, Kathryn

PERSONAL: Female.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Rd., Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.

CAREER: Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA, historical interpreter; teacher of American history in Lee's Summit, MO.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with D. M. Giangreco) Dear Harry: Truman's Mailroom, 1945–1953: The Truman Administration through Correspondence with "Everyday Americans," Stackpole Books (Mechanicsburg, PA), 1999.

(With D. M. Giangreco) Eyewitness D-Day: Firsthand Accounts from the Landing at Normandy to the Liberation of Paris (includes audio CD), edited and with a foreword by Norman Polmar, Barnes & Noble Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Author of the self-published Manhole Covers of Fort Wayne, IN, 1988. Contributor to periodicals, including American Heritage, Kansas City Star, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Washington Times.

WORK IN PROGRESS: First Lady of Monticello, a biography of Martha Jefferson, the wife of Thomas Jefferson.

SIDELIGHTS: Kathryn Moore is editor, with D. M. Giangreco, of Dear Harry: Truman's Mailroom, 1945–1953: The Truman Administration through Correspondence with "Everyday Americans." The coeditors drew on letters and other communications, primarily from the Harry S Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, that reflect the feelings of citizens over Truman's two presidential terms, from 1945 to 1953. His eight years were spent addressing many crises, and he bore the brunt of a great deal of criticism for his actions, which included integrating the civil service and armed forces and recognition of Israel as a nation-state. Most of the letters respond to the particular incidents that serve as the subjects of the book's ten chapters. Chapters most often deal with more than one subject, although several cover a single subject, such as Truman's relieving General Douglas MacArthur of his command, the atomic bomb, and the Korean War.

Infantry reviewer Albert N. Garland recommended the book, saying that "it gives flavor to the times. It brings back memories of the many problems we faced after World War II, and how many were solved. But there were others that are still around; for example, Truman believed in some form of national health service. Each president faces and will face his own set of problems and his own crises. Truman's actions, reactions, and decisions present a good guide to follow." New York Times Book Review contributor Stanley Weintraub noted that while most of the letters to Truman were critical, some supported his actions, for example when he ordered that a Native American soldier who had died in Korea be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, after authorities at another cemetery with a whites-only policy refused to do so. "The country was with him," noted Weintraub. "His mail reflected the turbulent, dynamic postwar nation he inherited as accidental President and tried to steer toward the future."

Moore and Giangreco—the editor of the U.S. Army's Military Review—also collaborated in writing Eyewitness D-Day: Firsthand Accounts from the Landing at Normandy to the Liberation of Paris, which comes with a CD on which is recorded a number of interviews. While some are with former German soldiers, most are interviews with soldiers, sailors, airmen, and medical personnel who served with the Allied forces that assembled on the southern shores of England on May 30, 1944. The operation began on June 5, but inclement weather caused a temporary delay. D-Day began on June 6, 1944, commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who made the decision to go ahead in spite of worsening conditions rather than postpone the launch for weeks until the tides would favor a later landing. In spite of the casualties suffered, D-Day initiated the liberation of German-occupied France and eventually the Nazi grip on Europe. The volume is enhanced by many black-and-white photographs and a foldout map that identifies the ships that were damaged and destroyed. It also includes the history of related incidents, including the plot to kill German dictator Adolf Hitler.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Infantry, May-August, 2000, Albert N. Garland, review of Dear Harry: Truman's Mailroom, 1945–1953: The Truman Administration through Correspondence with "Everyday Americans," p. 51.

Library Journal, April 1, 2005, David Lee Poremba, review of Eyewitness D-Day: Firsthand Accounts from the Landing at Normandy to the Liberation of Paris, p. 108.

New York Times Book Review, October 24, 1999, Stanley Weintraub, review of Dear Harry, p. 47.