OK. I've been threatening it for a while and here it is; the official Dick Winters biography site.

As mentined, although I have yet to receive the actual contract, it looks like the book will be published by New American Library, the nonfiction division of Penguin Books (Putnam). Don't place orders yet or ask me when it will be out. As I said, I have yet to see the contract (the sale, so far as I know, only went down Wednesday) so I guess I'll just have to be surprised.

My title for the book is "Biggest Brother: The Story of Major Richard D. Winters, the Man Behind the Band of Brothers" I used the term "Biggest Brother," not to commemorate the way Steven Spielberg introduced Winters at the Emmys in 2002, but because it was the title of the first news article I ever wrote about Winters after our first meeting in October 2001. In my lead paragraph I wrote, "If the men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne were the Band of Brothers, then Major Ricard D. Winters is the 'Biggest Brother.'" My editor liked it so much he pulled it out of my story (God only knows why, but that's the way of editors, and used it for the headline. So, I guess you could say, Spielberg stole my line.

Dick and I began interviews last summer and do about one per month (I don't want to put too much pressure on the guy by hammering him too much for information. To help me Dick loaned me 4 large notebooks, labled "Normany" Holland" Bastogne" and "Germany." In these are reports, memoirs, casualty lists, duty rosters, maps and photographs. These are, in essence, the same things he gave to Ambrose and Eric Jenderson, the head writer for the mini series. Needless to say, if I just used these sources, what I'd have is a rewrite of BoB. So I have had to go WAY beyond those sources. That's why I have been pumping Dick for details of his life, especially the war years, where I am focusing on what he did, why he made the decisions he made, and what he thought about. Especially once he became battalion commander. While BoB stayed with Easy, I want to know how Dick handled Dog and Fox, plus HQ company. I also want to know more about his relationships with the men and the other officers, what did he think of them as men and as soldiers, their strengths and weaknesses. This is tough. Years have blurred some of his memories.

More importantly, I am looking at his early years. How he formed his strict moral code of hard work, honesty and respect. His roots are firmly planted in the pacifist Mennonite traditions of Lancaster County (his mother grew up Mennonite). His work ethic came from paying his own way through college, sacrificing a social life in order to get through. Also, how did he take the lessons he learned during the war and carry them through to his post war life. I especially focus on his post war relationship with Nixon, who was his total opposite in almost everything.

Basically the book breaks down like this: Chapter one is D-Day, from the time he jumps out of the plane until he goes to sleep in a foxhole in a hedgerow outside St. Marie du Mont (he was NOT in a town surrounded by motorized vehicles as in the film).

Chapter 2 looks at his early years, his birth, early education, a bit about his family tree (including Cpl. Timothy Winters who served in the Revolutionary War), his first jobs etc. up to his enlistment in the army as a private rather than wait to be drafted. It discusses his going into OCS in his desire to be an infantry officer (He actually once tried to talk an infantry buddy out of going into the airborne, calling it a "suicide outfit.") It ends with his ironic decision to enter the airborne himself and shipping out for Toccoa

Chapter 3 starts with Winters leaving the church in Aldbourne and drifting into the old cemetery to find some peace and quiet. There he met the Barnes family who lost their own son in the war and became Winters "family." Then we flash back to Toccoa and airborne training, follow Easy across the Atlantic to England and look at his problems with Sobel and the court martial (some of this parallels Ambrose but it was unavoidable since the documents can't be changed). It ends with the guys getting ready for the jump into France.

Chapter 4 picks up where chapter 1 left off with the guys moving on Vierville. It follows them on the assualt into Carentan and the German counterattack. It ends with them going first to Cherbourg, then to Utah Beach for ther trip back to England.

Chapter 5 is Winter reorganzing the company, promoting men, setting up a training shcedule, pointlessly urging the men to behave themselves when they go on leave into London and so forth. It ends with them getting ready for MArket Garden.

These 5 chapters are all written. They are written almost like a novel, with action and dialogue. Also helping to bring them to life is the fact that Dick has given me over 150 letters he wrote to DeEtta Almon from 1941 until Dec. 1945. He met DeEtta while at Camp Croft. She lived in Asheville NC and was his pen pal and confidant throughout the war. In these leters he told about his feelings of being in command, how he saw his job, its pluses and minuses and how it left him isolated from the men. He poured out a lot in these, and best of all, no one, not even Ambrose, has had access to these before. They only came to light after DeEtta read BoB and contacted Dick after 50 years. She had saved all his letters.

The book carries us up to the present to the Emmys and (let's hope) the Medal of Honor. It will include, I hope, an Introduction by Tom Hanks (I wrote Hanks a letter requesting that and am waiting to hear back). Hanks and Winters have kept in contact over the years and it was at Hanks' personal urging that Dick made the trip to the Emmys in 2002.

My goal is to tell the story of Winters life in a factual, yet entertaining way, so it is not a dry biography. I want it to come to life to give the reader a "you are there" feeling, so you feel you are right by his side all the way.

Finding a publisher was not as easy as I thoguht. I thought they'd scrammble to get Dick's story, but Simon & Schuster turned it down saying it was competitoin for BoB and that they felt there was not enough new material to warrant a separate book.

Hyperion turned it down, saying they weren't convinced there was a market.

HarperCollins said they MIGHT take it if Hanks did an Introduction. A few others bowed out, too, before NAL (Penguin) picked it up. Of the 12 my agent sent proposals and sample chapters to, 7 turned it down mostly for the reasons mentioned above and fearing BoB was too popular and no one would buy this book.

That's where I am at as of now. You are up to date. Thanks to all on this site for your support of thie project and encouraging words. Thanks to al of you, I know those publisher are all wet. People DO want to read the story of this man.

As the Colonel, would say, Outdamnstanding! It is simply great that we, and the world, are going to have holes filled in and questions answered. A market? Yeah, I'd say so.

Larry, congratulations. And thanks very much for keeping us filled in. Please let me know if I can do anything to help. Thanks, Doug

Doug. Thanks. I know there are a lot of "holes" to fill and my greatest fear is not filling all of them. Then again, maybe filling ALL the holes is too big a task. If I fill most, I will be happy.

That's great, Larry. Good luck and in hopes that the manuscript goes to print, sooner rather than later.

I can't wait for your book as well as Susan SmithFinn's on her Father, Burr Smith. Both great men and their stories should be told...

Have Manuscript - Will Print {the new cliche' for the Summer}...

Larry, Thanks for the summary of this path you're on. You know you have a ready market here, but I think there is a HUGE audience that will want to know more about this quiet strong man whose portrait in a book and a series was all too sparse.

Best of luck to you. BK

Larry,
I am excited to get my hands on a copy when it comes out!

Cheers!

Thomas

Alright! One step closer to a done deal. There is a large market just in the BoB online communities. Which there are many of. And they're just a tip of the iceberg of the people who have been touched by BoB and Major Winters.
I can't wait til those publishers who passed are spittin' nails at the missed opportunity.

Sue

That's the news I was waiting for for so long! Thanks for informing us, Larry. I can't wait to read it. Like I've said before a few months ago: I hereby pre-order a first edition of "Biggest Brother"!!!!

Keep up the good work and keep us informed as well!

wow larry! that is absolutely amazing!!! i definitely am going to get a copy of that when it comes out! good luck!

gold

Congratulations on finding an editor for your book Larry, and I'm happy to hear you're already this far in writing it. I will certainly buy it when it comes out, and I hope Major Winters will be still with us then so he'll be able to read the final version as well. How strange several editors turned the book down because of the popularity of BoB. I would expect the book to sell well BECAUSE of BoB. After all, without BoB only a few history specialists among us would know who Dick Winters is. To be honest, there would be little chance I would have bought it without having read BoB and seeing the series, unless it would be in the catalogue of my book club (which is how I got to buy BoB).

Happy writing Larry!

Wouter

This is a definite buy for me. Sounds like one of the "must haves" =)

Excellent. I look forward to finding your book at a bookstore real soon.

Michelle

Larry,

All I have to say is "I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT!!!" Please let us know when it goes into production, so we can all be ready to get our copies. I can only imagine that this is a great accomplishment for you and I have a feeling that you will treasure this experience for the rest of your life!

Way to go!! You do yourself a great honor!!

Paige

Larry,
I have just one word to say: AWESOME.
I am very happy for you and I can't wait for the finished project. Congratulations again.
Chris Brown

Larry,

Thanks for the update. I've known you were writing a book, but I was wondering if it was just in the early stages, or what. I'm excited that it is so far along! The only problem is that reading your summary made me want the book RIGHT NOW! In this age of instant gratification, I'll have to learn some of that good old-fashioned patience.

The publishers are crazy... as Wouter said, it's because of BoB's popularity that people will snatch up this book. We humans always want to "know more!" And as Maj. Winters is one of my heroes, I won't wait around for paperback, either!

~Melodee

Hello -

I've been lurking and reading at this site for quite a long time now, but this news has finally compelled me to register.

Larry, I'd just like to express my encouragement and gratitude toward your work on this project. As much as I like Band of Brothers (both book and film), it always irritated me to come here for discussion review and read about the little anomalies and inaccuracies (e.g., it was Winters, not Martin, who climbed the tank and spoke to the Brit in "Replacements"). I always thought, "Give it to us the way it happened! Such a story needs no literary embellishment or reworking."

An effort to preserve the heady "you are there" experience of Band of Brothers while remaining as truthful as possible to the minute particulars of how things unfolded is one that I applaud. I can assure you that a market for such work does exist, and I will be on hand to buy a copy when you tell us where and when!

So, thanks again, and kind regards.

Larry,
Looking forward to adding this book to my library, Cheers.

Tee.

Larry,

Seems to me that you took the Major's motto, and your signature to heart.

"Hang Tough".

It paid off. Looking forward to the book. Take care.



jm

Larry--
Congratulations! And, as you can see here---there is a market and you already have some buyers! Thanks for including us in your update and busy writing schedule...We can't wait...
And just think...maybe some Christmas the gift-du-jour will be a specially packaged set of your book packaged with Susan's about her dad..... Ohhh. can't wait to see that offered on Amazon or at B&N!
--J.

Hi Larry:

Again a big congratulations to you, and thanks for the outline of the book! We're all very anxious to read it and looking forward to it! Your efforts over the last year have been extraordinary, and I am sure the final outcome will be well received throughout.

Cheers (Tom raises his glass)!!

Most sincerely,

Tom

Larry that's great news. I can't wait to read it.

Vee

Larry, I'll echo everybody else's sentiments here: Congratulations, thank you and keep it up!

I like that you're going to touch a lot of Winters, the man, rather than only his achievements. I very much want to know what sort of man he is. What his philosophies are, how his war experiences molded him for the rest of his life. Can't wait really.

Thanks also for the "appetizer", as it were, you've given us here. Let me tell you that I appreciate very much the way you're opening up your book. Chapter 1 - Winters in action at Ste-Marie du Mont. Right off the bat, get the reader real interrested and hooked from page 1, then go back in time and introduce the man and his early stories. This is a little reminescing of the way the BoB production got us interrested by showing us scenes of the D-Day preparations, before going back in time to camp Toccoa. It's a very clever way to introduce a subject for mass audiences. I like it.

Larry, everybody on this forum is trying to figure out a way to help you along. That's how much we appreciate the purpose of your work. You know you can use this community to pitch ideas to and get feedback from, so don't hesitate to do so.

This sounds absolutely fantastic. Good luck in your efforts!

Someone hadda do it, and we're glad it was you Larry!

Congratulations, and I can't wait for it to come out.
I for one feel very honoured that you have shared all of this great inside info

Congrats again!

Krystin

Great!
What do we need to do to help? What Can I do to help? Where can I get my copy?!?!?!?!
GOOD LUCK!

Is it possible this could be on the New York Times bestseller list before it even comes out? It sounds like the first printing may already be sold just from those of us here who are interested in it.

We all are looking forward with great anticipation and trying patience. No doubt the wait will be worth it.

God bless you on your continued efforts, Larry. You know you have a deep well of support from us all.

Paul

This is a funny question, what with WBG being a wide open site for the whole world to glean into, but I feel like we've been entrusted a scoop here. So let me ask you, Larry, would it be allright with you if we (I) started broadcasting the good news of your upcoming publication around?

If this first printing will be signed by Larry and Mr Winters, they'll sell even faster

Wouter

Excellent news, Larry!

I'm confident there will be a market for the book. I'm very much looking forward to it! Thank you for keeping us posted.

Mark

What were those other companies smoking?!

I cannot wait to read this book, both because it is about Dick Winters and because I know you will do his story justice. I am so happy that this mans story is going to be written by someone who understands and respects him and his life.

YAY!!

A friend of mine is also finishing her first book, not about anything WWII related, and she has started a pre-sales signup. It doesn't commit people just yet, however it has helped the publisher guesstimate the interest in it. Also they used that to help guide the first print numbers. (Once the legal sctuff is done) Will you be adding something similiar? You could offer the first 200 will have your and Dicks signature.

I would be thrilled to commit now, I'd even pay triple for the sigs!

Good on you Larry,
Sheila

Larry, thank you for taking the time and effort to record Major Winter's life. This is going to be an amazing book and I CAN'T WAIT to read it! I am also incredibly jealous that you were given the Major's journals to read!

Larry, this is great news. I eagerly await your book.

Paul

This comment is EXACTLY what I had in mind. I want to know what you guys would ask Dick Winters if you had the opportunity. Was there something in the book or mini series that made you question something? What would you guys like more information on? I'm trying to fill in gaps the book or film left, and want to know what all of you think? What unanswered questions did the book or movie raise for you? What do you need clarified or answered?

You guys tell me what you want to know or have better explained.

I have no hope of giving people a fully rounded look at Dick Winters all by myself because I cannot think of everything. I still may not be able to fill in all the holes, but I want to leave as few as possible.

In the last episode of BoB, we saw how Winters volunteered to go to the Pacific War ahead of the rest of the 101st, but his request got denied by general Taylor, who wanted to keep him with his men. How did the major feel about this, and how did he feel when the Japanese surrendered while he was waiting to get transferred. General Taylor may have saved Winters life by not letting him go to Japan right away, just before the fighting was ended. According to Ambrose's book, Winters did not like Taylor very much, so that's probably not how he feels about it himself.

Wouter

I will ask. However, it was not Gen. Taylor who interviewed Winters. It was the general in command of the newly forming XIII Airborne, which is the one Winters would have been transferring to.

O really, I just assumed the general who was speaking with Winters was Taylor because he was the only major-general Winters had dealings with during the whole war. So this general was his boss-to-be. Thanks for clearing this up.

Wouter

I think a lot of people would be interested to hear what the series got wrong and/or changed for dramatic effect. For instance, I have no idea if you can work this in to the book somehow, but the fact that Blithe served in Korea and received a medal rather than dying in 1947 would be a nice touch. Obviously, this book is about Winters, but I know that correcting the mistakes of the HBO post-production crew, or whoever, would make a lot of people happy.

I think that Winters' thoughts on the Holocaust camp would be interesting as well. He was the one who encountered the Nazi wife (widow?), not Nixon, and his opinions on that matter as well as the camp itself would be interesting.

That's just off the top of my head right now, but I hope it helps, even if you decide not to talk about those topics. I look forward to reading your book!

Natural assumption, Wouter. I thought it was Taylor too until I asked.

Thinking about it, Taylor would not have needed to ask all those questions, he knew very well what Winters did during the war so far.

Wouter

I know. When you think about it, it makes sense doesn't it?

As for Rabbit's comments, I'm not sure how to work Blithe's Korean War servcei in since he and Winters had no interaction at that time. Maybe I'll think of a way. As for Winters and the Holocaust, he and I have not gone over that in depth yet. That will be one of the focuses of our next interview which I need to schedule.

Larry, I have tons of questions I didn't want to bother you with. But now that you indicate it would be helpful . . . stand back.

1. Can you nail down whether TOMC's graphic of Brecourt corresponds with the Major's memory?

2. As I've mentioned before, one of the questions I asked the Major at Chembersburg was whether the Blithe depiction was accurate. It bothered the heck out of me that he was shown as so dysfunctional that he was a drag on the efforts of other officers and men, and that, realistically, he would have been sent back from the lines. I thought the Major's answer --"We tried to send him, but he just wouldn't go." said admiringly-- was revealing about the Major as well as Blithe.

3. Can the Major confirm anything about the Speirs run at Foy?

4. Was the Major aware of another Lt. Richard Winters at Aldbourne, nicknamed "Frosty?"

5. Have you noticed the Winters penchant for getting away from the group to reflect? The first night at Toccoa. The church at Aldbourne. The end of D-Day at Culoville. Not that unusual, but a marked pattern.

6. At Chambersburg, someone asked the Major in my presence where his toughest fighting had been. His answer: the Bloody Gulch fight outside of Carentan. Could you confirm, and elaborate?

7. As we know, the Major has been a lifelong student and teacher of leadership. Had he been interested in this, or shown any leadership talent before he joined the Army. Is it something that developed during the time when he went from basic training to instructing to OTS to E Co.? I'd love to hear his reflections about that.

8. I STILL don't know what religious denomination the Major belongs to. I haven't asked because I thought it an invasion of his privacy. Still, the Quaker/Mennonite comment in Ep. 2 will raise questions in your readership that the Major may want to address.

Enough for now. Remember: you asked.

Larry, if I may throw in a few as well:

1. How did Winters generally feel about his enemy and the German civilians? Did he have a natural hate for them or did he consider his role in combat a 'job' or 'duty'? Did he consider the German civilians as innocents or as supportive of the Nazi effort and thus to be treated as enemy?

2. Is there a single day that stands out amongst the others during his WWII experience (D-Day is an exception, 'day of days' etc.). I guess I'd like to know if there was another day or single event that he can relive in his mind with absolute clarity.

3. How did he handle fear and anxiety in combat? How did he feel about combat fatigue?

4. What other Army units, outside of the Airborne, does he remember fighting with? What was his opinion of their ability, dedication, professionalism, courage, etc.? I know that Easy ran into 4th ID soldiers around Utah, and I think 3rd, 29th and 30th ID around St. Lo.

Thanks, Larry. If you think these are any good, I'll fire off more to you later.

Paul

Doug, I can answer most of these for you now. Winters has seen Tom's stuff and pretty much gave it his seal of approval.

Most of the Blithe episode was Hollywood. Except for the hysterical blindness stuff, it was the writer's imagination. Winters had wanted to send him to the rear after he recovered his eyesight, but Blithe talked him into letting him stay. Winters had respect for that. He said Blithe had a ticket out but refused to take it. Eventually Blithe was wounded because he forgot he was in combat. When he spotted the sniper who shot him, instead of firing first, he resorted to his training and yelled "Sniper! Bang! Bang!"

I must ask Winters about Foy and Speirs run.

There was another Lt. Winter (NOT Winters) and Dick considered him a waste of time and he was eventually shipped elsewhere.

Winters always sought solitude. He did not go on leave with the men. He valued his privacy highly.

Yes, what Dick called "Bloody Gulch" was the fight outside Carentan when Fox and Dog companies broke and left Easy out to dry until tank support came up. He called that the company's hardest fight, just as he calls the Island the company's best day.

Winters developed his leadership in the army but he was raised to be very responsible so it probably sprang from that.

As a kid his family attended a German Reformed Church in Ephrata PA (which evolved into the UCC). In Aldbourne he often went with the Barnes family to the Methodist church (the Barnes family were the ones who housed him, Francis and Louie May Barnes, and became his second family). Later in life, after his father's death in 1946, Dick's mother returned to Ephrata from Lancaster and attended a Lutheran Church. I do not think Dick himself attends any church. But Bill Guarnere (at least in the movie) was half right. Dick's mother was raised Mennonite and he learned some of the Mennonite teachings.

Good batch of questions. I will raise them with him.

I can answer one. During Korea he went on a training mission with U.S> Rangers and he kept up with them all the way, even though they averaged 10 years his junior. Also, while he watched one infantry unit deploy during a war game maneuver, one senior officer asked him, "How many of those men do you think were killed?" Winters promptly replied, "All of them were killed." He thought them badly trained and inefficient. They bunched up and made themselves easy targets.

Larry,

Thank you for the insite and information about the Major.

Have a great rest of the day.
Jiggersfromsphilly

Larry, great, great stuff. Thanks for fleshing out the Major's comment about Blithe. The rest may have been writer's invention -- which makes perfect sense to me, but that bit about Blithe's shooting . . . wow -- sugfgests that the writers may have been on to the dysfunction. There's another story to be told about the way in which Blithe recovered to have a successful career in the Army.

As to the rest, thanks VERY MUCH for the info. If you're still open to questions, I will have more.

Larry, some of my thoughts.

(Note: although most of my text are questions, allow me to not use a ? at every sentence)

Of course, there are a lot of details that need to be put in his biography to properly chronicle his war experiences, but I am more concerned that, however the book is organized and how you present the major to us, I come out of it and learn about him from other angles.

The leadership. We all know how close at heart leadership is to Winters. How did he become a leader, did he study leadership beforehand, did he apply some of what he learned, or was he just a natural. How much was his army life and war experiences a factor in this. How has his civilian life changed these views, if at all. What types of leadership does he appreciate most. By exemple, by charisma, by authority, and how has that evolved. We often read about the major being very appreciative of people that simply get the job done. But how do you lead those that don't have a tendency to do that. How do you lead those that question you, How do you lead those that try their best but don't succeed. How do you lead a Webster.

His relations with his men. Throughout the book and the mini, and other sources, we get to understand that a (military) leader shouldn't get close, or befriend his subordinates. It makes a lot of sense in a war. Again, how much of that has he carried into his civilian life. How close or how friendly has he been with his "former" subordinates after the war. Another thing that is of interrest regarding his relationship with the easy men, and is somewhat of an enygma to me, is why he applied to get transfered. He's been shown to like his men very much, to not like the army very much, to have had enough of war, yet he asks to be transfered to leave these men, to stay in the army and to go to war some more.

Which brings me to tell you I'm also interrested to know of his motivations to go to war. In the mini (don't recall that in Ambrose's book though), we are presented with then Lt. Winters's thoughts after one day of war, and how he promises to live in peace. What were his motivations to go to war (and again request to carry on to the PTO). Would he have volunteered in another army if the USA would not have gone to war. That's actually a question I'd like to ask any veteran that volunteered.

As you can see, I am one to wish to get to know the major in much more than the light of his war years. Now I realize that it is something that could not be possible. The pressure to write about something that will sell well will be at play now. The major's life achievements and experiences, how he touched people after his war years, probably isn't in the editor's scope. And maybe that simply is not what the Major himself has agreed to. But I though I'd let you know that I feel those would be the better added values of your biographical work.

There are certainly others, but those are among the things I would like to read about the Major. Of course, I also like to be surprised.

Larry, thank you for this opportunity, just a few questions too:

1. Did the Major's attitude changed towards the Germans after he saw the Death Camps?

2. What was going through his mind when he was charging toward the Dike in Holland?

3. Was he able to transfer his leadership qualities from the army to the civilain world?

Thank you.

Congrats, Larry!!!
I am really looking forward to reading this book.
I am glad to hear that at least one publishing house has the smarts to see a good thing & publish your book about Major Winters.
Melissa

Good questions. I will bring some up. I can answer others.

Winters did not take any kinds of lessons on leadership. He pretty much wionged it as he went along. He beleives in leading by example, and while he appreciated the job a guy like Spiers did, he has a somewhat dim view of leading by having your men fear you.

He has always kept a distance between himself and his men and, to some extent, still does, but it's not as rigid. I think the men respect him so the distancing is mutual.

Winters asked to transfer to the Pacific becasue he felt his experience could save lives. He did not want to go to war again, but also hated the idea of sitting on his butt in Europe while otehr Americans fought and died in Asia. He was a big beleiver in not letting others fight his fights for him. NO WAY would he have gone to war if the U.S. had not gotten involved. He joined the army in the summer of 1941, before the draft, knowing that young men were going to be required to do a minimum 1 year service and he wanted to get it out of the way right after college, rather than get plucked away from some job after he started his career.