Dearest Mama Author Talk with William S. Walker

Aug 16, 2025 @ 10am - 11:30am | Location: South Carolina State Museum, 301 Gervais Street Columbia, SC 29201

Aug 16, 2025 @ 10am - 11:30am
Location: South Carolina State Museum, 301 Gervais Street Columbia, SC 29201
Hosted by: South Carolina State Museum

Join us for an author talk and video presentation on Dearest Mama, a new book by William S. Walker. Find out how a cache of letters leads to a journey of discovery that reveals the long and lasting consequences of war. This event, hosted by the South Carolina State Museum, is in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

William S. Walker never knew his uncle, Fletcher "Bud" Blanton. Blanton had been killed fighting in Europe during World War II before Walker was born. Walker had heard stories about Bud, but for most of his life his uncle had existed only as a faded memory. That path changed when Walker opened a dusty cabinet forgotten in his garage attic and found a paper sack and a note in his father's handwriting that read, "Go through before you throw away." The bag was filled with family photos, correspondence, and a collection of letters and postcards that his uncle Bud had written to his family during his time on the frontline as a US Army infantryman in Europe. The first letter he pulled from the bag opened with the line, "Dearest Mama." Walker's Dearest Mama is Bud Blanton's story. More than that it is a deeply personal family chronicle that resonates for all those left behind when servicemembers do not return home from combat.

William Walker is a South Carolina–born writer and former soldier who worked as a reporter and editor for more than four decades.

Books will be available for purchase and light refreshments will be provided.

This program is free to the public. Online RSVPs are encouraged by emailing publicprograms@scmuseum.org.

View South Carolina State Museum event page.