Author Talk: "Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front" with Todd DePastino

Peters Township Public Library and Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Park Post 764 are cosponsoring a talk with author Todd DePastino on "Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front" on Thursday, May 9 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the library.

At this special tribute to all veterans, DePastino will discuss the great World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin, an army infantry sergeant who rocketed to fame at age twenty-two with his wildly popular feature "Up Front." Week after week, Mauldin defied army censors, German artillery, and General George Patton's pledge to throw him in jail for insubordination to deliver his grim depictions of war to "Stars and Stripes" and hundreds of homefront newspapers. There, readers followed the stories of Willie and Joe, two wise-cracking 'dogfaces' whose mud-caked uniforms and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect bore eloquent witness to the world of combat and the men who lived - and died -
in it.

Register to attend this free program online or call 724.941.9430. A book signing and reception will follow the program. Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front by Todd DePastino will be available for purchase at the special event price of $10.

DePastino has written three other books and has a Ph.D. in American History from Yale University. He teaches at Waynesburg University where in 2008 he won the Lucas-Hathaway Award for Teaching Excellence. He is collaborating with Wind and Stars Production Group to write and co-produce a documentary film on Bill Mauldin to be aired on public television in 2015. Todd DePastino is founder and executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club, a non-profit dedicated to sharing veterans’ stories with the public. Over 1,500 people have participated in the Veterans Breakfast Club’s programs and activities over the past two years.