Biography

Walt Larimore, MD, is a Louisiana State University alumnus and has authored 41 books and 1,200 journal articles. At First Light took 16 years to research and is about his father, Phil Larimore, a beloved LSU professor for almost five decades, who was also one of youngest and most highly decorated front-line officers in WWII. The book received an International Page Turner Finalist Award and a Silver Medal from the Military Writers Association of America.

Schedule

2:00 pm to 2:45 pm
State Library, Fourth Floor
My Father, My Hero: War Stories from WWII
with Janis Pardue Hill and Walt Larimore

3:00 pm to 3:45 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse

What makes 2nd Lieutenant Phil Larimore’s story special is what happened in World War II’s closing days and the people—and horses—he interacted with in this Forrest Gump-like tale that is emotional, heartbreaking, and inspiring.

Growing up in the 1930s in Memphis, Tennessee, Phil Larimore is the ultimate Boy Scout—able to read maps, put a compass to good use, and traverse wild swamps and desolate canyons. His other great skill is riding horses.

Phil does poorly in school, however, leading his parents send to him to a military academy. After Pearl Harbor, Phil realizes he is destined for war. Three weeks before his eighteenth birthday, he becomes the youngest candidate to ever graduate from Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Landing on the Anzio beachhead in February 1944, Phil is put in charge of an Ammunition Pioneer Platoon in the 3rd Infantry Division. Their job: deliver ammunition to the frontline foxholes—a dangerous assignment involving regular forays into No Man’s Land.

As Phil fights his way up the Italian boot, into Southern France and across the Rhine River into Germany, he is caught up in some of the most intense combat ever. But it’s what happens in the final stages of the war and his homecoming that makes Phil’s story incredibly special and heartwarming.

An emotional tale of courage, daring, and heroism, At First Light will remind you of the indomitable human spirit that lives in all of us.