Andrew Carroll (born September 27, 1969) is an American author, editor, playwright, public speaker, nonprofit executive, and historian.
Carroll is known as the editor of the
''New York Times'' best sellers ''Letters of a Nation'',
[Arnold, Martin. "Joys of Reading Others' Mail"](_blank)
''The New York Times''. December 16, 1999. ''Behind the Lines'', and ''War Letters'',
''The New York Times''. February 12, 1997.
''The New York Times''. March 15, 1994. which later inspired the
documentary of the same name.
[Ryan, Suzanne C. "From the Trenches". '']The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''. November 9, 2001; Rosenberg, Howard. "Dispatches From the Trenches". ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. November 9, 2001; Mink, Eric. "War, In Their Own Words". ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
''. November 9, 2001. He is also known for seeking out and preserving war-related correspondences, distributing millions of free books to the general public throughout the United States and to U.S. troops abroad, and finding and bringing attention to unmarked but historically significant sites across America.
Early life
Carroll was adopted as an infant in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and raised by Marea and Thomas Edmund Carroll, who helped establish the
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
in 1970. Carroll attended
Sidwell Friends High School and graduated
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1993, receiving his bachelor's degree in English literature.
His older brother and only sibling, Christopher Carroll, is a professional photographer and filmmaker who was once a photo editor for the music magazine ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
''. Christopher Carroll is also the co-editor with his wife, Liz Mechem, of the book ''Legends of Country''.
In 1991, during his sophomore year at Columbia, Andrew Carroll wrote his first book, ''Volunteer USA: A Comprehensive Guide to Worthy Causes That Need You''. Carroll followed it up in 1994 with ''Golden Opportunities: A Volunteer Guide for Americans Over 50''.
The American Poetry & Literacy (APL) Project
In 1991, during his junior year at Columbia, Carroll was inspired by a lecture given at the Library of Congress by
Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist.
Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...
, the Nobel Prize-winning author and
Poet Laureate of the United States
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...
. Brodsky recommended that free poetry books should be widely disseminated to the American public. Carroll wrote to Brodsky offering to help start the initiative, and, after meeting in 1992, they launched what Carroll named: the American Poetry & Literacy (APL) Project, a nonprofit organization that would distribute free poetry books to the general public.
Carroll persuaded the
Book-of-the-Month Club
Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...
to donate to the APL Project thousands of copies of the book, ''Six American Poets: An Anthology'', edited by Joel Conarroe, which features poems by
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...
,
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...
,
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
,
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...
,
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
, and
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism.
In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...
.
DoubleTree
DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree has been the fastest growing Hilton brand by number of properties since 2007, and by number of rooms from 2007 to 2015. As of December 31, 2019, it has 587 p ...
was the first hotel chain to agree to place the books in its rooms.
The APL Project expanded into giving away free books in schools, supermarkets, homeless shelters, senior centers, jury waiting rooms, and similar public venues. Carroll began working with Dover Publications, buying up large quantities of their inexpensive "thrift editions" and distributing specific books at certain times of the year (e.g., ''Great Love Poems'' for Valentines Day, funded by
Lancôme
Lancôme () is a French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house that distributes products internationally. Lancôme is part of the L'Oréal Luxury Products division, which is its parent company and offers luxury skin care, fragrances, and makeup at ...
, and ''The Raven and Other Favorite Poems'' by
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
for Halloween).
After Joseph Brodsky died from a heart attack at the age of 55, Carroll went on a nationwide tour in Brodsky's honor and drove across the country and gave away 100,000 free books. The trip, which Carroll called The Great APLseed Giveaway began in April (
National Poetry Month National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. The Academy of Amer ...
) 1998 and lasted for five weeks. The trip was sponsored by the
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...
and the
Washington Apple Commission
The Washington Apple Commission is a quasi-public body in the United States state of Washington, created by the Revised Code of Washington, which is statutorily authorized to "speak on behalf of the Washington state government with regard to appl ...
, and it was inspired by
Johnny Appleseed
John Chapman (September 26, 1774March 18, 1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, as well as the northern coun ...
's travels throughout the United States. DoubleTree Hotels provided Carroll with free lodging, and
Ryder
Ryder System, Inc., commonly known as Ryder, is an American transportation and logistics company. It is especially known for its fleet of commercial rental trucks.
Ryder specializes in fleet management, supply chain management, and transp ...
loaned Carroll a truck that he filled with books. Carroll drove from New York to California and handed out books at truck stops, hospitals, supermarkets, schools, bus and train stations, zoos, a
White Castle hamburger restaurant in Chicago, and a casino and a 24-hour wedding chapel in Las Vegas.
In 1998, Carroll convinced
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
to place thousands of copies of a poetry anthology, titled ''Songs for the Open Road: Poems of Travel and Adventure'' (Dover).
In April 1999,
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
agreed to put 40,000 poetry books provided by the APL Project in the glove compartment of its cars as they came off the assembly line.
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
placed 100,000 copies of ''Songs for the Open Road'' in the seat backs of their planes in April 2000. And the
Target Corporation
Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
paid the APL Project for 300,000 books to give away to their customers. Before the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
contacted Carroll and requested that he edit a special anthology of international verse that would be given to athletes and spectators. Carroll created the book ''A World of Poetry'' (Dover) which was distributed throughout Salt Lake City during the Olympics.
The Legacy Project
While still involved with the poetry initiative, Carroll founded the Legacy Project, a national, all-volunteer effort that worked to honor and remember America's veterans and troops by seeking out and preserving their war-related correspondences.
[Carroll, Andrew. ''War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars''. Reprint ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002. ; Rossi, Holly Lebowitz. "Letters Old and New Illuminate Faith in War's Trenches". ''Publishers Weekly''. February 14, 2007.][Salamon, Julie. "The Troops at the Front as Poets for Future Readers"](_blank)
''The New York Times''. November 9, 2001. Carroll was inspired to create the Legacy Project after his family's home in Washington, D.C., burned down during his sophomore year of college and destroyed most of his and his family's personal memorabilia and correspondence.
[Lacher, Irene. "Legacy of Pen, Sword"](_blank)
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. February 17, 2002.
In 1997, Carroll edited his first ''New York Times'' best seller, ''Letters of a Nation: A Collection of Extraordinary American Letters'' (with an introduction by
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman (born June 6, 1939) is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights. She is the founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Hillary ...
), which features more than 200 letters written by famous and not-so-famous individuals from the past 350 years. Some of the letters, including one by a Navajo
code talker
A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is now usually associated with United States service members during the world wars who used their k ...
, had never been published before.
In the summer of 1998, Carroll contacted
Dear Abby
Dear Abby is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name.
History
According to Pauline ...
, who frequently promoted causes that helped troops and veterans, and asked her to write a column requesting that people share with the Legacy Project any war-related letters they had written or had received from loved ones.
Abby published the column on Veterans Day in 1998 and included a post office box that Carroll had set up for people to send in their war letters.
[McDonald, William. "In Wartime Letters Home, Eloquence of Common Men"](_blank)
''The New York Times''. November 11, 1999. Within a year, Carroll had received more than 15,000 letters, some of them dating as far back as the American Revolution.
News about the Legacy Project caught the attention of former
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
correspondent
Harry Smith. Smith subsequently produced a documentary about war correspondence, ''Dear Home: Letters From World War II'', which aired on the History Channel in 1999.
Director
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
heard about Carroll's Legacy Project and asked him to find a World War II couple who would read some of their wartime love letters at a televised event, which was broadcast to millions, in front of the
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...
on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on December 31, 1999, as part of the nation's millennial celebrations.
''War Letters''-related books, documentaries, and memorials
In 2001, Carroll edited the book ''War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars'', based on the correspondence collected by the Legacy Project.
["'War Letters' Lets Soldiers Speak". ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. November 11, 2001.] Scribner's
Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...
gave Carroll a $500,000 advance for the book (money Carroll donated to veterans' groups).
The book became a ''New York Times'' best seller. All of the letters in the book were previously unpublished, including letters by
William T. Sherman
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
,
Clara Barton
Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
,
Helen Keller,
George H.W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...
(who wrote from a submarine that had rescued him after he'd been shot down and almost killed),
H. Richard Hornberger (a Korean War surgeon who later wrote the book ''
MASH''),
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
, and
Julia Child
Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...
, who, before she became "the French chef", served as a spy during World War II in the
OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
).
The audio version of ''War Letters'', which features famous journalists and actors (including
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
,
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...
,
Noah Wyle
Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter (ER), John Carter in the television series ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Glo ...
,
Joan Allen
Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for ''And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Awa ...
,
David Strathairn
David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Dos ...
,
Julianna Margulies
Julianna Margulies (; born June 8, 1966) is an American actress. After several small television roles, Margulies achieved wide recognition for her starring role as Carol Hathaway on NBC's long-running medical drama series '' ER'' (1994–2009), ...
,
Giovanni Ribisi
Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (; born December 17, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the TV series ''Sneaky Pete'' and the films ''Avatar'' (2009), '' Lost in Translation'' (2003), ''Ted'' (2012) and its sequel ''Ted 2'' (201 ...
,
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor, producer and director. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in ''House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', and Richard Parker in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and ...
, and
Eric Stoltz
Eric Cameron Stoltz (born September 30, 1961) is an American actor, director and producer. He played the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film ''Mask'', which earned him the nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Support ...
), reading the letters, was nominated for a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in the "Best Spoken Word" category in 2001. ''War Letters'' lost to ''Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones'', read by
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
.
In 2001, ''War Letters'' inspired a one-hour documentary of the same name for
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
' ''
American Experience
''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' series.
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...
,
Joan Allen
Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for ''And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Awa ...
,
Esai Morales
Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...
,
Bill Paxton
William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and filmmaker. He appeared in films such as '' Weird Science'' (1985), ''Aliens'' (1986), ''Near Dark'' (1987), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''True Lies'' (1994), '' Apollo 13 ...
, and
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce (born April 3, 1959) is an American actor and director of stage, film and television. He starred as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 to 2004, and won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen ...
were among the actors who read letters for the film, which was directed by Robby Kenner.
Letters from Carroll's archive have been displayed in local and national museums throughout the United States, as well as on veterans' memorials, including in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
, and
Temecula, California
Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...
.
From September 2003 through March 2004, Carroll traveled to almost 40 countries around the world, including
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, to meet with U.S. troops and to seek out more letters and emails. This journey inspired Carroll's third ''New York Times'' best seller, ''Behind the Lines: Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters—and One Man's Search to Find Them'', in 2005.
[Wyatt, Edward. "Arts, Briefly: Warrior Writers"](_blank)
''The New York Times''. December 16, 2005.
Two years later, Carroll edited ''Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War'', which focuses on the role of religion and spiritual beliefs in wartime.
Several of Carroll's books have been translated into other languages, including ''Behind the Lines'', which was published in Brazil as ''Cartos do Front: Relatos emocionantes da vida na Guerra''.
Since 2001, Carroll has also organized events that feature famous Americans reading war letters. Presenters have included senators, generals, actors, the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, journalists, and the relatives of service members killed in action. At a May 2005 reading in New York to celebrate the publication of ''Behind the Lines'', the author
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
read a letter he had written in 1945 after surviving the
firebombing of Dresden
The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Royal ...
and which was published for the first time in Carroll's book.
Reviving the Armed Services Editions
In 2000, Carroll approached book publishers and encouraged them to revive the
Armed Services Editions
Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to ...
(ASEs), which were paperback books formatted to fit into a cargo pocket and distributed specifically to American troops during World War II. (Beginning in 1942, the U.S. military partnered with publishers to disseminate more than 120 million ASEs. This giveaway represented the largest free distribution of fiction and non-fiction books in the history of the world. More than 1,300 titles were published, including mysteries, biographies, crime stories, adventure novels, and classic works of literature by authors such as
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
,
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
, and
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...
. The original ASEs were discontinued in 1947.)
In 2000, Carroll began working with major publishers to bring back the ASEs.
Hyperion,
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
,
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
,
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, and
Dover Publications
Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books ...
were among the first to join to publish and give away free ASEs to troops overseas and serving on U.S. warships. More than two million copies of the following titles were distributed: ''Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present'', by Allen Mikaelian, with commentary by
Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
(Hyperion); ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'', by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
(Dover); ''
The Art of War
''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...
'', by
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...
(Dover); ''Wry Martinis'', by
Christopher Buckley (Random House); and ''
One Thousand and One Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'', translated by Geraldine McCaughrean (Oxford University Press). The books were formatted in the same "cargo pocket" size and have the same vintage appearance as the original ASEs from World War II. Unlike the original ASEs, the new books were paid for entirely with private donations. No government funding was used.
"Operation Homecoming" program, related book, and documentary
In 2004, the chairman of the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
(NEA),
Dana Gioia
Michael Dana Gioia (; born December 24, 1950) is an American poet, literary critic, literary translator, and essayist.
Since the early 1980s, Gioia has been considered part of the literary movements within American poetry known as New Formalis ...
, and the poet
Marilyn Nelson
Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetr ...
(the daughter of a
Tuskegee Airman
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...
), conceived an idea to encourage military personnel and their loved ones to write about their wartime experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. With funding from the
Boeing Company
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, the NEA launched "Operation Homecoming" and encouraged active duty service members, veterans, and their families to share their letters, emails, short stories, poems, and any other writings to the NEA. The NEA also held writing workshops on military bases across the country, led by best selling authors like
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
,
Mark Bowden
Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book ''Black Hawk Down (book), Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about th ...
,
Jeff Shaara
Jeffrey M. "Jeff" Shaara (born February 21, 1952) is an American novelist and the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara.
Biography
Jeffrey Shaara was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. He graduated f ...
, and
Bobbie Ann Mason
Bobbie Ann Mason (born May 1, 1940) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky. Her memoir was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Early life and education
A child of Wilburn and Christina Mason, Bobb ...
. The NEA received an estimated 10,000 pages of material, and the agency asked Carroll to edit the material into an anthology. Carroll agreed and edited the book, ''Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families'', on a ''pro bono'' basis.
Carroll led regular writing workshops for troops and veterans on military bases and at VA hospitals, the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...
, and the
Bagram Air Force Base
Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea leve ...
in Afghanistan. Carroll also wrote, ''A Guide for Writers'', a free, 43-page booklet published by the NEA that was created to help other workshop leaders and potential authors, including active duty troops, veterans, and their loved ones, write about the military experience.
The program and book also inspired two films: One directed by
Lawrence Bridges
Lawrence Bridges is a writer and film maker.
Career
Bridges began his film career as a production assistant on Francis Ford Coppola's film ''The Conversation''. He became an editor of music videos, most notably with director Bob Giraldi for Micha ...
, titled ''Muse of Fire'' and features
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
and people involved in the program, either reading their written works or talking about the program's mission, and a second documentary, ''
Operation Homecoming
Operation Homecoming was the return of 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) held by North Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Operation
On January 27, 1973, Henry Kissinger (then assistant ...
'', directed by Richard Robbins, which was broadcast on PBS and also shown in movie theaters nationwide. Robbins' film included re-enactments of the written material along with voiceovers by prominent actors, including
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...
,
Aaron Echkhart,
Blair Underwood
Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''.
Underwood has a ...
, and
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine ...
. Robbins' documentary was nominated for an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
and won an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
.
"Here Is Where" project and book
In June 2009, Carroll launched the "Here Is Where" campaign, an all-volunteer effort to find and bring attention to unmarked historic locations throughout the United States. Carroll traveled to all 50 states to find these overlooked sites, and he chronicled his journey in the book ''Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History''. The sites are related to a broad range of subjects, including archaeology, art, Civil Rights, immigration, inventions, law, medical breakthroughs and discoveries, the military, religion, and science, with a special emphasis on forgotten women and minorities. Carroll has also used funds from his ''Here Is Where'' book to pay for and put up plaques and signs at some of the unmarked places he found. These include:
* a marker placed inside the
Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C. to honor the poet
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
, who was working as a busboy at the hotel in 1925 when he was discovered by the famous poet
Vachel Lindsay
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (; November 10, 1879 – December 5, 1931) was an American poet. He is considered a founder of modern ''singing poetry,'' as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted.
Early years
Lindsay was born ...
.
* an outdoor marker dedicated at the National Harmony Memorial Park in
Hyattsville, Maryland
Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census.
History
Before Europeans reached the area, the upper An ...
, in honor of the slave
Philip Reed (also spelled Reid), who built the
Statue of Freedom
The ''Statue of Freedom'', also known as ''Armed Freedom'' or simply ''Freedom'', is a bronze statue designed by Thomas Crawford (1814–1857) that, since 1863, has crowned the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Originally ...
on top of the Capitol Building. Reed had been buried in an unmarked grave, and with the help of the genealogist
Megan Smolenyak
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak,Sam Roberts''The New York Times'', September 14, 2006. born October 9, is an American genealogist, author, and speaker. She is also a consultant for the FBI and NCIS.
Education
Smolenyak holds a BSFS in Foreign Service ...
and her sister, Stacy, Carroll was able to locate the spot where Reed is actually believed to have been buried.
* an outdoor state marker erected along the banks of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, in memory of the passengers of the steamboat ''
Sultana'', who died in April 1865 when the boilers exploded and the boat burned and sank. The loss of the ''Sultana'' remains the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history. Carroll funded the sign with the assistance of the local historian Jerry Potter.
* a marker placed inside the
Menger Hotel
The Menger Hotel is a historic hotel located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, on the site of the Battle of the Alamo.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic Dis ...
in
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
, in honor of
Adina De Zavala, a Latina preservationist who helped save the Alamo from being torn down by hotel developers. In February 1908, she barricaded herself inside the Long Barrack Fortress part of the Alamo for several days, without food or water. Her actions generated national attention, and the Alamo was preserved.
* a marker placed inside a
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Rite Aid store in honor of
Mary K. Goddard, the publisher who risked her life during the American Revolution to print the first version of the Declaration of Independence (in January 1777) with the names of the signers on it. The store is located at 125 East Baltimore St., where Goddard's printing shop used to be.
* a marker placed inside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan in honor of
Martin Cooper, the "father of the cell phone". Cooper was the main inventor of the first handheld cellular phone, and he made the first cell phone call in history on April 3, 1973, just outside of the Hilton on 6th Avenue, and then went into the Hilton to give a press conference about his invention.
''If All the Sky Were Paper'' play
In November 2004, Carroll wrote an article for ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' magazine about his trip to almost 40 countries around the world. The article was read by a theatre professor named John Benitz at
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
, who contacted Carroll and suggested that Carroll's travels, along with excerpts from the letters he found, could be the basis of a play. Carroll agreed and sent Benitz a script, which Benitz workshopped with his students. Carroll picked the title, ''If All the Sky Were Paper'', based on a sentence from a letter written by a 14-year-old Polish boy interned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
The play has been performed nationwide, including at the
Kirk Douglas Theatre
The Kirk Douglas Theatre is a 317-seat theater located in Culver City, California. Since 2004, it has been operated by the Center Theatre Group.
History
Built in 1946, as a Streamline Moderne movie palace with a seating capacity of 1,160 (on a s ...
and the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in Washington, D.C.
''If All the Sky Were Paper'' has starred
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
and
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning actors and other notable performers, among them:
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
,
Common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
,
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...
,
Ed Asner
Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...
,
Brad Hall
William Bradford Hall (born March 21, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known as a ''Weekend Update'' news anchor on ''Saturday Night Live'' and for creating the sitcoms ''The Single Guy'' and ''Watching Ellie''.
H ...
,
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the T ...
,
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominat ...
,
Jason Hall, and
Michael Conner Humphreys
Michael Conner Humphreys (born March 1, 1985) is an American actor best known for playing young Forrest Gump in the 1994 film of the same name, a performance for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award.
Biography
Humphreys was born in ...
, who played a young Forrest Gump in the 1994 film ''Forrest Gump'' and then went on to join the Army in 2004.
The Center for American War Letters at Chapman University
In 2013, Carroll donated his entire collection of approximately 100,000 war letters to
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
. Carroll and Chapman changed the name of the initiative from "The Legacy Project" to "The
Center for American War Letters". The university agreed to staff the center, archive and catalog the letters and emails, and ensure that they will be saved in perpetuity. The correspondences are preserved in the Center for American War Letters Archive in the
Leatherby Libraries. Carroll is the center's founding director.
''My Fellow Soldiers'' book
In April 2017, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States of America's official entry into World War I, Carroll published ''My Fellow Soldiers: General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War''. The book includes previously unpublished letters by
Pershing, including several that relate to the fire that killed Pershing's wife and three young daughters at the
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
, while Pershing was stationed at
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...
in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
. Also in April 2017, PBS aired a three-part documentary on World War I, titled ''
The Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
'', and Carroll was featured in the film talking about General Pershing and other aspects of the war.
Smithsonian exhibits
In 2005, Carroll worked with the
National Postal Museum
The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United S ...
to create an exhibit title
War Letters: Lost & Found which opened on November 11, 2005, and featured letters written in times of war that were lost or discarded by the recipients and then found by total strangers years and even decades later. Original letters from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam were all displayed. The letters were discovered in old barns, homes being rebuilt for new tenants, garbage bins, as well as at flea markets and estate sales.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of America's entry into the First World War, Carroll also helped to curate, with the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, an exhibit that opened in April 2017 and was title
The exhibit included letters written by service members and their loved ones before, during, and after World War I. Original letters by Pershing were also featured.
Awards and honors
Carroll has received, among other accolades: the
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
's Medal of Honor award; the
Order of Saint Maurice
The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the w ...
, bestowed by the National Infantryman's Association; the Young Alumni Achievement Award, presented by Carroll's alma mater,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
; the IONA Senior Service's President's Award; and the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
' Chairman's Medal, the highest award given by the NEA chairman. Several mayors and city councils have also proclaimed "Andrew Carroll Day" in their respective cities.
Published works
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
The Center For American War Letters*
"If All the Sky Were Paper""What Civilians Need to Understand About War" TEDx speech by Carroll"The Humanity in History" Freedom Writers Podcast with Carroll
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Andrew
1969 births
Writers from Washington, D.C.
Living people
American book editors
American military historians
American male non-fiction writers
Columbia College (New York) alumni
20th-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
American dramatists and playwrights