John Hall authors first book

MINNEAPOLIS - Former Times Plain Dealer publisher and Featherlite Director of Corporate Communications John K. Hall has written thousands of articles and press releases in his various careers.

But the one he is probably most proud of is a World War II book based on a true story, Rare Encounter. It features his father, Capt. John William Hall, and his colleague, Capt. Roger Lincoln Shinn, at the Battle of the Bulge and beyond.

“I started seriously thinking about doing a novel, a book of historical fiction, about 10 years ago. I discovered some military records that had been in my mother’s possession, including my father’s account of the Battle of the Bulge.” 

It took him about 7-8 years to write it, which coincided with his retirement. 

“The hard cover book was published on Dec. 16, 2021, the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge,” Hall explained. “The soft cover came out in February.”

 

Writing a book

“I spent a number of wonderful hours talking about the Second World War with Ray McGee, who had landed on the beaches of France on D-Day, and his wife Majorie, at their home on North Elm,” author Hall said. 

“This was when they were hard at work compiling the two-volume book, ‘Our Veterans in War and Peace.’ I told them my father’s story. Until now, they were the only people outside my family who knew this story in any depth.”

Hall credits his desire to write the historical book to the McGees. “They were dedicated to pulling veterans’ stories together and creating a book. I thought maybe I should write a story about these amazing men (John’s father and his colleague).”

Luckily, Hall had a head start on putting the story together. He attended one of the 60th Armored Infantry reunions with his father, who passed away in 1982.

“I met Shinn once at a reunion. He wrote several books including Wars and Rumors of Wars. He taught at Columbia University.

“My two brothers and I traveled to the Oklahoma Historical Center and the National Guard Museum to do research. Our father, John William Hall, was born in Oklahoma, a member of the National Guard and the state rifle champion in 1939. After these events, I decided to write the book.”

A few years later, the siblings  visited the Columbia University for three days, as they looked through Shinn’s teaching and war papers.

This research helped him in writing the factual parts of his own book, which is partially narrated by Shinn’s character in the book.

The major facts in the war section of the book are true, such as the Battle of the Bulge and the other battles Hall was involved in and the captivity of Shinn. Besides using his father and Shinn’s notes and papers, Hall researched other parts of the war.

Then he created a story and dialogue to bring it to life.

“Once you use the facts as your base, you just use your imagination on what a character might be thinking,” Hall explained.

“A lot of people will see their fathers, grandfathers and themselves in this book. The struggles and triumphs are what this story is about. The women in the book also play a pivotal part of the story.”

 

The storyline

Rare Encounter is based on the author’s father, John William Hall, and that of his colleague at the Battle of the Bulge, another young captain, Roger Lincoln Shinn. Shinn, who survives the war and by 1965 is an esteemed professor of social ethics at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, narrates the story of decades earlier.

In the book, Hall explores their struggle against overwhelming odds in what Winston Churchill called “undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war.” The Nazi Ardennes Offensive, nicknamed the Battle of the Bulge, claimed more than 75,500 Allied casualties. The book’s publication coincided with the 77th anniversary of the start of the attack.

“This is a human story about the journey of two very different young soldiers,” author Hall said. “At its heart is their struggle to remain who they are in the midst of unimaginable horror. But it is unlike other war novels. Set in the thick of the Second World War in Europe, the book oscillates in and out of the controversy of the Vietnam War 20 years later.” 

Although Hall’s name is on the cover, he says he couldn’t have done it without his wife. “Lou Ann helped me immensely with the book, editing and providing guidance.”

 

Coming to Cresco

John and Lou Ann Hall purchased the Times Plain Dealer in October 1995 from H. Denis Moore. 

“We were living in Stillwater, Minn. when we purchased the Times Plain Dealer. I wanted to get back into community journalism, and this was a good opportunity to do that,” Hall said. He remained publisher until June 2000, when he started at Featherlite.

The couple raised their two sons, Graham and Alexander in Cresco, with both graduating from Crestwood High School.

John and Lou Ann continued to live in rural Winneshiek County until May 2021, when they moved to Minneapolis to be closer to their two sons and two grandchildren. “We haven’t been back to visit, but we plan to, since we still have a lot of friends.”

Hall doesn’t have any real plans to write another book, but he does think about topics. He is living proof that even after retirement, a person can do great things and accomplish goals they didn’t even know they had!

This work of historical fiction is available at Dragonfly Books in Decorah and online at most booksellers. More information is at jkhallauthor.com.