An author and historian will discuss his latest book at the building where he researched the true story of Margaret “Muriel” White Seherr-Thoss, an American wife of a Prussian count who saved a Jewish family during World War II.
Richard Hutto will share his research and writing process for The Countess and the Nazis: An American Family’s Private War, published in February by Lyons Press. The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries Building.
While the “meet the author” event is free, audience members will have an opportunity to buy the book, which is the seventh historical tome from Hutto, who formerly served as the White House Appointments Secretary to the Carter Family and was Chairman of the Georgia Council for the Arts.
Hutto’s books have delved into the lives of Gilded Age heiresses to titled husbands, and The Countess and the Nazis continues that exploration. The book follows the tragic story of Muriel White, an American heiress who married a Prussian count and witnessed the rise of fascism in Europe. According to the book summary, “she resisted the Nazis (in several verified incidents) and secured funding to save a Jewish family before she was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice rather than reveal the location of her sons to the Nazis.”
Part of Hutto’s research included time spent delving into the W. Tapley Bennett Jr. Papers, preserved in the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. Bennett, a diplomat, was related to the countess by marriage.
For more information about the author event, which includes light refreshments, visit libs.uga.edu/events.