The Willard (36 page)

I must acknowledge friends and family from my childhood through the current day whose names I borrowed for various characters. My sons, Chase and Ethan, lend their names to main characters, as does my husband, Kelly. My niece, Catherine Jane, is the namesake for Catherine Parker, and though Laura Keene is an actual historical person, she shares the name
Laura with my sister and I like to think it is a nod to her as well. My mother, Jane, is the inspiration for the important, though briefly-seen character of Olivia’s friend and caretaker. My mother has been taking care of people all her life and even when she’s not in the room she is an important part of the lives she touches. Joe Chamberlain, the Navy SEAL takes his name from my father, Joe. Thanks also to Lisette Cameron, Lesley Hanson Mills, and LaDonna Smith Killebrew for the names of a high-profile law firm and to John Perry for a conscientious police captain who takes Calvin Walker’s concerns seriously. Finally, thanks to my brother-in-law, Mark Staynings, for the character at the end who seems destined to take the next journey. Mark must wonder often if he’s stumbling through some nutty history since joining our family. For those whose names I didn’t use this time, keep an eye on future stories because I have a place for all of you. Some of the locations that do truly exist including Fort Mill/York County in South Carolina, Fort Mill High School, and Clemson University are used with my thanks. I’m a big fan of all three and as I sit here writing these acknowledgements I’m wearing my Clemson orange.

Special thanks to Barbara Bahny and the Willard Intercontinental Hotel for providing background information on the hotel itself and the important history that has taken place there, with additional gratitude to Colin Smith and to Willard Associates and Oliver T. Carr, Jr. for allowing me to use the name and image of the hotel to tell the story. From the beginning I wanted to use the real place; it just didn’t seem right to make up a fictional name when the real thing is so magnificently rich with history. One of the hotel managers, Abdulla, gave me an extensive private tour and I apologize profusely for losing my notes that include his last name. It was an excellent tour and helped a great deal with the accuracy of my descriptions. The hotel has a history gallery that I recommend visiting if you are in the area. The Willard has played host to
many more people and events than I have covered here. I also highly recommend taking a break from sightseeing in the nation’s capital to sit for a moment in Peacock Alley and just soak in the atmosphere. You can almost imagine Mark Twain parading down from the back stairs. The Willard is known as the “Residence of the Presidents” because many of our nation’s leaders have connections to the hotel, but it actually
was
the residence of the president for nearly a month in 1923 when Calvin Coolidge ran the country from the Willard after the sudden death of Warren Harding. Coolidge didn’t want Mrs. Harding to be rushed out of the White House, so he conducted affairs of state from the hotel. The presidential flag flew over the hotel entrance during his residency. There are many fascinating facts waiting to be discovered in the Willard’s halls.

I’m also very grateful to the National Park Service and to Ford’s Theatre and William Cheek and Jeff Leary for hosting me for a private tour of the theatre and the Petersen House. Standing on the stage at Ford’s and being able to get the complete perspective of the leap made by John Wilkes Booth and the proximity of the actors and the audience drives home the intimacy of the act and how truly surreal that moment must have been for those present. And standing in the Petersen House in the room where Abraham Lincoln died when the house is not open to the public is a sobering experience.

This book would not have arrived in your hands without the efforts of my editor, Laura Burnett Staynings, and my literary attorney, Amy Laughlin, who thankfully didn’t set up a block against my e-mails when I would write every week to ask what was happening. And thanks to Peter and Caroline O’Connor for the beautiful cover. Your work perfectly captured both the mystery and grandeur I imagined for Edward Chase and his beloved hotel. I would also like to thank Bill O’Reilly for his amazing work,
Killing Lincoln
. Growing up a Kentucky girl, we studied a great deal about Abraham Lincoln and his
assassination, but O’Reilly’s book went well beyond those widely-known facts and provided an excellent reference rich with detail about the entire environment surrounding the event. It is a must-read for fans of Lincoln history.

And finally, my most fervent thanks go to my husband and sons for their love and support and for understanding that writing all night and sleeping all day sometimes works for me better than the other way around. And thanks to Daddy, just because.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

LeAnne Burnett Morse is a native of Kentucky and a graduate of Western Kentucky University. After more than 20 years writing and producing for television, she authored the non-fiction
Images of America: Fort Mill
and is currently writing a new historic fiction novel,
The Hunley Letters. The Willard
is her first novel. She and husband Kelly have two sons. They make their home in South Carolina.