World War II author headlines Friends of the Library of Collier County event

Any good history book is a mosaic of colorful tidbits that bring context to a major event.

That’s what Catherine Grace Katz has in abundance in her profiles of the “daughter diplomats” who worked behind the scenes at the Yalta Conference in World War II’s waning months.

For her debut book — “The Daughters of Yalta,” subtitled “The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War” — Katz had unprecedented access to diaries, archives and family members of these three remarkable women: Sarah Churchill, Anna Roosevelt and Kathleen Harriman.

More: Artificial intelligence author kicks off Friends of the Library nonfiction lecture series

And: Collier County Nonfiction Author Series set for early 2022, will be in-person

Katz — whose lecture is Monday — is the second of four speakers in the 2022 Nonfiction Author Series, sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Library of Collier County, which raises money for public library programs and resources.

The lecture series includes breakfast and is being held at the Kensington Country Club in Naples. The series is sold out, but contact the Friends office to be put on a waiting list. (See info box for details.)

Katz, a writer and historian from Chicago, said fortuitous connections led her to this previously untold story that reads like a novel. “It just felt like the three daughters had found me.”

The future was literally at stake when the Western allies met at Yalta in February 1945, guests of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, to hash out the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe:

• U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt was gravely ill, to an extent known only by his doctor and his daughter Anna; he died two months later.

• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called on his daughter Sarah’s political instincts as he struggled to hold onto power at home; he lost the July 1945 election.

• U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman relied on his daughter Kathleen, a war correspondent and champion athlete, to organize accommodations for the attendees; it was a daunting assignment.

Katz answered these questions ahead of her talk in Naples.

Naples Daily News: You say in the Acknowledgements that you were invited to write about Sarah Churchill as her papers were first being made available. What focused your attention on Yalta and adding the other two women?

Catherine Grace Katz: The opportunity to be the first person to dive into and write about Sarah Churchill’s papers when the family and the Churchill Archives Centre first opened them was one of those unexpected coincidences in life that you can never plan for and takes you on an adventure you never could have anticipated. Sarah Churchill had a fascinating life, from her starring turn in a movie with Fred Astaire to her wartime service in the women’s branch of the RAF, and I knew there was so much more I wanted to say about her than could fit in an article. I started thinking about writing a biography about her, but the more I read about her work during the war, especially with her father, with whom she had a wonderful relationship, the more fascinated I became.

She had these remarkable opportunities to serve as his aide de camp at both the Tehran and Yalta Conferences, and in all the time I had studied those events in school, I had never realized that she had been there and that her presence at Tehran in 1943 inspired both FDR and Averell Harriman to bring their daughters to Yalta. The Churchill family put me in touch with Kathy Harriman’s family, and they helped me get in touch with Anna Roosevelt’s daughter and son, and they all agreed to let me interview them and shared many letters, diaries and scrapbooks with me. I realized this was such a special opportunity to not only be the first person to see documents historians had never seen before, but also to speak directly with those who loved these individuals more than anyone — and, in some cases, remembered Yalta — and it just felt like the three daughters had found me. It was such an honor to be able to tell their story.

NDN: What’s an anecdote you uncovered in your research that most amused or surprised you?

CGK: Amidst a dignified affair like the Yalta Conference, there was a lot of bathroom humor! And by bathroom humor, I mean literal hilarity stemming from the abject lack of indoor plumbing in the Tsar’s onetime summer palace! For a contingent of hundreds, including some of the most important wartime leaders, there were a mere three or four bathrooms, which led to numerous amusing situations. You find Stalin’s security team thinking the Americans had kidnapped him when they lost him in the shuffle for the loo; admirals and generals holding impromptu meetings in their bathrobes in the morning queue for the toilets; and the head of the RAF, Sir Peter Portal, jumping up and down to look through the transom to see who was taking too long in the bath so he could start heckling him from the other side of the door. These little episodes that are lighthearted and amusing aren’t just side bits, they also really help you remember that even our heroes are human, just like the rest of us!

NDN: You offer extraordinary detail, not just words, but also facial expressions and hand gestures. For example, when the three leaders are discussing dismembering Germany and then FDR goes off on his tangent about his travels in Germany as a young student (Page 140). “… the Soviets looked at him with indifference … Churchill toyed with his cigar while (Foreign Secretary Anthony) Eden stared off at some point in the distance.” You obviously have records of the words said in these meetings, but do they also give the detailed color, or are you extrapolating from each person’s usual habits?

CGK: No extrapolation whatsoever! People sometimes ask me how much of the description comes from my own imagination, and the honest answer is none of it. If I’m describing someone’s thoughts, emotions, facial expressions, gestures, etc., it’s because people recorded those details in letters and diaries. They are captured in photographs, newsreels and oral histories, and a plethora of sources we tend to think of as ephemera. The creativity and imagination comes in casting a large net to look at a wide variety of sources, not just the official meeting minutes or autobiographies of the most prominent individuals, but also the letters of junior aides, dinner menus and weather reports.

The details from the particular passage you reference were recorded by Charles “Chip” Bohlen, who was serving as FDR’s Russian interpreter and would later go on to become one of the foremost Russia experts and one of the “Wise Men” of the Cold War. As an interpreter, Bohlen had to be extremely observant and took copious notes. Historians like me are now the beneficiaries of that great attention to detail.

NDN: Another lingering impression is the misery and loss due to untreated mental health and traumatic stress issues. Of course, at that time, as one person says: Psychiatrists were only for “crazy people.” What did you think about all these crucial decisions being made by people who were perhaps not fit to deal with them?

CGK: One of the heartbreaking elements that runs through this story is how many people were affected by the trauma of the war at a time when we did not understand or appreciate mental health the way we do now. Everyone was affected, either directly or in their efforts to help those they loved who were struggling. You can particularly see the three daughters struggling with that as they try to help their respective husbands, each of whom suffered from wartime mental health issues.

Another question I often receive is about FDR’s state of physical health at the time of Yalta, and whether the fact he was dying of congestive heart failure (which was a secret his daughter Anna was keeping for him) weakened his ability to forcefully negotiate with Stalin because he was sick and exhausted. Perhaps a bit; however, I think his objectives and worldview toward the Soviet Union were pretty well formed before he was acutely ill.

Unfortunately, he did not have a deep understanding of Soviet history, politics and culture, and he did not surround himself with the few American experts who did, instead preferring to rely on his powers of personal persuasion, which had served him so well in domestic politics and in his relationship with Churchill. He was too willing to give Stalin the benefit of the doubt on issues like free elections in Poland, and instead used his chips on issues like securing Soviet participation in the Pacific theater and the founding of the UN.

NDN: Your book has been acquired by Academy Award-nominated producer Amy Pascal (“A League of Their Own” and “Little Women”). What’s the latest — do you know if it will be a movie or a miniseries?

CGK: Ha! Yes, it was optioned by Amy Pascal, which was amazing, because “A League of Their Own” and “Little Women” were two of my absolute favorite movies growing up. I’m afraid I can’t share any other details at this time, but it’s a tough decision on the movie vs. miniseries front. I can see it as either one! One thing I would love: I can totally see Jon Hamm as Averell Harriman!

What: Author lectures and breakfasts that are a major fundraiser for the Collier County Public Library system

Where: Kensington Country Club, 2700 Pine Ridge Road, Naples

When: Breakfast is served at 8:30 a.m.; authors speak at 9:15 a.m., followed by a book signing

Author lineup: Catherine Grace Katz, Monday, Feb. 14; Jared Diamond, Monday, March 7; and Jonathan Kaufman, Monday, March 28

COVID precautions: Kensington Country Club has a protocol based on CDC guidelines. On an honor basis, people who are sick or who have symptoms should not attend; people who are vaccinated need not wear a mask; people who are not vaccinated should wear a mask until seated at their table; and people who have been sick can attend after five days isolation if they are asymptomatic and wear a mask until seated at their table.

Cost: $250 for members of the Friends of the Library of Collier County, and $295 for nonmembers. Friends memberships begin at $30/year and provide access and discounts to other programs; sign up at collier-friends.org.

Tickets: The series is sold out but there is a waiting list. Email Marlene Haywood at mhaywood@collier-friends.org or call 239-262-8135.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Catherine Grace Katz discusses her World War II book Monday in Naples