National Library Week 2024 – Winston Churchill

The Library’s National Library Week program will be held on Tuesday, April 9 at noon in the Rogow Room with actor Larry Bounds presenting “Sir Winston Churchill – The Writer”.  Bounds will transform into preeminent statesman Sir Winston Churchill during his Chautauqua-style performance. He will then take questions from the audience as Sir Winston, then step out-of-character to provide his own 21^st century thoughts on this legendary historical figure.  This program is made possible by the Friends of the Library and also serves as the Annual Meeting of the Friends providing a brief update on Friends activities over the past year as well as spotlighting the many volunteers who give their time and talent to support the Friends and the Library,

Winston Churchill stands as one of Western Civilization’s greatest wartime leaders. Yet when it came to supporting his family (and a rather luxurious lifestyle), he earned his money as a writer.  As a soldier/journalist he served in combat in Cuba, British India, Sudan, and South Africa (where he escaped from a prisoner of war camp).  He experimented in fiction writing a novel and short story, but his greatest writings were his collected speeches and his nonfiction histories for which he was awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature.  Churchill will share his process for being a successful and prolific writer as well as his tips for improving anyone’s persuasive writing.

Larry Bounds has been a Chautauqua performer for more than twenty years and has presented an assortment of historical figures including Churchill, Einstein, Cronkite, and Disney for festivals from Florida to Colorado. He retired as a nationally certified teacher after 35 years in the classroom in 2019, but he still regularly performs as a professional magician as he has since 1973. While training with the Clarence Brown Theatre Company he earned a B.A. in theatre and later an M.S. in education from The University of Tennessee where he also served as an officer for the university’s Phi Delta Kappa teaching society. He now lives in Greer, South Carolina, with his wife Carole, and serves on several community boards. Visit larrybounds.com for more about the actor.