Education of a Wandering Man
In 1985, Louis L’Amour and his wife Katherine are enjoying a roadside cafe in France as they tour the country and it’s rich history. Louis’ time there during WWII gave him ample fodder for many of his most popular novels including THE WALKING DRUM.
From EDUCATION OF A WANDERING MAN (https://www.louislamour.com/nonfiction/education.htm):
“As it turned out, my time overseas was spent in the European Theater of Operations. I did what I was given to do and they gave me four Bronze Stars for doing it reasonably well. I spent time in England before Do-Day, traveled in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany and made some good friends in France who are my friends still.
There was no time for writing during the war, but one could always think, and one could observe and remember. The beach at Brignogan from which Kerbouchard was taken into slavery I first saw at this time, with its white sands and stark black rocks. On a brief vacation, one of the few times when I was free, I visited a castle in the forest, now a ruined castle of stone, but in The Walking Drum it was built of timber, as most of them were. This was the castle where Kerbouchard killed his enemy Tournemine and from which he took his body to dump it into what was believed to be the mouth of Hell.
There were places and people to be seen and remembered, there were stories to be heard, and I was hungry for them all. Ours is a rich and wonderful world, and there are stories everywhere. Nobody should ever try to second-guess history; the facts are fantastic enough.”
