After over 16 years of research and writing and editing, re-writing and more editing, and re-writing again and again and even more editing, I’m so pleased and grateful that the WWII book about my father and his stunning exploits, “At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse,” has it’s “Happy Book Birthday” with its national release TODAY, April 19. The OFFICIAL Press Release is below. Thanks for helping me spread the news far and wide!

You Can View or Order the Book Here from Amazon

Or from Bookshop.org Here

“This story is extraordinary: an almost forgotten hero, tough combat, tragic sacrifice, gripping aftermath, a marvelous horse, and an astonishing ending. Don’t miss reading this remarkable book.

—Gen. David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.) four-star general, former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan

News-Dispatch from Knox Press — April 19, 2022

At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse

by Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey

NASHVILLE, TN, April 19, 2022, Knox Press, an imprint of Permuted Press, will publish At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse by award-winning author and medical journalist Walt Larimore and writer Mike Yorkey on April 19, 2022.

Readers who enjoyed War Horse, Band of Brothers, and Beneath a Scarlet Sky will be enthralled and inspired by At First Light. The book is an engagingly written military history and biography of the author’s heroic father Philip Bonham Larimore, Jr., a tribute from a son to his father, and to all the American soldiers who fought in World War II’s “forgotten” southern European front.

Author Walt Larimore explains, “I believe from the bottom of my heart that our wonderful country and the freedoms we all enjoy exist because we sit on the shoulders of these amazing men and women. We can only try to fill their very big boots—to make them proud—and do our best to preserve the freedom and liberty for which they surrendered so much.”

Walt Larimore is a prolific author and has written or co-written forty books, thirty medical textbook chapters, and over 1,000 articles in various medical journals and lay magazines. His books have garnered a number of national awards, including three Gold Medallion Award nominations, a Book of the Year Award from ECPA, and most recently, At First Light received the “Highly Commended” and “Finalist” awards at the international 2020 Page Turner Awards. Dr. Larimore has also authored four novels and five memoir-style bestsellers.

As an award-winning medical journalist, Dr. Larimore has extensive on-air experience. From 1995 to 2000, he hosted over 850 live daily episodes of the national cable TV show “Ask the Family Doctor ” on the Health Network (aka America’s Health Network) and later on Fox’s Health Network.

Dr. Larimore has appeared in interviews on NBC’s “The Today Show;” “CBS Good Morning;” “CNN Headline News;” CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNBC’s “The Abrams Report;” PBS’ “Family Works;” and several Fox News shows. He has also been interviewed on Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity’s shows as well as by national magazines including Redbook, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style, Significant Living, Today’s Christian, Home Life, Family Life, Stand Firm, First for Women, Today’s Christian Physician, My Family Doctor, AMA News, Family Practice News, and Pediatric News.

Mike Yorkey is a veteran author who has worked with a considerable number of high-profile speakers, authors, and sports figures over the last twenty-five years. He has authored and co-authored (as a collaborator) more than 110 books in many genres.

The book was feted in Baton Rouge, LA on April 7 where Phil Larimore was a beloved professor of cartography for over 45 years. Coverage at links below.

• AP News Story carried on CNN and U.S. News and World Report
• TV Story on WAFB TV Baton Rouge:
• inRegister Magazine Book Review
• Radio Coverage: Mornings with Brian Haldane – Talk Radio 107.3FM

More Advance Praise for At First Light:

“This story is extraordinary. An almost forgotten hero: tough combat, tragic sacrifice, a marvelous horse, and an astonishing ending. Don’t miss this remarkable book.”

—DAVID H. PETRAEUS, U.S. Army (Ret.) four-star general and former CIA Director

“What a fantastic story. I highly recommend At First Light … deserves a standing ovation.”

—MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Duke University

“Phil Larimore was a Dick Winters from the Band of Brothers-type of frontline, small-unit combat leader. At First Light has the makings of a great movie or Ken Burns miniseries.”

— ALEXANDER P. SHINE, U.S. Army, Infantry (Ret.) Colonel, Former Army War College Professor

“This true tale scores in spades. It may just keep you up till first light.”

—JERRY B. JENKINS, twenty-one time New York Times best-selling novelist

“At First Light is riveting…a fascinating story of an American hero…truly inspirational.”

—JOE GIBBS, five-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and three-time Super Bowl champion

“One of the most fascinating stories of World War II. Heartwarming true story of a great American hero.”

— WILLIAM G. BOYKIN, U.S. Army (Ret.) three-star general

“I love World War II books, and none is better than At First Light …it’s like a combination of Band of Brothers and War Horse or Unbroken and Seabiscuit.”

—PAT WILLIAMS, co-founder of the NBA’s Orlando Magic

“At a time when we need real heroes more than ever, At First Light should inspire, bless, and encourage every American.”

—CAL THOMAS, nationally syndicated columnist

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Growing up in the 1930s in Memphis, Tennessee, Phil Larimore is the ultimate Boy Scout—able to read maps, put a compass to good use, and traverse wild swamps and desolate canyons. His other great skill is riding horses.

Phil does poorly in school, however, leading his parents to send him to a military academy. After Pearl Harbor, Phil realizes he is destined for war. Three weeks before his eighteenth birthday, he became the youngest candidate to ever graduate from Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Landing on the Anzio Beachhead in February 1944, Phil is put in charge of an Ammunition Pioneer Platoon in the 3rd Infantry Division. Their job: deliver ammunition to the frontline foxholes—a dangerous assignment involving regular forays into No Man’s Land.

As Phil fights his way up the Italian boot, into southern France and across the Rhine River into Germany, he is caught up in some of the most intense combat ever as one of the youngest officers in the U.S. Army.

Toward the end of the war, after fifteen months of front-line fighting, he’s sent on a top-secret mission to find the world-famous Lipizzaner horses that Hitler has hidden away.

But it’s what happens in the final stages of the war and his homecoming that makes Phil’s story incredibly special and heartwarming.

An emotional tale of courage, daring, and heroism, At First Light will remind you of the indomitable human spirit that lives in all of us.

Book Information:

• At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse
• By Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey
• Published by Knox Press
• Distributed by Simon & Schuster
• Hardcover, $35
• Length: 459 pages
• Illus.: b&w photos
• ISBN 13: 9781642939590
• ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-960-6
• Publication date: April 19, 2022
• Knox Press is named in honor of Henry Knox, a young Boston bookseller who became one of George

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