He knew some of them, his counterparts at the finest hotels in London, Dublin, Paris, and Rome. There were many more all over the world, likely in the United States as well, although he had never met them. Their stories of how they came to be were varied and secret. They were a society of shadow figures, appearing and disappearing as needed, giving up their own lives to serve history. Some were concierges like he was. Others were librarians, train conductors, tour guides. They were anything they needed to be for the portal they served. As he organized his work area for the night he asked himself a familiar question. Knowing all that I know now, would I have chosen this life?
As many times as he had asked himself that question he had never answered it and tonight would be no exception. A well-dressed gentleman had just entered the famed lobby and Chase recognized him at once. Duty called. He put aside his ruminations, straightened his jacket, and approached the man.
“Mr. Staynings?” Chase shook hands with the gentleman.
“Yes, I’m Eric Staynings.”
“Mr. Staynings, my name is Edward Chase and I’m your concierge. Welcome to the Willard.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first time I visited the Willard Hotel I was struck with a sense of awe by the history of the place and the feeling of gravity that permeates the space. I had reserved the Jefferson Suite as a location for shooting a series of interviews for a television show I was producing. While I was there I couldn’t get over the feeling that I was standing in a special place—a place where the walls could tell stories featuring some of the most famous and infamous people and events of our nation’s history. And since walls cannot talk, I was intrigued by the idea of being able to speak for them, with the added perspective of a fictional scenario that could be both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I have taken artistic license with many historic moments and intermixed fact with fiction and have done so with the intention to preserve the spirit of the true event while giving the characters the freedom to interact in a meaningful way. Any historical inaccuracies are mine entirely.
So where does fact meet fiction in what you’ve just read? To begin, Chapter 2, “The Grande Dame” is completely accurate. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, Julia Ward Howe, and many more have all found a night’s rest at the Willard during extraordinary times.
Martin Luther King, Jr. did, in fact, stay at the Willard the night before the March on Washington and legend has it that he finished his “I Have A Dream” speech there. However, history records that the portion of the speech we know so well, even the title itself, was likely an ad lib taken from an earlier speech Dr. King had given at another event. The day of the march there were several speakers and it may have been that by the time he spoke the crowd may not have been responding as fervently as he had hoped, which may have prompted him to add the extra content that went down in history as one of the greatest and most well-received speeches in American history.
One insider nod if you’re into dates is the room numbers to which three of the guests are assigned. Catherine Parker is in room 414, a nod to the date President Lincoln was shot on April 14th. He died early the on the morning of the 15th. Tom Kelly’s adventure begins in room 1022, referencing the October 22nd date of President Kennedy’s televised speech to the nation about the nuclear threat. And Calvin Walker’s room number, 828, is a nod to the date of the March on Washington, August 28th. Olivia Fordham is the exception to this pattern because she stays in the Jefferson Suite, which is also referred to as the Presidential Suite if you are planning to book a stay at the Willard and would like to experience all the comforts Olivia enjoys. The description of the layout of Jefferson Suite is entirely accurate. Ironically, the concierge desk itself has changed somewhat since the first time I was at the Willard. The desk is still in place, but it is now the reception desk and the concierge area has moved to another part of the lobby. I opted to put it back to the way it was when I saw it originally because I could picture Edward Chase there with a grand vantage point from which he could conduct his important work.
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 wo
uld 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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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.
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