Join us for a Memorial Weekend Event! The Soft Mud of France is the inaugural work of Gregory Vail, a local area resident, who recently transplanted from Laguna Beach, California, back to his family's 1765 Danby roots – some of which are described in the book. Vail was able to complete his work in the tranquility of Rupert.

Soft Mud is the story of Greg's World War I fighter pilot father, 1st Lt. William Vail of the 95th Aero Squadron, in 1918 France and 64 consequential years of his life thereafter. Greg is Lt. Vail's only son and one of the few surviving children of World War I aviators, and by far the youngest. The book title derives from William Vail's own words written in 1970 that "the soft mud of France there in the Argonne saved him from [bleeding to] death."

Event Info

Dec 28, 2024, 10 to 11 AM

Dec 29, 2024, 9 to 9 AM

Dec 29, 2024, 3 PM