Shannon McKenna Schmidt

Shannon McKenna Schmidt is the author of The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back. The book is the first to chronicle in full the story of Roosevelt’s secret journey to the Pacific theater in 1943. Schmidt will share photos and other archival materials as she discusses this unprecedented undertaking, described by a reporter at the time as “the most remarkable journey any president’s wife has ever made.”

Schmidt is the co-author of two previous books, Novel Destinations and Writers Between the Covers, and has written for National Geographic Traveler, NPR.org and other publications and websites, including an Arrive magazine cover story featuring President Bill Clinton. She has appeared as a guest on television and radio programs, among them MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and has spoken at such venues as the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. From 2010 through 2017, Schmidt traveled full-time—first in the United States by RV and then backpacking around the globe. She now lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.