Boyhood’s End is the remarkable true story of a young man finding his way through a changing culture and a world at war. From high school through his enlistment in the Army, from his experiences as a front-line combat infantryman in Patton’s Third Army during the Rhineland Campaign to his return home at end of World War II, this “memories and a memoir” provides readers with an intimate portrait of a personal journey through an epic time.  It combines history, cultural memories, and social commentary punctuated with more than a hundred of Coleman’s images and illustrations from that time. It describes prevalent social attitudes and customs of the era, popular entertainers and cultural offerings, notable political and military figures, and significant historical events that impacted the lives of his generation and remain influential to this day.

While there has been a resurgence of interest in the Greatest Generation in recent years, the number of actual combat veterans who have shared their stories is relatively small. With Boyhood’s End, William S.E. Coleman introduces a new voice to the canon of World War II accounts and adds a fresh perspective on an era that is quickly disappearing from our view. Personal memories are mixed with excerpts from the Infantry history that Coleman co-authored and co-illustrated at the end of the war. For his service, he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and two Bronze Stars.

“Authors William S.E. Coleman and Linda Robbins Coleman have created a rich narrative that reads like a novel and is as informative as a documentary. A must-read for anyone interested in the World War II era.”

About the Authors

Boyhood’s End is the culmination of William and Linda’s forty-year-long personal and professional partnership. Over the years they collaborated on more than thirty theatre productions, dozens of scholarly articles, books, plays, and music. Their advocacy and contributions to non-profit arts organizations and individual artists have been celebrated here and abroad. Their Voices of Wounded Knee (published by University of Nebraska Press) was the first book to give equal weight to the testimony of Native Americans and is considered the definitive book on this topic.

William S.E. Coleman dropped out of high school and enlisted in the US Army in 1944 at the age of 17. One of the last age groups to see front-line combat in World War II, he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and two Bronze Stars for his service. After the war he attended college through the G.I. Bill of Rights and enjoyed an illustrious career as an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, historian, author, director, and professor of theatre arts.

Career highlights include numerous awards and international recognition along with more than 100 productions of his plays throughout the United States (including Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway), Canada, Australia, England, and various regional and university theaters. During his 36 years as Professor of Theatre at Drake University, he created the Playwrights Acting Company which became a model for playwriting companies in universities throughout the country. In 2016, Drake honored his legacy by renaming their black box theatre the William S.E. Coleman Studio Theatre and establishing a guest artist series in his name.

Recognized as one of the leading experts on the life and career of William F. Cody, Coleman’s mixed media show Buffalo Bill’s WILD WEST was presented throughout the United States and Europe. He appeared on NPR and the BBC and served as a consultant for the National Geographic magazine and several Cody museums and collections.

Coleman and his wife Linda spent nearly thirty years gathering documents to create Voices of Wounded Knee. Published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2000, their book details the events and attitudes leading to the 1890 Massacre and the end of the Plains Indian Wars. This was the first book to give equal weight to the testimony of Native Americans and is considered the definitive book on this topic.

Linda Robbins Coleman is a composer, pianist, writer, and arts ambassador whose music is regularly performed and broadcast throughout North America and Europe. She became the first Iowa woman to have music performed by a major symphony orchestra and to serve as Composer-in-Residence with any orchestra. Her residencies include Drake Theatre, the Wartburg Community Symphony, and Orchestra Iowa.

Career highlights include more than 75 commissions, and honors from Drake University, Sigma Alpha Iota, the ACTF at the Kennedy Center, and the Houston International Film Festival. Her music is listed in Daniels’ Orchestral Music, published by Rowman & Littlefield.

In 2021 her symphonic poem For a Beautiful Land was included on the American Discoveries CD by Reuben Blundell and the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra. This recording was awarded the American Prize for Orchestra Performance. That year also saw the premiere of Diversions, a concerto for one soloist, three flutes and orchestra, commissioned by Robert McConnell and the Southeast Iowa Symphony. In September 2022, it was featured on flutist Rose Bishop’s CD, Diversions.

Coleman co-founded the Friends of Drake Arts and the Iowa Composers Forum and has served on committees and boards for numerous organizations including the International Conductors Guild.  Since 1976, she has owned Coleman Creative Services, working in performance, promotion, publicity, research, and consultation. She is a published poet and writer and has worked as an editor, historian, educator, publicist, and coordinator for numerous organizations and groups throughout the USA and abroad. Additionally, she served as a caregiver to elderly relatives for more than three decades.