Name: Better Late Than Never: Publishing at 70
Start: 2026-04-16T17:30:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-16T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Woman's Club of Wisconsin

Better Late Than Never: Publishing at 70

Featuring William Honrath & Dave Luhrssen
About this Event

Thursday, April 16

5:30 PM Social, 6:00 PM Dinner, Program starts at dessert

Wondering if you still have a book in you? It’s never too late, according to William (Bill) Honrath, author of The Plots of Men. What led him to wrap up a novel that had consumed his time and effort for years? What gave him the confidence to finally seek and be successful in publishing? In Bill’s words, “What was the point of going through all of that work and expense? Why didn’t I just go quietly into that great sunset?”

Originally Honrath though he’d write a book combining the rise of the Nazis in Germany, Hitler’s appreciation for certain painters, and Milwaukee’s deep-dyed Teutonic heritage. And that’s still there. But as the research accumulated and the story grew, it became more and more Wisconsin, and eventually Milwaukee-centered. He’d found there were just too many interesting characters running around at that time.

It's April 1934. In the Upper Midwest, gangster John Dillinger is hired to provide security for a secret meeting. In Germany, the number two man at the SS, Reinhardt Heydrich, coerces a reluctant ex-judge to journey to Milwaukee to purchase a painting by noted German American Carl von Marr. In Paris, Allan Dulles, the future CIA director, tests his spook skills with the femme fatale he dispatches to Milwaukee. And what about the spiritualist? The Jesuits, the Illuminati, and Billy Mitchell all take their place this tale set in America’s heartland.

The speculations and fictionalizations in The Plots of Men grow from solid historical research. A masterful and witty storyteller, Honrath had fun writing and researching the book and hopes that's the general reaction of people who read it. “I’ve always resented”, claims Bill, “that Milwaukee is looked at as a punchline”.

Join us for a fascinating and fun evening as Dave Luhrssen from Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express interviews this man with a compulsive memory for all things historical.

First-time novelist William Honrath is a retired Milwaukee County assistant family court commissioner.

David Luhrssen is Managing Editor of the Shepherd Express and author of several books on cultural history, including Secret Societies and Clubs in American History, Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen, Hammer of the Gods: Thule Society and the Birth of Nazism, The Vietnam War on Film, World War II on Film, The Encyclopedia of Classic Rock and Milwaukee Rock & Roll: 1950-2000.