Barbara Wilcox

Barbara Wilcox is a longtime journalist and writer in news, public affairs and American culture. Her interest in World War I dates to tales told by her grandfather, who served with the American Expeditionary Force's 319th Services of Supply, QM Corps, in Gironde, France. This book was inspired during her term as a writer for the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, when USGS geophysicists proposed testing magnetometers over "Stanford University's hidden World War I tunnels." It originated in a question no one seemed able to answer: Why were the tunnels there? Why had a university given over its land for this purpose -- what made that OK, because it sure wouldn't be OK today. The Stanford Historical Society awarded Barbara Wilcox its Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing for research that led to this book. Barbara is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and of Stanford University. She lives in Menlo Park, on the site of Camp Fremont's school for bakers and cooks.