Handley Regional Library System is proud to host acclaimed author Peter Stark for a special talk, The Growth of Young George Washington in Lord Fairfax’s Wilderness Lands, on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 2:30 PM in the Robinson Auditorium at Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia.
Two decades before he led America to independence, George Washington was an inexperienced young officer serving the British Empire in the rugged wilderness of Western Virginia and the Ohio Valley. At just twenty-two years old, Washington’s missteps helped ignite the French and Indian War—a conflict that would ultimately set the stage for the American Revolution.
Drawing from his book Young Washington, Stark will explore how Washington’s wilderness exploits, trials, and hardships transformed him from a temperamental and ambitious striver into the disciplined, resourceful leader who would become the nation’s first president. Central to this transformation were the more than five million acres of Virginia wilderness owned by Lord Fairfax, where Washington’s early experiences shaped his leadership and <a href="http://vision.
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The event is free and open to the public.
Robinson Auditorium, Handley Library