Liam Callanan — Stone Age Astronaut: The Astonishing Adventures of America’s Forgotten Flier - With Dana Milbank — at The Wharf
Liam Callanan presents *Stone Age Astronaut: The Astonishing Adventures of America’s Forgotten Flier* in conversation with Dana Milbank. Callanan’s biography recovers the remarkable story of Lester Maitland, a Milwaukee-born aviator whose pioneering achievements briefly made him as famous as Charles Lindbergh before his name largely disappeared from public memory.
Maitland became a flight instructor at 19, served as one of the U.S. Army’s first test pilots, became the first American to fly faster than 200 miles per hour, and in 1927 made the first flight to Hawaii, an achievement that earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. His later life included wartime command, professional setbacks, retirement under mysterious circumstances, and a reinvention as an Episcopal priest. Drawing on archival research, newspapers, interviews, and visits to significant locations, Callanan places Maitland’s life alongside figures and events including Amelia Earhart, Billy Mitchell, Ernest Hemingway, Gerald Ford, Richard Bong, Harry Houdini, and the Pearl Harbor era.
When: Friday, November 20, 2026
Showtime: 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Politics and Prose at The Wharf, 610 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024
Format: Liam Callanan will appear in conversation with Dana Milbank.
Author: Liam Callanan is the author of six books, including the national bestseller *Paris by the Book*, which received the Edna Ferber Prize and was translated into multiple languages. He has also won the Hunt Prize, and his first novel, *The Cloud Atlas*, was an Edgar Award finalist. His writing has appeared in *The Wall Street Journal*, *Slate*, *The New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, and *The San Francisco Chronicle*. A Washington, DC native, he was a regular essayist for WAMU and now teaches at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Conversation Partner: Dana Milbank is a political columnist for The Washington Sun and previously spent many years as an op-ed columnist for *The Washington Post*, where his column was syndicated to more than 400 newspapers. He regularly provides political commentary on television and radio and is the author of five books about politics, including *Fools on the Hill*, *The Destructionists*, and *Homo Politicus*.
Featured Book: *Stone Age Astronaut: The Astonishing Adventures of America’s Forgotten Flier* by Liam Callanan.
Book Price: The event page lists the featured paperback at $24.95. This is the book’s listed price, not a stated event-admission price.
Tickets: Price not available