3 WINTER TEXAN TIMES www.wintertexantimes.com FEBRUARY 28, 2024 MOBILE HOME INSURANCE HIDALGO COUNTY We Also Insure PARK MODELS • TRAVEL TRAILERS MOTORHOMES • GOLF CARTS • “CASITAS” 5TH WHEELS • AUTOS • MOTORCYCLES Galvan Insurance Agency, Inc. 1101 East Business 83 Donna, TX 1 1/2 milesWest of Don-Wes Flea Market www.galvaninsuranceagency.com *Premium subject to carrier underwriting. Rate subject to change. *$284.00per year. Conditions Apply. As Low as Plan Covers: Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Smoke, Wind (Hurricane, Tornadoes), Hail, Riot & Civil Commotion, Land & Air Vehicles... Also Includes $100,000 Liability Coverage. Flood Coverage Available Call or Come See Us 956-464-2886 By Herb Moering True life adventures of a former globe-trotting British subject, born in England in 1934, were unveiled at a book signing Friday afternoon at Val’s Kountry Corral RV Park in Mission. Julia Stanton Peck’s book, Julia and Peter, recounts several decades of traveling the world, to more than 40 countries with her late husband Peter, a fashion photographer, who worked for many national companies from his studio in London, England. The book is also a love story about the couple who were friends for 20 years after meeting in 1982. They married 20 years later on February 2, 2002, and 12 days later on Valentine’s Day, they purchased the 112-site Val’s Kountry Corral RV Park. The book idea came through the encouragement of Larry Lammert, a Val’s Park resident from Wisconsin, who first listened to her stories from the past and then started recording them. When he reached a hundred pages, he told Julia she should consider turning it into a book, especially since her memory was so accurate and detailed. Lemmert told her, “Girl, you got it; don’t second guess yourself.” Julia finally took his advice and contacted a publisher, who liked what he had received, and the result was the book spanning her childhood that included living through the German bombing in World War II to dealing in confectionary and making ice cream. Most of the book’s chapters deal with her view of the war, with radar, RAF, Churchill’s cardboard airplanes, terror at night and the aftermath of healing from the physical and mental scars of war. There are chapters about Peter and his work, like photographing Queen Elizabeth and a lovely legs competition, plus the work at the Arizona and Manchester studios. After following in her mother’s footsteps to become a retail businesswoman, Julia ran an outdoor kiosk for many years before coming to the U.S. in 1956. She got her green card in 1959 and landed a photography job from a newspaper ad that allowed her to travel all over the U.S. Her husband, who was a cousin to the late actor Gregory Peck, came to the U.S. on a more permanent basis a few years later as he was flying across the Atlantic regularly on business. Julia said her husband figured he had crossed the Atlantic 800 times for various photo shoots. The photographer specialized in lighting and made equipment for the Kodak Book tells of war, traveling, and love New author Julia Peck, second from right, signed copies of her book Julia and Peter Friday afternoon in the clubhouse at Val’s Kountry Corral RV Park for D.J. and Sonia Villarreal, on left, longtime friends from McAllen. Assisting her at the Winter Texan Park were friends from Edinburg, Sylvia N. Fortiun, on right, and Siän Gonzalez, 3rd from right, who is in the book. Also with the group is Julia’s grandson, Christopher Woodford, visiting from England. Photo by Herb Moering See BOOK pg. 22
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