Books, Writing, History, and Me
In “Books, Writing, History, and Me” I share my thoughts on travel, cooking, van-life, books, the process of writing, the experiences of an indie-publisher, WWII, the Holocaust, and anything else I feel might be of interest to readers of my books. Please send me comments and let me know what you like and what you want to know more about. Everything in this blog reflects my personal ideas and feelings–a memoir of sorts, it is my perspective and any errors or omissions are mine.
Camp Ritchie, Maryland – Development of the Intelligence Training Center
The 400 acres that was to become the Camp Ritchie Intelligence Training Center, began life in 1889 as the property of the Buena Vista Ice Company. They created two manmade lakes where winter allowed natural ice to form which could be shipped via the nearby railroad spur to Washington, DC. The lakes also served as…
World War II Posters and the War Advertising Council
When I visited the Military Heritage Museum in Punta Gorda, Florida, last October, I paused in the meeting room after my talk to enjoy their display of World War II posters. They reminded me vividly of the passion and self-sacrifice the American people were expected to display at that time in…
World War II slogan, Loose Lips Sink Ships
The novel Immigrant Soldier is interspersed with letters Herman writes to his mother. These letters are based on actual correspondence treasured by our family. One of these letters, the one Herman wrote during his Camp Ritchie training, is notable because it is composed on special stationery with the slogan, “Idle gossip sinks ships” printed at…
The True Story of General Patton’s New Boots
My last blog explained the process of expanding and fictionalizing the true stories Herman told me. This imagining and expanding of Herman’s memories was great creative fun. Far more difficult, but equally important, was culling redundant or irrelevant sections so the novel maintained a momentum to keep the reader engaged. …
Truth vs Fiction: A Book Group Question about Immigrant Soldier
When I am speaking with book clubs who have read Immigrant Soldier, one of the questions I am most often asked is: “What parts are true and what bits are totally from the author’s imagination?” Naturally in the limited time we usually have, and in the limited space of a blog post, I cannot go through the…
Camp Young, Desert Training Center, World War II
On Sunday, June 19th, I celebrated Father’s Day as part of a panel of authors of military literature, an event sponsored by the Friends of the San Juan Capistrano Library. The other panel member was Frank McAdams, who wrote the Pulitzer nominated book, Vietnam Roughrider: A Convoy Commander’s Memoir. Before the panel started, the moderator, Pat…
The Ritchie Boys and D-Day
I have just returned from a trip to France which included almost a month in a Brittany village and a tour with Road Scholar. Because of my interest in World War II, the highlight of the tour was the two days dedicated to learning about the Normandy Landings on D-Day. We visited…
Marthe Cohn, Behind Enemy Lines
Last year in the end of December, I was able to attend a talk by Marthe Cohn, holocaust survivor and French spy. A diminutive woman in her mid-90s, she perched on a high chair with her husband by her side. I was part of the audience gathered at the Laguna Beach Chabad…
The Battle of Saint-Malo in World War II
Ever since I first visited Saint-Malo with my daughter in 1998, I have wanted to return. It is a beautiful old walled city on the Brittany coast of France where extreme tides create a dynamic backdrop. However, it was not until last year when I read All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, that I realized this beautiful city was decimated…
The Archivist of the Ritchie Boys
Whenever I need statistics about the Ritchie Boys, I contact Dan Gross. I have come to call him “The Archivist.” I don’t know if this title is original to me, or if I heard it somewhere, but it is well-deserved. For the last decade, Dan has spent countless hours researching the Ritchie Boys at the…
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