Radio Bantik:
Days in the Life of an Alpha Geek

It’s taken almost a year of on-again, off-again effort, but my book is finally ready for the world! For those of you who do not know, last year I took my grandmother to Poland to visit her childhood home. She had not been back since World War II. I kept a journal and took nearly 600 pictures during our emotional, 10-day trip. This afternoon I finally completed turning them into a book. It’s called Kehr Wieder, which is German for “return”.

From the introduction:

When I was growing up, I spent hours listening to stories that my grandmother told about her childhood in Danzig, Poland. Her early years were idyllic and full of adventure, a stark contrast to the horror that World War II would bring to her corner of the world.

Like so many others in Europe, the war changed everything for her family. Almost overnight, their hardworking but happy lifestyle changed into a daily struggle for survival as the nations of the world fought at their very doorstep.

By the time the war was over, her remaining family had been scattered across the continent and had lost practically everything. Ever the fighter, my grandmother pulled herself out of the ruins of her stolen childhood and started a new life and a new family in America.

But although she made a good life for herself here, she has always been haunted by the memories of her home.

In celebration of her 85th birthday, and in thanks for everything that she has done for me, I took my grandmother back to Germany and Poland in 2007 to see the place that she came from one more time.

This is the story of our journey home.

You can preview the book online and even buy a copy if you’re so inclined. Thanks to Blurb.com for their free bookmaking software, bookstore, and on-demand press.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 11:24 am and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.