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RARE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT IN OLD LETTER DETAILS SHANGHAI ARRIVAL 80 YEARS AGO
RARE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT IN OLD LETTER DETAILS MY FATHER’S ARRIVAL IN SHANGHAI, CHINA 80 YEARS AGO – JULY 5, 1939 After escaping Hitler’s growing threat in his occupied Czech homeland, and traveling nearly 10,000 nautical miles from Marseille, France, Oswald “Valdik” Holzer, on July 5, 1939, reached Shanghai. My father was a 28-year-old physician in a…
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Adventurers Against Their Will featured in Holocaust Education Book
‘Literature Can Help Bring Forward Every Aspect of Human Life.’ (from the book: Essentials of Holocaust Education: Fundamental Issues and Approaches) An author’s life is never dull. After almost nine years, I’ve nearly finished my second and third books (My Dear Boy and Steadfast Ink). As they go through final edits, I’ve entered the stage…
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I Love Book Clubs
I LOVE BOOK CLUBS As a non-fiction author, it’s particularly meaningful when you have a chance to connect live with readers who’ve had the experience to “meet” your real life characters. This opportunity recently happened for me when I got an email invitation to attend a long standing book club who’d read Adventurers Against Their…
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Help Build Confidence in a Writer
Help Build Confidence in a Writer…An Evening of Readings February 20, 2015 at Florida Institute of Technology Evans Library… What does a Shuttle astronaut, an honorary Brevard County Historian, the wife of a Florida former poet laureate and Joanie Holzer Schirm have in common? Nothing that I, Joanie, can figure out until February 20, 2015…
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Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! 2015 Kicks off in Orlando!
January 26, 2015: On a perfect sunny day, with music, dance, drama, and book character impersonations, students, staff and dignitaries from Orange County, Florida’s Timber Creek High School kicked off Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! Florida Department of Education’s annual event celebrates the tremendous success Florida’s students have accomplished over the past decade. Recognizing “reading accelerates…
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Earned Title: Author
Earned Title: Author Seven years ago, January 11, 2008, I sold my Orlando engineering company. Having left behind the lofty title of President, I entered my next life chapter with a goal: Published Author. It was a position title I had to earn. Befuddled as to how to describe my new endeavor, my husband Roger…
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Leaving an Old Friend
I broke up with an old friend today. Since our friendship began in 1981, the whole situation was very upsetting. I have to admit this relationship was never a deep, intellectual connection. It mostly revolved around shopping. What maintained the bond the longest was travel. Together we trekked the world. The idea of a break-up…
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A Piece of Great Advice To Start the New Year
A Piece of Great Advice to Start the New Year Six years ago when I sold my engineering firm to begin my life as a full-time writer, I got some great advice from my friend Dr. Sandy Shugart. Known in Central Florida for his leadership of extraordinary accomplishments among the nation’s 1200 colleges, as President…
MY DEAR BOY: A World War II Story of Escape, Exile, and Revelation
Adventurers Against Their Will
