Oswald “Valdik” Holzer arrives in Shanghai, China, July 5, 1939

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 very foreign land.

(Watch award-winning MY DEAR BOY book trailer here.)

During 1937-1941, some twenty thousand desperate European Jewish refugees arrived in Shanghai.  While traveling the globe as an author for research and speaking engagements, I’ve learned this illustrious Shanghai history is well known among Holocaust scholars but little known to others.

Echoing the immigration turmoil of today’s world, during the late 1920s and 1930s, in the shadow of a global economic depression and the threat of war, many countries, including the United States of America, refused to increase their visa quota numbers. According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Holocaust Studies, Shanghai took in more Jewish refugees than Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa combined. This little known truth makes “Shanghai” synonymous with “haven” and “rescue” in the narrative of the Holocaust era.

On this 80th anniversary of my father’s arrival in Shanghai as a Czech Jewish refugee, I share my dad’s eyewitness account via a letter he wrote (preserved with a carbon copy), to a close friend, Frantisek Schoenbaum, trapped with his wife Andula and young son Honza (John), in Prague under Nazi-control. The letter from the Holzer Collection was translated in 2008.

Shanghai, 7-20-1939

Franta, don’t be angry with me that I am bothering you, I have had no news from home for a month already. Please call my family and tell them to write to me airmail at Hong Kong POB 370 c/o Leo Lilling as that is my address. If something would happen, God forbid, with the family, write it to me, please, so that I can possibly help them somehow if it would be possible.

I am also including a letter for {Pavel} Koerper. He wants to come here, so I must work him up a little so that he would not be surprised. If some of you are in a lousy way perhaps, come here, it is better here, despite all that misery, than in Prague or in Europe in general. Notably, one can work here, and I will be already sitting {meaning probably in a place with medical practice} by that time so I could help you. Eventually, one would not stay here forever, and a man can get to some other place somewhat easier from here.

Thank you for your lovely letter.   In the meantime, you received undoubtedly my chattering from the ship.   We must stay in writing contact all the time.   You have no idea how happy you made me with that letter of yours.  You know, when a man does not hear that dialect of ours anymore, at least one can have something for enjoyable reading again.   To tell you the truth: that distance is not so big, and it does not seem so huge, but I am damnably homesick for all and for everything, mainly when a man is almost entirely without news and when he does not know when, and if at all, he will return. Such thoughts would develop in your head only after some time.   Do not be angry that I am responding to your cheerful letter with such sentimental jabbering, but it is called here “S’ai depression,” and supposedly everybody is going through that during their first time.  After all, you know that is not my nature.

I hope that in your literary ass {meaning: forgotten area, away from the center of action}, you will also mention the good physician Osvald who left his mother country to treat poor little Chinese.  In order for you to elaborate on this topic better, I am sending you the following contribution:

So already for three days, I have been partially pummeled with malaria. I caught it someplace in Saigon, such an idiotic French Indochina, but it is better than tuberculosis.   Hey, one must always be content.   I am curing it by myself, chiefly with whiskey, which is dreadfully cheap here (1 liter 7.-Kc [crowns]).   Otherwise, it is possible to catch in this beautiful but strange country everything from measles to leprosy.   Hey, so that I won’t forget, if you happen by any chance to talk with my family, do not tell them anything about these lovely things, they would be unnecessarily afraid.  It is not so bad.

As you had read “Chuan in China,” approximately 20% of it describes things well; otherwise, everything is yet crazier by far.   In a week here, you set aside all European social prejudices, you let yourself ride in a rickshaw, you are cursing Chinese, in Czech of course, you start to booze.   In short, you become a white shadow; it is somehow a matter-of-course situation.

Franta, there are 20,000 emigrants here, 98 % of them without money, so the society gave them housing in a quarter almost entirely destroyed by Japanese shooting, from where the Chinese fled.   And those Jews, Israelis, etc., built from those ruins their houses, opened businesses, coffee houses, even Jewish prostitutes are there.   But of course, who will guarantee them that the bombing of the area would not start tomorrow again?    Those who do not believe in that place and have a little money, live in the French Concession, it is first of all safe.   Like in a circus created for adventurers, you can make so much money here in a day that you don’t need to do anything else in life ever, and in an hour, you can have all of that go into a toilet.   The dollar dropped yesterday, and today by 30 %, that has been talked about here for a week already, so some people became wealthy, and others lost their shirts in the process.   Even the weather is so crazy:  I get out nicely in the morning in a white suit, with a towel around my neck as is a fashion here to have something for wiping when one is sweating like a pig, I sat on a bus and started moving.

However, a typhoon came in the meantime, and I had to get off the bus only with extreme difficulty, then I was running down the street until I exquisitely fell.   For a while, I was rolling in mud, and when I looked around then, I found out that numerous gentlemen are lying there in the same manner and that they have a good time looking at the mess.   So I had a good time, too.   Once in a while, some gentleman crawled over me with the necessary…” sorry.”  Oh, but all of a sudden, there was a loud sound beside me, a roof fell there.  I don’t know where because surrounding houses had none already anyway.   Under the roof, there were lying some rickshaws and an overturned car.    Therefore, I told myself again: safety first, and I slithered with the crowd into a nearest passage-way, where I waited for six hours till it was over.   One cannot distinguish now what was destroyed by Japanese and what by the typhoon.

For me, as a physician, there are some possibilities here.   I have some acquaintances here, and I feel that I would not get lost here.   However, I would not like to stay here as I lack some such feeling of home.  When I make some money here, I will rush farther inland immediately.   Otherwise, one can manage to live beautifully here, for 77 pounds a week, you are a big gentleman.  You can furnish a luxurious apartment for 5 pounds, and for 1 shai. Dollar, you can have a beautiful Miss for a week with everything.  And yet, I envy you those strolls along the river Luznice when there is a sweet fragrance of hay near us…

P.S. Write on airmail paper, you naive man, who are you paying the postage?

Valdik    {Oswald “Valdik” Holzer}

©2008 From the collection of Joanie Holzer Schirm.  Reproduction only with permission from Joanie Schirm: joanie@joanieschirm.com

www.joanieschirm.com

Dad’s story in MY DEAR BOY came to life via revelations from a treasure trove of four hundred letters he preserved after the war. Seventy-eight friends and relatives, along with Dad’s own seventy carbon-copied letters and journals written during his 19 months in China, detail the emotions, circumstances, and revelations encountered by displaced persons along with those trapped behind under Nazi-occupation. Former USHMM archives director, Henry Mayer, called the Holzer Collection “one of the most complete personal collections of WWII correspondence seen in years.”

The timeless letters remind what it’s like to be forced penniless from home, losing native land, family, friends, possessions, livelihood, and identity.  I exist because my father made it to China. My paternal grandparents, Arnost and Olga, and forty-two other relatives were not so fortunate. All hope-filled futures were lost as they perished in the Holocaust. Dad’s only tangible connection to his lost world were these old letters.  He hid them away in old Chinese boxes, moved to America and served as a family physician in Melbourne, Florida. The letters were discovered after his death and in 2008. Upon translation, they revealed a universal, timeless story relevant to today’s world.

MY DEAR BOY: A World War Story of Escape, Exile, and Revelation                        by Joanie Holzer Schirm

Book trailer

Available anywhere books are sold. In all formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Through my publisher, Potomac Books, use a discount code 6AS19  https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/potomac-books/9781640120723/

MY DEAR BOY: Lesson Plans soon available at www.joanieschirm.com/teachers

Photos from the Holzer Collection. (Photo reproduction restricted without permission from author Joanie Holzer Schirm joanies@joanieschirm.com )

Now showing at the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education  Center of Florida:
DISPLACED PERSON: Oswald Valdik Holzer’s story with audio, featuring WWII letters, documents, photographs, vintage film, and clothing currently on exhibit. Upon the 2023 opening of Orlando’s new museum —Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity—the DISPLACED PERSON exhibit will become a permanent reminder of the ongoing struggles of displaced humanity throughout our world and what together we can do to diminish this plight.

Joanie Holzer Schirm    joanie@joanieschirm.com   

www.joanieschirm.com     For speaking engagements: joanie@joanieschirm.com

Resource Book Examples

‘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 of wonderment in the modern age of publishing which asks: how can these books best meet their appropriate readership?

In the midst of the new, I haven’t forgotten the ‘old,’ the leader of the trilogy, Adventurers Against Their Will.  Published in 2013, the Global Ebook Award Winner still shares with audiences young and old important messages about working for peace by respecting others and protecting human rights.  Adventurers Against Their Will is recommended reading at various places that care about educating future generations such as the National World War II Museum, Holocaust Memorial & Education Center of Florida, and more.

So imagine my surprise and joy when I stumbled on a prestigious book — Essentials of Holocaust Education: Fundamental Issues and Approaches—edited by Samuel Totten and Stephen Feinberg and published in April 2016 that features a recommendation of Adventurers Against Their Will under their section of “Memoirs”:

“Another memoir teachers may wish to consider using in class is Adventurers Against Their Will by Joanie Holzer Schirm. Schirm had had some information out her father’s experiences in World War II but had not realized the extent of what he experienced until after both of her parents died, and she discovered several letters containing revelatory information. She based her book on letters from family and friends to her father. She learned that her father had worked as a doctor in the Jewish ghetto in Shanghai. “Why didn’t the Jews leave Germany?” is answered in several of the letters, where we read how some of Dr. Holzer’s friends tried to relocate to other countries and were unable to do so because of governmental restrictions and/or financial issues. Sponsors were necessary for entry to the United States, and no matter where the Jews tried to move, it was often incredibly expensive to do so. For example, a friend of Dr. Holzer writes on March 6, 2939, asking for an introduction to a cousin of Valdik Holzer who lives in the United States, hoping this cousin will vouch for him and provide him with an “affidavit of support.” Another friend writes him on March 2, 1940, stating that “the visas they {the US} are issuing now are for people who registered at the beginning of May,” and that it will take about two years before they “are called.”  Students who are studying the Holocaust know that those two years will see the implementation of the Nazis plan to murder the Jews of Europe. By reading such letters, students will also learn of the optimism, the pessimism, and the frustration felt by Jews as governments made decisions that impacted their lives in the most profound ways possible.”

Having Adventurers Against Their Will referenced in the same section with books such as Elie Wiesel’s Night, Gerda Weissman Klein’s All But My Life, and Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, is an incredible honor. I’ve never doubted that the WWII letters my father preserved and the stories he told me in interviews about his life as a forcibly displaced person, bring great value to understanding the history of the Holocaust. They also have significant relevance for today as we find the world trying to help millions of people displaced by war and persecution.

More from Essentials of Holocaust Education:

“Literature is ‘capable of challenging students to examine their own lived lives and world’ (Totten, 2001, p. 32). It also provides students with the opportunity to probe how individuals and groups acted, reacted, and interacted in a world that was turned upside down by the evil endeavors of the Nazis and their collaborators. That said, a cautionary note is called for here: teaching a book, a short story, a poem, or a play in isolation, without placing the work within a historical context, is problematic.  Those who wish to incorporate literature into a study of the Holocaust must choose wisely when selecting such literature. It should be high-quality literature that is thought-provoking, germane to the history being taught, and highly engaging.”

I know my father—Dr. Oswald Holzer—who saved his secret collection of WWII letters to be discovered after his death, would be proud that their thought-provoking and engaging words can help students better understand the past. Hopefully, this awareness will inspire us all to care enough to take action as creating a peaceful and respectful world takes diligent hard work.

Peace.

Joanie Holzer Schirm

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 Will.  I was in the midst of completing the manuscript for my second book, My Dear Boy, so we scheduled the meeting for two months hence.  That night arrived in March 2016. Here’s the email feedback I received following the evening.  It turns out it was as magical a night for me as it apparently was for them!

Dear Joanie,

…Words can’t even begin to express how special you made our book club gathering.  I know the rest of the ladies were as awed as I was that you brought your Dad’s pants that he was wearing when he escaped.  They bring such a reality to the discussion of your great book.  I get “chills” every time I think of all the “synchronicities” that happened and still happen as you bring “The Adventurers” stories to more and more people.

I have received so many emails from the Book Club ladies and believe me when I say they are still ecstatic about your presentation last evening.  Your genuineness in sharing and all the visuals you presented added an extra layer of understanding to the complexities and realities of “The Adventurers” lives.  The ladies will be talking about this for a long, long time.  As many of them have mentioned, this was the highlight of our 14 years together as a book club.  And, needless to say, we are all looking forward to the release of your next book.

And, I must tell you, I was flooded with many happy memories as I collected and made the recipes for the Czech dishes that I so enjoyed throughout my childhood.  Traditions are what connect us to our heritage.  How blessed we are that we can make this happen.

Thank you again for a very special evening for all of us.

Fondly, Fran

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 comes around.  That’s when we, along with some other illustrious authors will read from our books or poems at a Florida Institute of Technology hosted evening event at Evans Library in Melbourne, Florida.

Normally, the life of a writer is a solitary one. At least for me it is as I need total silence to place my words correctly on the computer screen that later produces the word doc that turns into my books.  I’m not one of those writers who has a jazz playing in the background or allows my husband to spend much time in my writing room. I need peace and quiet.

But when an occasion comes up with a willing audience on hand for me to read aloud what I wrote while in hibernation, it feels darn good.  Why? Because as a writer I suffer constant self-doubt. This style event becomes an indicator that someone cares about my work or some tiny piece of it. Just the invitation proves the work must be acceptable beyond the four corners of my writing room. Right?

FIT is a special place for me…it’s where my father, Oswald A. Holzer, MD donated ten years of his life as the Campus Doctor after he retired from his private medical practice.  He built the Student Health program from scratch, donated his salary and time, and then, to top it off;  he and my Mom, Ruth Alice Lequear Holzer established the Holzer-Lequear Endowment for FIT to help students gain their education. It is only fitting that on February 20th  I would speak about the star of my books – my dad. I’ll provide a tiny bit about the backstory of his life before FIT from some readings from my book, Adventurers Against Their Will.

So if you want to help build confidence in a writer (Andrew Aberdein, Ben Brotemarkle, Weona Cleveland, Marcia Denius, Joddy Murray, Winston Scott, Louise Skellings, Scott Tilley, and me), please share your time on February 20, 2015 – 6 – 9 pm at FIT’s Evans Library.  It’s free, and there will be refreshments.

Ann Scott, Florida First Lady with Joanie Schirm

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 success”, FDOE’s Just Read Florida staff created an environment of magic when hundreds of students in attendance silently read from their books as the Timber Creek Orchestra performed. Their five minute reading was all a part of the Million Minute Marathon goal of 36 million minutes of reading statewide!   As a part of the FDOE 2015 Celebrate Literacy Week Recommended Reading List for Grades 9-12, Adventurers Against Their Will is now in the hands of Florida’s First Lady, Mrs. Ann Scott.

Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! is a week-long celebration from Jan. 26 – 30, 2015, geared toward raising awareness for literacy programs and projects offered by the Department of Education’s Just Read, Florida! office, and its partner agencies and organizations. The week’s events are made possible by these participating sponsors: Florida Lottery; National Geographic; Dairy Council of Florida, a Division of Florida Dairy Farmers; Scholastic; Florida Department of Health; Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Kennedy Space Center. The Department of Education actively works with community groups and volunteers throughout the state to make reading a priority in students’ lives. For more information about Just Read, Florida!, visit www.justreadflorida.com.

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 suggested: “Freed Spirit/Writer.”   As I unleashed my creativity, the title inspired me on as an author-in-the-making.  Soon, in a treasure trove of my dad’s secret WWII letter collection, I discovered real life characters with extraordinary stories of survival, escape, and connection. The life-changing experiences of these Czech refugees was brought on by modern history’s most brutal demagogue, Adolf Hitler. Within 5 years, my dad’s correspondents’ tales filled the pages of my first nonfiction book: Adventurers Against Their Will.

In my most contemplative and creative moments as a rookie, I could never have imagined what lay ahead as I earned the title:  Author.  Here are just a few memorable milestones along the way:

2008 – As I researched and began writing my father’s epic WWII tale in a yet to be published book, I uncovered a few correspondents from dad’s letter collection still alive. Old friends from the youth of my late father, I traveled to meet them and delivered copies of their 70-year old letters.  All were stunned and very appreciative. Scattered worldwide in places like New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, Czech Republic, and the USA, I found descendants of the letter writers.  As time was of the essence to locate these people and discover our commonalities, I turned my attention away from writing my dad’s epic WWII story and wrote what became my debut book: Adventurers Against Their Will. 

December 2012:  After reading advance chapters from the book, Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, provides a cover quote.   “A brilliant and compelling account of men and women caught in the turbulence of war. Part insightful history, and part family drama…it leads readers on a journey into the past.”  Her letter arrived on my birthday.

April 2013 – The book launch for Adventurers Against Their Will is held with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and other friends at Orlando City Hall. The celebration of print and EBook versions includes donation of 100 books to Central Florida libraries.  Harvey Massey and Massey Services sponsor the book distribution.

October 2013 – Adventurers Against Their Will wins the 2013 Global EBook Award for Best Biography and Best Book Trailer. The powerful storytelling video book trailer is made possible by Bolder Media.

2013/2014 – Numerous Author speaking engagements include: Palm Beach County Public Schools’ annual Social Studies Teacher Symposium; Scottsdale, Arizona keynote, Educators Conference on the Holocaust, Yom HaShoah Keynote at Holocaust  Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida.

September 2014:  Prague, Czech Republic: TRITON books publishes Adventurers Against Their Will in the Czech language: Dobrodruzi proti své vůli.   Media blitz includes Schirm interviews with leading Czech TV and Radio Praha programs along with other print and e-zine media. After speaking at the US Embassy in Prague (American Center), Schirm gives a lecture about the book at Prague’s Gymnázium Špitálská (high school).

September 2014: Frankfurt, Germany:  The International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen, includes the story of Joanie’s father, Dr. Oswald “Valdik” Holzer, in German exhibit. Recounting the stories of Displaced Persons after WWII, Dr. Holzer is the only featured biography wiht a Czech background and one of only 3 American citizens. Joanie and husband Roger Neiswender proudly attend the Exhibit opening at Frankfurt’s Anne Frank Educational Center.

January 2015:  Florida Department of Education chooses Adventurers Against Their Will for 2015 FDOE Recommended Reading list for grades 9-12 as part of Celebrate Literacy week and Just Read, Florida! summer reading.  Alongside classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and A Separate Peace, Orlando author Joanie Holzer Schirm’s book is the only nonfiction set in WWII on the FDOE list and the only native Floridian author!

Adventurers‘ stories prepare students to be compassionate and active citizens, through gained awareness of the importance of protecting human rights. Using primary souce material, students build their research skills and reflect on their own lived experiences as it relates to building a more just world honoring our shared humanity.

What’s next? February 2015:  For Teachers:  Lesson Plans to accompany Adventurers Against Their Will (prepared by APass Educational Group). Free download coming soon on www.joanieschirm.local

2015 Goal: Complete manuscript for book 2:  My Dear Boy – The Discovery of a Lifetime

May your 2015 be filled with unleashed creativity and accomplishments under whatever life title you hold!  

Regards,   Joanie Holzer Schirm

The idea of a break-up began about seven years ago when I first retired and became a struggling writer.  Until then, as a small business CEO, I was convinced the benefits greatly outweighed what was required to nurture the thirty-three year association. Recently, however, I took a look at the whole situation. As I skimmed over the fine print of life, I saw it was any longer worth it. Clearly, they were receiving more than I.

The worst part was there were others involved. For the least disruption and to keep life nearly as it was before the break-up, those connections had to be introduced to another acquaintance before I could make the separation final.   You may have already guessed this was not your usual friendship.  It always felt kind of plastic.

That’s because I’m talking about a credit card – and not just any credit card – American Express Platinum Credit Card. Like no other card relationship, this one has been with me longer than my husband.  But, unlike my husband, after recent careful analysis of what I used from all the offerings, I realized I just couldn’t take advantage of most of what the card made available.

The Platinum Card relationship folks probably feel the same about me. After all, I’m no Danielle Steel or J. K. Rowling. Maybe someday I will be that stature of author. Perhaps American Express will make that possible by sponsoring my books worldwide.  We’d then travel together again.  But for now, I took a close look at our annual Platinum bill for both wife and husband card holders and it finally made me cry out: Yowza.

Beyond the emotional decision of leaving behind this plastic friend who’d seen me through thick and thin, the most agony was caused by having to redo automatic direct pay accounts on numerous web sites.  Most forms crashed a few times before accepting the change. Two hours after I began visiting countless sites, a painful breakup was over. My replacement friend was in place.

To mourn the loss of my longtime friend and to celebrate my new pal, I went to the mall. Even poor authors need new shoes.

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 of Valencia College in 2011, his school was named the top community college in the United States.

What is less known about Sandy is he’s also a very talented singer, song-writer, and an acoustic guitar player who creates urban folk music well worth seeking out. Sandy’s a quintessential multitasker. He’s someone who can whip an academic program in to top gear, read a book, while at the same time download his own music on to his iPod. I’ve always admired the guy.

Our conversation was a brief one that day; a chance encounter between his multitasking and my retirement party. It started with me relaying the mission that lay ahead as I transformed myself to an author.

“I know I have my hands full. I have to learn not only how to properly write words that will entice some future reader to offer up hours of personal time to read my stories, but I also have to learn about the business of book publishing.”  As he politely listened, I gave him a brief synopsis of the revolution going on in ‘the biz.’

As a nonfiction writer of history, I told Sandy “my job is to bring the dead back to life again.” He seemed intrigued.  “But first, I need Czech translators who can bring 400 multi-page WWII-era letters in to English so I can read them and understand what I’m dealing with so I can then write these meaningful stories.”  His eyes glossed over.  I tried to bring it back to his vocation.

“I need to do a lot of research so the stories unfold with the historical context they deserve.  Trouble is I’ve had quite a break in time since my college days when I last poured over history books.”

“And, oh by the way, I’ve never written a book before.”

I must have been droning on and on when Sandy looked at his watch and simply said:

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

And then, he walked away. I knew right off it was brilliant advice. From one multitasker to another, he’d set me off on the right path to my life’s second chapter vocation with a reminder of the importance of focus.  If you are going to write a book, there are a multitude of activities which will distract you from the main thing.

The main thing was to complete the book; and to do that I had to: write, write, write. The rest will all fall in place. Somehow it did. I finished my debut book, Adventurers Against Their Will, and won the Best Biography of the Year in the 2013 Global Ebook Awards.   Thanks Sandy for the advice I bet you probably don’t even remember giving me.

There are no words to properly express the appreciation I have for the many congratulation notices I’ve received since sending out my notice on March 8^th that “Adventurers Against Their Will is Available Now!”

Whether it’s unsolicited social media efforts to spread the word, like above; heartwarming messages from around the world from descendants of the Adventurers of my story; long ago friends and bosses who suddenly heard about the book and got in touch with wishes of success – all make me feel that indeed my labor-of-love last five years has all been worth it.

At one point over the weekend on Kindle, in its niche category that Amazon chose for the book, it zoomed to #42. Shocked, I later realized it is not healthy for the mind or heart to track the numbers; they bob up and they dip way down…constantly, like the roller coast of life. It’s better to track the friends who make life what it is – a great ride; worth cherishing all the way!

The voices of the letters from my dad’s historic WWII collection, that I’ve lived with for the past five years, put a human face on history. They remind us of our responsibility in the world to protect human dignity.  Each day we must remember that together we can create a world that John Lennon wrote about in his song: Imagine.   I thank each one of you for letting me know you care!   Peace, Joanie

http://growingbolder.com/tags/joanie-schirm

https://www.facebook.com/AdventurersAgainstTheirWill

http://www.amazon.com/Adventurers-Against-Their-Will-Connection-Unlike/dp/0988678128