I Wrote a Book!

Love, Harold

Last spring, when I was on the couch recovering from some minor surgery, I found myself with a great deal of thinking time. The news stories coming out of the current administration were disturbing and making me angry. I heard the words of Heather Cox Richardson, a historian, professor and author, echoing in my head. She said, “One thing we can do in this trying time is to make art. Art has always helped us cope and inspire us during difficult times in our country.”

I remembered that the death of my great uncle Harold during WWII had devastated my grandmother. As I sat there, thought about all of his letters he had written to her that were in a plastic bin under my bed. I had never read them in full. But today was the day. I retrieved them and laid them out in front of me and on the coffee table and began. It wasn’t long before I knew I wanted to read every word so I put them in chronological order. A few hours later, I finished reading and dried my tears. In that moment I knew I had to share him with the world. This boy, who was just a funny kid who played the trumpet and liked to eat. A beloved little brother who didn’t really know how bad it was to be so good at aerial gunner school and engineering planes.

So, I told his story. Or rather he told his own and I just helped give it some context. But I hope it inspires you at it has me. I hope it makes us realize that we do not need to be of the same political party to love democracy and to love our country. And I hope that when we feel like giving up, we think about Harold and others like him and remember that we don’t really have a choice. For they are the shoulders on whom we stand and we owe it to them, to ourselves, and to our children to say “NO” to authoritarianism and stay strong together. It’s the only way we are going to get through this.

Here is the link to amazon if you’d like to buy the book- Love, Harold

Also, On December 15th in Rochester, NY at Carnegie Cellars Bar we are hosting a book signing and fundraiser for the NY chapter of the ACLU (nyclu.org) Join us if you can- it will be a festive and fun time.

Take care and I will be back writing essays and getting into the swing of things.

Lots of Love -

Karin