SOME THINGS THAT MATTER TO JEAN RODENBOUGH

Questions regarding to my book, Rachel’s Children: Surviving the Second World War:


What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you believe you achieved them?

I felt compelled to write about the time of World War II, in part because I was a child during that time and lived in Honolulu when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese military. My purpose in gathering the stories of other children and their experiences was to illustrate the need for an end to wars, in light of the horrors perpetrated on non-combatants as well as the military.
There has been a growing volume of books which deal with that time, and I wanted to tell the story from my perspective as presented by the stories.
The test of whether my goal has been achieved will be the reactions of the readers of the book.

Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?

I met Walter Falk, who now lives here in Greensboro, whose name was given me as one of the children in the Kindertransport, a rescue operation for (mostly) Jewish children in Germany and Poland, sending them to Great Britain, most of them to England but also to other countries in the British realm. Once the war began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the program was ended. Walter and I have become friends and after getting his story, detailed previously in a feature by one of the writers for the local newspaper. We now meet occasionally and share our stories and also current activities. He is in his mid-80’s and remains active and interested in news events here and elsewhere in the world. His wife died a few years ago, and he lives alone in his home.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Making decisions about what to include. I found a number of collections of stories told by those whose childhood was spent in the midst of that difficult time. At first I extracted some of their experiences, but then realized these stories had already been made public, so I took them out of the book and simply summarized their circumstances. Instead, I was able to get stories from those I knew personally for the most part, and made their experiences the relevant ones. I still had to decide what to include and how to use them. The book took such a long time to write chiefly because of these decisions.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Aside from the sense of accomplishment in fulfilling my goal of writing about the children of that war, I had a variety of other good feelings in writing it. I felt strongly about making a case for never having another war, a hope that so far has not been fulfilled. Another major enjoyment, or at least satisfaction, was using my poetry as commentary on events and situations described. There are times when poetry can speak to deeply emotional conditions of hardship better than prose, whether in narrative or in historical detail.

HALLOWEEN FUN

YOU'VE READ THE REST

MUSICAL CHAIRS-BOOK REVIEW

This review is from: Musical Chairs (Paperback)
Through the palpable voice of a runaway teenage girl, Musical Chairs delivers a powerful punch and ultimately inspiring portrait that transcends every parents' nightmare. With a raw terrible beauty and razor-sharp prose that often lifts the reader toward a magical dreamscape, Jen Knox not only re-creates her troubled youth, but brings her childhood self back to independent life. The author, Jen Knox, recedes, and this little skinny waif, Jenny begins to breathe in the rarefied atmoshere of a dark Salinger tale. Sometimes reminiscent of Holden Caulfield, with mascara and bubble gum, Jenny, no matter how much booze she consumes or 'dances' she performs, is always an innocent child. Vulnerable in a world of menace and mayhem,, Jenny never succumbs to a seemingly insurmountable fate. Mental illness,the great crippler is also the last great frontier. Hers is a desperate need to overcome who she is, and the intelligence of her quest to understand her rebellion. As a parent, and father, I could not understand the crime which drove her out of the house. Though emotionally vacuous, her father did not deserve that fate. Except, isn't that the ultimate expression of teenage angst? Haven't so many of us left home in all but the body?
Jen Knox has created Jenny, a tough kid out of dark streets around the glitter of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, who only bends but never breaks.She is uncompromising and brutally frank. Yet her intelligence and grit take her on an outer journey exploring inner worlds. That dynamic makes Musical Chairs a noteworthy, controversial, exceptional but disturbing work of fiction-- it is about coming of age and alienation, isolation and the need to be recognized. Usually told from a male perspective, Musical Chairs lifts gender related issues toward a more balanced presentation. The heroine here is also the author whose child within, we hope, has finally found safe passage and a happy home.

Robert Rubenstein
Author, Ghost Runners
Now on Amazon

REVIEW-SOUTH WIND RISING

 

 

David Housel, retired (2006) Athletic Director at Auburn University, posted this review on Amazon today:

 

 

If "South Wind Rising" is any indication, we are in for many more great books by a new name to the literary scene, Frederick W. Bassett.

For a first time effort, this is exceptional--for a writer of any degree of experience, this book would be exceptional. For it to come from a first-time author it is especially remarkable and holds out the hope/promise of many more to come. Let's hope he is as prolific as he writes.

"South Wind Rising" is a coming of age story in a more simple time, but the trials, tribulation, angst, hope and wonder of that terrible yet wonderful time of change is effectively captured in this book...as much here as in any book you will read for a long time.

Loving told, beautifully written. These characters will stay with you a long time---and in each of them, you will find a bit of yourself.

We are living in a time of crisis...

We are living in a time of crisis and many of us feel powerless over the anxiety, confusion, and despair that this can trigger. Yet, according to Ronald Alexander, Ph.D., not only are we not powerless over the impact of crisis, we can transform its effects so that we arise from it stronger and more aware. He offers a complete program for doing this in his new book, WISE MIND, OPEN MIND: FINDING PURPOSE & MEANING IN TIMES OF CRISIS, LOSS & CHANGE (New Harbinger Publications, September 2009, paperback). In this groundbreaking book Alexander, a pioneer in contemporary psychology, shares his innovative program for using mindfulness meditation, creative thinking, and cutting-edge positive psychology tools to transform times of crisis into opportunities for greater personal awareness, clarity, and creativity. Alexander is available for interview. Here’s just some of what he can discuss:
CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION: A THREE-STEP ART. Alexander offers an original three-step plan for achieving creative transformation in the midst or wake of a crisis. It includes, Letting Go, Tuning Into your Core Creativity, and Moving Forward. In the first step you learn to let go of resistance to change, in the second you learn to tune in to your soul’s deep wisdom; and in third you learn how to move forward based on your newly acquired insight. Alexander offers step-by-step mindfulness meditations for moving through each of these stages.
A PRIMER ON MINDFULNESS MEDITATION PRACTICE. Mindfulness practice is an exciting new area that blends the best of East and West. By adapting ancient wisdom practices of mindfulness and meditation to positive psychology and the therapeutic process it offers powerful tools for transforming difficult emotions and becoming more aware of oneself and the world. Alexander explains how and why these techniques are so useful in overcoming crisis.

YOUR WISDOM COUNCIL. Alexander recognized that even with powerful mindfulness tools at your disposal, getting through a crisis still requires a support system comprised of caring and wise individuals. It’s why he offers step-by-step help for building a “wisdom council of support” and explains the roles that each member should play. They include: peer, educator, coach, and dharma teacher.

CULTIVATING A WISE MIND & MINDSTRENGTH IN DIFFICULT TIMES. In Buddhism a wise mind is a state of consciousness that allows you to observe your thoughts without becoming emotionally invested in them.  Alexander explains: “In wise mind you stop running with your thoughts wherever they take you and find yourself sitting with a sense of serenity and clarity, observing what your mind churns up and easily discerning its qualities, setting aside what’s unwholesome and taking delight in what’s wholesome.” Wise mind results from building mindstrength, the ability to use mindfulness to master thoughts, beliefs, and emotions and tap into the core creativity that empowers you to take positive and wise action. In WISE MIND, OPEN MIND, Alexander shows you how to cultivate mindstrength and achieve wise mind.
FOUR MYTHS ABOUT MINDFULNESS. Myths about mindfulness abound. Alexander debunks four of the most common ones: Practicing mindfulness meditation will conflict with my religious beliefs; I’m too restless and busy to learn to be quiet and practice any form of meditation; If I practice mindfulness it will put out the fire of my ambition and creativity; and If I practice mindfulness, what I’ll discover will be so upsetting that I’ll be paralyzed with fear.
About Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change -  In his groundbreaking book, Wise Mind, Open Mind pioneering psychotherapist, Dr. Ronald Alexander shares his innovative program for using mindfulness meditation, creative thinking, and positive psychology to transform times of crisis or change into opportunities for greater personal awareness, clarity, and creativity.  His original three-step plan includes, learning to let go of resistance to change, learning to tune in to your soul’s deep wisdom or core creativity; and then learning how to move forward based on your newly acquired insight.

Ronald Alexander, Ph.D. is the author of the widely acclaimed book, Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change. He is the Executive Director of the OpenMind Training® Institute, practices mindfulness-based mind-body psychotherapy and leadership coaching in Santa Monica, CA for individuals and corporate clients (www.openmindtraining.com). For full details about the Wise Mind, Open Mind virtual blog tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/09/08/wise-mind-open-mind-ronald-alexander/

Wonderful, suspenseful, well-written, touching, book..."

This review is from: GHOST RUNNERS 

Berlin 1936

Robert Rubinstein's "Ghost Runners" is a fictionalized account of the plight of the only two Jews on the American Olympic team sent to Berlin in 1936. Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman (called Joshua Sellers and Bobby Gilman in the book) were removed from the relay team at the last minute, probably because of the antisemitic tendencies of Avery Brundage and the team coach. Their adventures and disappointments form the frame of the story, which is set against a backdrop of American and German antisemitism and its political effects on sport. The great strength of the book is its wonderful treatment of the contemporary atmosphere in Brooklyn & Berlin, which gives a very authentic feel for the time. The characters are very vividly drawn as well, so much so that they almost beg for some kind of movie treatment. Rubinstein is obviously aware of the historical backdrop to the 1936 games, including the elaborate staged pageantry, the (temporary) fakery on the part of the Hitler regime with regard to the German Jews, and the American pretense that these games were taking place in a "normal" setting, at a time when Dachau and other incarceration camps were already in place. Rubinstein is very much concerned with the American corporate involvement in the process of German rearmament and the sympathy of Brundage and other Americans for Hitler's new "World Order". While there can be no doubt that such sympathies existed, both in the U.S. and other democracies, Rubinstein's chilling portrayal of a "Himmler Circle" involving top American industrialists, is a bit overdrawn. To be sure, there
were prominent American antisemites (Ford, Coughlin, Lindberg) who viewed the Nazi regime favorably during the 1930's and others who saw the opportunity for profits in the context of a growing German economy that was being transformed. There is little evidence, however, for the kind of Nazi-American corporate plot that Rubinstein advances and the success of Hitler at home and abroad was a much more complex story. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful, suspenseful, well-written, touching, book, and it is highly recommended.

Severin Hochberg
Teaches at George Washington University and was formerly a historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The views expressed here are his own.