While I was researching and writing “Mollie’s War” in 2009,  I knew that my mother was in a WAC recruiting movie called “It’s Your War, Too.”   I had such a difficult time finding a copy of the movie.  Today, I was looking for a cover shot of the recruiting movie and discovered that it is on Youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NI8JQW8bQ

My program, “From Inspiration to Publication The Journey of Mollie’s War” is listed on the Windy City Writers Speakers Bureau.   There are lots of good programs included in the catalog.   If you are looking for a speaker for an event, please keep me in mind!    http://windycitywriters.com/program-menu/

I spent the morning of Friday, July 19th talking about “Mollie’s War” and her service in the military to the Arlington Heights Senior Center.   This would have been Mollie’s 97th birthday.   It gives me a good feeling to keep her memory alive…. Mollie passed away in April 2012.

Mollie’s War was accepted into the Black Lilac Kitty’s online book fair.   The fair will be held July 21-27, 2013 on their web site – http://www.blacklilackitty.com
The catalog will be available for download during the fair and it will be sent to libraries, bookstores, book clubs, etc. prior to the fair.

Please read the latest review of Mollie’s War in the Windy City Reviews.   Thank you for a great review!  http://windycityreviews.org/book-reviews/2013/5/28/book-review-mollies-war-the-letters-of-a-world-war-ii-wac-in.html

Please read the latest review of Mollie’s War.  Thank you, Anastasia for a wonderful review:

A tale well told, May 22, 2013   By Anastasia

Countless books have been written about World War II. Myriad movies have covered any and all aspects of the war from The Longest Day to Schindler’s List. Some give us the grand picture while others focus on one aspect or issue. Mollie’s War, a personal collection of letters written during World War II, gives the reader insight into a little-known yet essential branch of the army, the Women’s Army Corps. But even more than that, this collection of sisterly correspondence transports us to a stressful yet somehow more innocent time. Through her letters, Mollie emerges as a real person, a young Jewish girl from Detroit who surprisingly enlists as a WAC and recounts her experiences in boot camp and in the European theater. The phrasing and slang of the times makes the reader experience every detail right along with Mollie.

I had four uncles in World War II, one in Europe, three in the Pacific. Thankfully, they all came home and lived good, long lives. They wrote letters but we could seldom get them to talk about the war. Since I wasn’t born until after the war, I have no personal frame of reference. Reading Mollie’s book changed all that. A real person emerged: a person full of life, and spunk, and dedication and patriotism. How grateful I am that she and her sister saved all their letters, and that she and her daughter compiled them into this amazing memoir.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Cyndee Schaffer honored her mother’s service in the WAC (Women’s Army Corps) from 1943-1945 by compiling her letters into the book “Mollie’s War: The Letters of a World War II WAC in Europe.” Watch a special presentation by Cyndee here:
http://ow.ly/kxPvJ

I was at the Pritzker Military Library on Friday for a wonderful program—Destination Unknown, the letters of a Red Cross girl.   Her daughter, Kathie Cox gave the presentation.   Amazing how similar her mother and my mother were in their determination to help the United States in WWII.    And how well they each documented their experiences….

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day (March 8, 2013) and I am happy to say that I will be spending it at a Women Veteran’s Tea with women veterans of different eras attending.   It is held at the Evanston Vet Center on Howard Street in Evanston.