Learning About
the Greatest Generation
Retirement
delivered many opportunities for speaking to senior groups and at extension
classes of local colleges. Several historic fiction books hit the market, and
life sailed along with my husband and cat in a Chicago suburb. Then, in November
2019, I read Jennie Allen’s book, Anything:
The Prayer That Unlocked My God and My Soul.
I prayed that God
would do anything in my life that would draw me closer to Him.
Gail Kittleson
e-mailed me two days later.
An author of WWII
historic fiction, Gail asked if I would want to co-write a book about the food
that people ate during the war. After praying about this, I decided to jump
full into the project. Research is one of my library skills honed over the
years.
The range of
material was vast. Trips to the library yielded books on WWII to read. The
internet produced articles, memoirs, and PHD. Dissertations on the topics of
military chocolate bars, ration kits, sugarless baking, foxhole foraging, the
Victory Gardens, the Land Girls, Donut Dollies, and how the Dutch ate tulips.
The women of North Platte, Nebraska, who served food to over 6 million GI’s in
four years astounded me. Recipes and photos for all for all these topics
bubbled from friends cleaning out their attics, historical archives, and
government sources. A coffee table album on the topic complete with quotes,
articles, photos and recipes resulted.
Then Gail and I
decided to bring the sacrifices and ingenuity of celebrating Christmas during
the war to the album format. Again, conversations with elderly friends,
relatives, and reading memoirs gleaned so many insights. Reading books like Soldiers of a Different Fabric brought
the stories of chaplains at Christmas to light. Compilations of accounts of POWs and GIs in the field at the season of Christ’s birth allowed the emotions
of the time to come into our writing. Photos from private parties made their
way to this book.
So much happened
to me emotionally as these projects were researched. My uncles enlisted during the war but spoke
little about their experiences. Uncle Melvin took us to the cemetery in Des
Moines, Iowa, every time we visited him so we would remember the Sullivan
Brothers and see all the white crosses. Now, I read the accounts of the sailors
and soldiers in foxholes and on ships in hostile countries sharing their fears
and hopes.
My appreciation for the Greatest Generation
increased as I read the letters of mothers and wives who put up a brave front
even as they scrounged every day to make ends meet. The words of President
Roosevelt, the volunteering of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the inspiring quotes of
Eisenhower, Nimitz and MacArthur stirred a piece inside of me that had long lay
dormant. The folks who lived through
WWII represented the best of our nation.
They are in a class by themselves.
It is with humility and pride that Gail Kittleson and I present the companion books that
give the present generation a glimpse into the valor and courage of our parents
and grandparents. The Greatest Generation.
Featured Books
Will Release in September 2020
The Food That Held
the World Together
World War II
Christmas Scrapbook
Authors: Gail
Kittleson and Cleo Lampos
Publisher:
Wordcrafts Press
Genre: Historical
non-fiction
Two companion
books
Target Audience:
High school to adult seniors who love history
 |
| Gail Kittleson |
Gail
Kittleson creates women’s historical fiction from her northern Iowa home where
she lives with her husband, a retired Army chaplain. She is a frequent speaker
and workshop presenter at libraries and other venues.
 |
| Cleo Lampos |
Cleo Lampos is a
retired schoolteacher who speaks to adult extension classes at local colleges,
writes fiction, enjoys quilting, and helps her urban gardener husband on their
Chicago suburban plot.
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