Memoir
Showing 31–40 of 40 results
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THE LONG HARD ROAD: FROM NAZI-OCCUPIED POLAND TO FREEDOM IN AMERICA
After Father left to catch the last train, I stood there looking in the direction of the train station until it was too dark to see anything. Afterwards, I went to my bed, lay down, and covered my face so my roommates could not see me cry. I was seventeen years old, almost a man, and a grown man didn’t cry even if he felt so terribly alone. Growing up in Poland at the start of World War II, Bogdan Tukiendorf lived through the clash of German, Russian, and Polish armies, the German occupation, the separation of his family, and a difficult immigration to the U.S. The Long, Hard Road details his journey from a farm in Poland to inner-city Chicago. Saddled with a knee injury from an early age, Bogdan limped through childhood and visited makeshift wartime hospitals as his knee worsened. His health prevented him from migrating to the U.S. with his family, so at seventeen he was left alone in a strange German city. The Long, Hard Road shares Bogdan’s experiences from the war, such as his family’s cooperation with the Polish freedom fighters, tenuous friendship with the occupying German commander, the fear of neighbors betraying them, his life in the netherworld while waiting to immigrate, his voyage to a free land, and his struggle to succeed in a new country. This engrossing autobiography will capture your attention as you read firsthand the story of one who survived World War II.
$12.99 -
The Miracle of Centennial
When Neil J. McKinnon was a child, he was always asking his mother, Florence, questions about her early life. His mother delighted in conversation, so the author learned quite a bit about old folklore of the Scots of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, along with practices of faith and the family’s experiences throughout the years.
In this moving memoir, Mr. McKinnon lovingly describes the farmland and woods where his mother spent her earliest years, the area around Cape Breton, and the love his mother had for the village of Centennial–the place where Florence’s family had its start.
“This book has been a labor of love,” the author writes, “to honor my mother who was really the ‘Miracle of Centennial.’” The result is a consistently charming and generously spiritual family chronicle that has rare universal appeal.
The power of prayer, the grace and power of the Eucharist, and the Rosary were the “lifelines” of the author’s families. Their strong faith helped them overcome numerous tragedies over the years as the author paints a delightful and unsentimental picture of life in a country village.
“Florence has left a gift of faith with her family in her love for her God and for prayer,” Mr. McKinnon relates. This book is his affectionate, loving tribute to a beloved woman and her family.
About the author:
Neil J. McKinnon is the second oldest of six children, the son of Florence and Neil McKinnon. He and his family lived for a time on Cape Breton Island and later moved to Detroit, Michigan. Enjoying a forty-three year career as a barber, Mr. McKinnon includes among his hobbies listening to classical music as well as sketching and painting. Mr. McKinnon resides in Michigan. This is his first published book.
$9.99 -
The Trilogy of Bipolar Management
By Kris Rock
By the time I was 50 I had been committed to psychiatric wards four times, attempted suicide a dozen times, divorced twice, roved from job to job and home to home, subjected myself to analysis by dozens of therapists and psychiatrists, used sex and drugs freely as needed to control my moods, took dozens of psychotropic medications, slept with 100 men and women, and spent several fortunes. I continued to look for the perfect drug to control my mood swings without horrible side effects. There didn’t seem to be one.
About the author:
Kris Rock is a retired Technical Writer and grandmother who has had many homes but presently lives in Newport News, VA. She has three children, three grandchildren, and one Border Collie. She enjoyed a 25-year career as a Technical Writer and Editor, during which she worked on a wide variety of documents for NASA Langley Research Center and many military aircraft companies. She attended 13 different universities and earned almost 500 college credits in subjects as varied as mechanical engineering, anthropology, business, nursing, and many others. In retirement she works as a freelance writer and editor, as well as being a delivery driver for a popular fast food chain. She also plays competitive duplicate bridge. She swims for an hour most mornings and enjoys walking. Her goal in life is to write more books and help others realize their dreams of doing the same. In the last few years she has edited ten memoirs and submitted two other books for publication.
$2.99–$15.05 -
The Trilogy of Bipolar Management Part 3: S’cuse Me While I Kiss the Sky
By Kris Rock
Book 3 is a light-hearted conclusion to my trilogy, and its purpose is to suggest that being bipolar doesn’t have to be the end of the world. In fact, a bipolar person can live a rich, happy, and productive life, once certain contingencies are met, namely, trusted friends and professionals nearby and low dosages of appropriate medications taken without fail. In Book 3, I describe my move to Virginia with many pets and my remaining at-home child to live with my second ex-husband and his many pets and remaining at-home child. In spite of difficulties with this arrangement, my moods remain stable, and I feel that I am fully recovered from my disease. I feel so well, in fact, that I go back to work full-time and enjoy the feeling of being a professional person again. I discover that as long as I remember everything I’ve learned about being bipolar and maintain as orderly a life as I can, I don’t have to worry about the chaos I faced earlier in life. I have no more raging, manic, or bottomless-pit moods, and I hope I am an inspiration to others who may not have progressed as far as I have. The whole purpose of my books is to demonstrate how a bipolar person can finally achieve stability. Not many bipolar people have lasted as long as I have, and my books are meant to encourage anyone who is dragged down by impossible moods and disasters all around. In my book 3, I celebrate my life as it has become, and I urge others to hang on in spite of everything—life is worth it!
About the Author
Kristina lives in Newport News, VA and is a mother of three and a grandmother of three. She lives with a valued roommate and her youngest son, along with two very large dogs (she prefers cats, but the dogs would eat them). She works full-time for the Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard Financial Branch, as a Technical Writer. She writes and edits other people’s books on the side for fun. This is her third book, all self-published. She is an avid reader and swimmer. She is presently working at home in controlled chaos during the quarantine. When she retires, she hopes to write more and start an editing business.$2.99–$12.47 -
The Trilogy of Bipolar Management: Part II Grounded: Facing the Down Side
By Kris Rock
This book is the second part of a trilogy about the author’s battle with bipolar disorder. In this volume, the author struggles with depression as it affects every part of her life. The medications she is prescribed make her feel detached from her emotions and dumbed down. She learns ways to deal with these obstacles and finds better medications that don’t have bad side effects. She is learning how to be a “high-functioning” manic-depressive.
About the Author:
The author is a happy grandma who lives far from her children but loves living in the state of Virginia with a roommate who happens to be her ex-husband and their affectionate Border Collie. She loves swimming, reading, and watching well-made movies. She works part-time as a Technical Writer and Editor in the real professional world, and in her spare time she edits books written by hopeful, mostly unpublished authors.
$2.99–$13.51 -
The Value of a Homemaker: A Memoir
By Patti Zona
“I was fortunate to have three sisters and two brothers. I would be the youngest of three or the oldest of four. Growing up would not be an ordinary experience for any of us. Yet, amazingly we persevered. I believe all of us were determined and chose to do and be better— not repeat the same mistakes. Memories of our mother gentle and loving but frail and medicated too often. Our father instilled fear for he never was taught or shown real nurturing love himself. Later, we would all understand the dynamics of both our parents and we would forgive.
My dreams were to be a singer, dancer, artist and missionary—one day. I have done it all in some small capacity and on borrowed time. I would marry while a junior in high school and have a son on my husband’s birthday. Then, we were young and in love and determined to defy the odds. We would have three children and achieve incredible financial success during the process. But, in the end I would be sacrificed and my husband rewarded. Divorced, appealed and annulled—I was compelled to write my first book—my story, for understanding and to make a difference…”
$23.95–$33.95 -
The World and I
By Raphael Tsu
This book begins with the memory of the invasion of China by Japan, of a child under five years of age, from a prominent Catholic Family, living under the French quarter of Shanghai, protected from the Japanese invader until Pearl Harbor. His love of physics eventually led him to work for the leading scientific laboratories, Bell Labs, IBM, etc. Discovery of new technologies is largely by accidents, while discovery of the world we live in is mainly by careful observations, such as the discovery of the planet Pluto. He suggested that Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest should include survival of the best Technology. Evolution and disasters involve the rate of change. Any sudden changes too fast to be adapted lead to disasters. Therefore, what is good, usually allows sufficient processes to respond to sudden changes. Discovery of radically new technologies is largely by accidents, while discovery of our world is by careful observations, such as the discovery of the planet Pluto. As a naturalized American citizen for 50 years, he has something to say for the great American Society. We need to keep on top in circumstances such as economy and defense, not forgetting that it takes careful planning and execution in every category including research and development that brought this nation to the top in the 20th century!
$9.99 -
Two Daniels
Two Daniels is a story about two boys named Daniel and their respective experiences during World War II. One Daniel is blond and speaks German so he is selected for special training. But when he misses a rendezvous behind enemy lines, he finds himself with four deserting German soldiers. The other Daniel is a Jewish child who is hidden and transported by sympathizers until he ends up in a cave in France, where he helps to hide works of art. The meeting of the two Daniels is movingly depicted by an author who never loses sight of the underlying bonds of religion and longing for family that unite her two indelibly rendered characters.
Judith M. Leftoff spent most of her working life teaching chemistry, physics, and studio art. She received a B.S. degree from Mount Union College, a master of science from Cornell University, and a master of fine art from Fort Hays State University. She also studied writing at Wichita State University. The mother of four children and grandmother of eight, she makes her home in Valley Center, Kansas.
$2.99–$9.99 -
Two Large Families
This is a story about two farm families. The children are taught in both families to share in loving relationships. They all enjoy many happy times in family activities. They learn good behavior and caring for each other. The children learn how to be thrifty and respectful to others.
They all enjoy learning and getting ahead in school. They learn from an early age about sharing and good behavior. Early on, they learn that things go well for the family when each child does his or her share.
They learn by parental instructions that bullying is very undesirable for anyone wishing to be a success.
$89.31–$104.80 -
We Called Ourselves Rocketboatmen: The Untold Stories of the Top-Secret LCS(S) Rocket Boat Missions of World War II at Sicily, Normandy (Omaha and Utah Beaches), and Southern France
D-Day, June 6, 1944—a day never to be forgotten. More than 156,000 troops crossed the English Channel from England to Normandy, making it the largest seaborne invasion in history. Leading the pre-invasion ashore were the brave, but little known, rocketboatmen, as they called themselves. Their job, as the first close up Naval offense, was to soften up the German beach defenses with 48 rockets, machine gunnery, and smoke screening, preparing the way for the LCVP infantrymen.
Through private diary entries and firsthand accounts, many read here for the first time, the unfolding of the earliest events leading up to the invasion is told in vivid and unforgettable detail. In choppy seas, oftentimes like sitting ducks in the water, these young men manned their landing craft approached the beaches at exactly 6:00 A.M.— half an hour before H-hour—unleashed their barrage of forty-eight rockets, twelve boats at Omaha, twelve at Utah Beach, lighting up the coastline like a Fourth of July grand finale. Several boats actually beached at Omaha and Utah under shell and bombardment and crossfire sustaining casualties, eliminating German coastline pill boxes.
Relive their compelling tales in this incredible story.
$2.99–$16.57