How Did You Put This Book Together?

When people find out about my book, the question I get asked the most is, “How did you go about putting the book together?” I grew up hearing countless people tell my grandfather that his life story must be recorded. I remember noticing him tell his story at social gatherings, and whoever was listening would keep asking questions for hours on end. He started writing this book in the 1990s, but did not finish it before his death at age 93 in 2012. My mother passed away of cancer just 4 ½ years later in 2017. After she died, I was going through her garage, and found numerous journals, videotapes, audiotapes, and DVDs of my grandfather being interviewed about his life story over several decades. I also found countless letters that he and my grandma had written to each other when they were apart, after he escaped jail in Poland. I realized then that I had enough material to fulfill my grandfather’s wish of having his memoir completed. My research involved contacting Polish researchers to verify events, names, and locations, and arranging for countless letters and documents to be translated from Polish to English. I am in awe of the generosity of the Polish people. I can’t tell you how many complete strangers offered to help me locate information, without accepting anything else in return. One of the best parts of this journey was getting to meet Polish relatives that I never knew about. This book has been more work than I imagined, but it’s been a labor of love. I’m happy to be able to fulfill my dziadek’s (grandpa in Polish) dream of having his life story published.