32 JULY 21 - JULY 27, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Cherished authors and their books
vschneps@gmail.com
These last two weeks I had the
pleasure of being with three
special authors who wrote very
di erent books. One was brilliant and
beautiful award-winning NY1 anchor,
author and sought-a er speaker Cheryl
Wills. She writes children’s books
about her ancestor who was a slave
who bravely fought as a soldier in
the Civil War. The other was Blanche
Wiesen Cook, who writes about my
hero Eleanor Roosevelt. Both write
engaging books in di erent ways.
The last is my old friend, Pauli
Libsohn, who has lovingly edited her
mom’s writings.
Cheryl discovered her heritage in
her biggest “scoop” and has made it her
mission to write about her great-greatgreat
grandfather in a voice meant
for elementary and middle school
students.
I read “The Emancipation of Grandpa
Sandy Wills” to my grandchildren and
they were fascinated by the story. So
was PBS, which will be going down with
her to Tennessee, where she discovered
her ancestor’s unmarked grave.
Now she will tell her tale to the
world!
Ironically, periwinkle plants, which
are perennials, were used by the
slaves to mark spots where no tombstone
could be placed. Knowing which
plantation he worked on, Cheryl found
it is still an operating “plantation” with
the descendants of the slave owners
still on the land.
Although she shared with me that
they don’t want to be involved in
the PBS fi lming, they are not being
obstructionist.
I believe that the history of slavery
is one that must be told and never forgotten,
and Cheryl’s voice is a precious
one.
Armed with the historical records
of the National Archives in Washington,
D.C., she has traced her family’s
roots and given us a moving, powerful,
emotion-packed memoir.
We met for dinner last week on the
Nautical Mile in Freeport, a town on
the rise thanks to its proactive mayor
Robert Kennedy.
We dined at the River House Grille,
where they o ered my favorite seasonal
steamers (two for the price of
one) and we then shared a two-pound
lobster, clams and oysters, a diner’s
delight.
We were sitting outside until the
drizzly rain forced us inside, and the
friendly, e cient waiters made the
move seamless.
Cheryl, who lives in Freeport, invited
me to her home and to meet her
husband, a principal in Valley Stream.
They live in the Stearns Park area of
the town. It was another discovery
for me because every street there
looks like the gracious, wide streets
of Garden City and Addisleigh Park in
St. Albans.
I love fi nding new enclaves and I
laughed when Cheryl told me that
Eddie Murphy grew up in Roosevelt,
the town next door, and would ride his
bicycle through Stearns Park as a kid
dreaming of owning a home there. In
fact, as soon as he had his fi rst success,
he did buy a home in this special section
of town.
He has since moved out but sadly
never looked back.
Dr. Blanche Wiesen Cook, an Eleanor Roosevelt Biographer,
is pictured at left with (from left to right) Assemblywoman
Rebecca Seabright, daughter Haley Hershenson and Jay
Hershenson
Then, through my friend Assemblywoman
Rebecca Seawright, I had
the pleasure of meeting her friend,
renowned writer and John Jay College
and Graduate Center Professor Blanche
Wiesen Cook. She has written three
volumes following my hero Eleanor
Roosevelt’s life from 1884 to her death
in 1962. The most recent one covers
1939-1962, “The war years and a er.”
Ms. Cook has dedicated her book to
“all those activists and agitators who
resist tyranny, challenge authority,
fi ght for peace, freedom
and human rights — as we
continue our journey for
One World: no borders, no
boundaries, no walls.”
Ironic how our world is
so upside-down now from
the dreams and life’s work
of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Interestingly, Mau re en
Dowd, a writer I respect,
said, “Eleanor was a master
on how to use the press
to shape public opinion.” Life keeps
repeating itself!
Another friend, Pauli Libsohn,
shared her mom’s latest volume of
poems and the books she edited based
on what she found locked away in her
mom’s drawer.
As Pauli recalled, “I had to painstakingly
go through my parents’
1,800 books and I was amazed at what
I found between the binders. My parents’
life was one of great romance
and I think her last poems were her
therapy to cope with his
death.”
The new books titled
“Silhouettes” and “Songs
of You” compiled by Pauli
are fi lled with gems.
Here’s one of my favorites
that made my heart swell,
“Forever” —
Don’t ask why
Don’t ask how
Just ask
Forever
VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
Victoria SCHNEPS-YUNIS
tweet me @vschneps
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