Blog
Progress Report
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a compulsive writer. So, where I have been since April? Not writing any blog postings, that’s obvious. Let me tell you. It’s been over a year since I thought I had finished writing the book I’ve been compiling of my Uncle Joe’s stories. Which I started in…
This family legend is excerpted from my upcoming book: Lighter Than Air: The 20s, The 30s, The War, and a Marriage Made in Heaven …a compilation of the stories told (and retold) by my Uncle, Joe Flynn. ~~~ In January of 1925, a total eclipse of the sun was predicted, and storekeepers everywhere were nervous….
Wartime Wedding – March 3, 1943
Tuesday the three women made arrangements for a reception. They knew how many to plan for because they had made all those phone calls. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what else they were up to. My job was just to stay out of their way. Rosemary had set up a cot for me, and…
Wartime Wedding – Getting Ready – March 1, 1943
I hadn’t seen Rosemary for over a year, since those couple of days right after Pearl Harbor. I was long gone and didn’t know when I’d ever be back. But ever since I had proposed to her, by letter, and she had written back “That’s a good idea,” we both knew that when—if—I got back,…
The Last Chapter: Done! (Well, Drafted at least)
Finally! Chapter 44 of my compilation of Uncle Joe’s Stories just rolled out of my printer. That’s not to say the book is “done.” But it’s starting to be done. And if it never gets published, at least my children and grandchildren will have a big slice of family history (and entertainment) to pass along….
from writer to author
It wasn’t until I finished writing a book that I discovered the big challenge was not—as I had assumed—the planning, the research, and the writing. No. The biggest barrier to becoming a published author was finding a publisher. I had been getting paid for writing all my adult life. But always, the writing was on…
My uncle, Joe Flynn, was a great storyteller, and he had many stories to tell. His life spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. After Joe died, I realized that I was the keeper of these stories, that each was a chapter, and that once I had written them all down, I would be the author…
Why did we think that we would escape the kind of historic cataclysms that have upended the lives of every generation? Think of our parents. And grandparents. I think of my grandmother. First cataclysm: Flu epidemic of 1918. Mary and Phil Flynn lived in the first floor apartment of a brand new triple-decker on Morton…
My Uncle Joe joined the US Navy for a six-year hitch in August of 1940. He served on USS Wichita, a heavy cruiser, USS Redwood, a ship that installed and serviced anti-torpedo nets, before applying to become a lighter-than-air sailor. He was accepted into the program and assigned to Blimp Hedron #1, Lakehurst (NJ) Air…
My mother died on Good Friday. She was just one month shy of her 90th birthday. The year was 2003, and Good Friday fell on April 18th that year, but no matter. Every year since, on Good Friday, I think of her. And I think of my Uncle Joe, her brother, two years younger, who…