LOOKING BACK: Essays and Contributors

Looking Back reveals history as seen through the eyes of those who lived it. It is a personal journey into history that tells about both the amazing and tragic moments that have defined our lives since the '40s.

So readers could actually view history through the eyes of those who were there, I invited friends, family, and several other writers to submit their stories for the book. The book is written by 19 individuals, plus myself, and includes 22 essays and two poems in addition to the running timeline and commentary on historic events. Below are brief glimpses into a few of the wonderful stories that readers will find in Looking Back, due out this month (July).

Three writers tell about World War II and how it affected their families. One talks about it from the perspective of a child, which she was at the time. Another recalls the lookout towers along the coast of Oregon, where her family stood watch to see that Japanese planes didn't stray across the coastline. One writer recalls meeting the love of her life in college following the war, and how the GI Bill helped pay for her husband's college education, then helped them purchase their first home.

One writer recalls the wonder of train travel as a child before the Interstate highway system was built. Another tells about her childhood in Cuba after Castro took control. She recalls the hardships her family faced before they were finally allowed to leave the country and come to the U.S.

Two writers (as well as I) recall the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High in 1957 as nine black students became the first to integrate a school in the South. We each remember, in our own way, how it was back then to attend school amid turmoil created by racist protestors and the media. For the first time, the perspective of three white students is expressed in this book.

One writer recalls being constantly fearful of the future as a child of the '60s and vowing that if she lived to be a "grown-up," she would do something. She remembers finally meeting some of the Russians who so frightened her as a child, and celebrates being able to do something significant for society at the dawn of the new millenium. She also contributed two poems to the book, one a poignant story about visiting The Vietnam Wall with her children, and the other about visiting a missile silo in North Dakota.

One writer's story recalls that history seemed to overlap family celebrations, first on her parent's 50th wedding anniversary on 11/22/63 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The second was on 9/11/2001, her birthday, and now she remembers those who lost their lives in that terrible tragedy each year. Others also recall 9/11. One contributor tells how the tragedy changed her life and values.

Two people tell about losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. One, a military mother of two and pregnant at the time, recalls sheltering at the military hospital with her family and sleeping on the damp floor. She tells what sustained her family. Another remembers being notified by phone that her home was gone after she and her husband had evacuated 600 miles away. She recalls the generosity of a saleslady who handed her a bag full of free cosmetics and told her, "Just because you lost it all doesn't mean you can't still look good."

One Air Force Sergeant remembers being on hand in the Philippines as POWs were returned home following brutal imprisonment in North Vietnam. His experience as part of that operation forever changed his life and his outlook on his job. Another Air Force Sergeant recalls his hair-raising trip into Saigon during the war.

Several of the stories in the book recall a variety of different events, while others recall specific challenges and moments. All of the essays and poems are wonderfully revealing of the emotions and confusion that surrounded the times and their lives.

The book's contents were written as our legacy to future generations. The stories and poems display the generosity, resilience, and "can-do" attitude that have always driven and sustained the wonderful people who call this country home.