Author Mary Cronk Farrell

IRENA'S CHILDREN Debuts Next Week! Here's What You Won't See in the Book

9/23/2016

Irena’s Children, Young Readers Edition [Simon & Schuster] has historical photographs throughout, but many did not make the cut.

Here's one showing three of the children who's lives Irena saved, Michal Glowinski, Piotrus Zysman, and Elzbieta Koppel.

I don't know when or where the photo was taken. Piotr, in the middle, was four years old when he was sneaked out of the Warsaw Ghetto. I first told Elzbieta's story here. At that time I didn't know I'd later be invited to work on a book about Irena.

The photo below of Irena and an unidentified child is courtesy of the Museum of Polish Jews.

Courage was rooted deep in Irena's family. During the January Uprising in 1863, which started as a protest by young Poles against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army, Irena's great grandfather's small estate was headquarters for the insurgents near Kalisz in central Poland.

The Russians put down the Polish-Lithuanian rebels, executed many and deported others to Siberia, including Irena's maternal great grandfather Karol Grzybowski. He died after a year of hard labor manacled to a wheeled cart.

Irena was greatly influenced by her father, Stanislaw Krzyzanowski's political activities and compassion for the poor, which is detailed in the book. During a typhoid epidemic in their local area, Irena's father was the only doctor who would treat those suffering the illness. He ended up catching the disease himself and dying when Irena was a young child.

Little wonder, Irena would later risk her life posing as a nurse to enter the Jewish Ghetto carrying medicine and food for the sick and starving. (Photograph courtesy of www.chabad.org & The Jewish Women.org)

Above, Irena Sendler rides in a parade in Warsaw in 1948. (Courtesy Of The Irena Sendler Project) You might think that she would remain a celebrity for her humanitarian deeds, but after World War II when Poland fell to the Communists, Irena was persona non grata like others who had supported or fought for Polish Independence.

Irena's Children hits bookstore shelves September 27. Pre-order now to have your book that day!

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This Guy Didn't Stand by When His Neighbors Were in Trouble

8/30/2016

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Marielle Tsukamoto was five years old when her family was forced to leave their California farm in 1942 and move across the country to Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas.

Judged a threat to national security by the U.S. and Canadian governments, by neighbors and former friends, most families of Japanese heritage lost their homes and all they owned.

But thanks to one man with moral courage, a sense of justice and a strong work ethic, after the war Marielle and her family were able to come home--home to a running farm, money in the bank and their freshly cleaned house waiting for them.

Bob Fletcher in 2010 courtesy Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee

In 1942, Bob Fletcher worked as a California fruit inspector in the region southwest of Sacramento where he was known by many of the farmers.

As Japanese families packed up to leave for relocation camps, Marielle's father, Al Tsukamoto approached Bob with a proposition.
Would he manage two farms, one owned by an elderly couple while the owners were gone?

If Bob would pay the taxes and mortgages, the offer went, he could keep all the profits.

Bob agreed. He knew little to nothing about the farmers' crops, flame tokay grapes, but he learned. Bob quit his job and committed to run the Tsukamoto farm along with the other two, a total of ninety acres.

This did not make Bob Fletcher popular in town.

Photo by Dorothea Lange & National Archives

Many families sent away to relocation camps could not keep up on their bills and locals had a chance to buy their properties at auction.

Even before the war Japanese-Americans suffered prejudice. Their children were not allowed to go to school with white children, and sometimes people begrudged their success in business and farming.

Bob Fletcher didn't care what his neighbors thought. He lived in the Tsukamoto's
bunk house and worked farmers' hours, dawn to dusk, for three years.

“Never did agree with the evacuation,” Bob told The Sacramento Bee in 2010. “They were the same as anybody else. It was obvious they had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor.”

“I don’t know about courage...
It took a devil of a lot of work.”

After the war, most Japanese-American farmers came home to nothing, but Marielle remembers arriving to find her family's house just as they had left it, but newly cleaned for their homecoming by Teresa Fletcher, Bob's new wife.

Teresa lived in the bunkhouse with her husband, though she had been invited to stay in the house. The Fletcher's used only half of the farms' profits for themselves, leaving money in the bank so the relocated families could make a new start.

As is often true of people who act selflessly, Bob didn't think he was extraordinary. “I don’t know about courage,” he told the Sacramento Bee. “It took a devil of a lot of work.”

How do we cultivate this selfless quality, where we act with generosity, do the right thing, stand up for others being persecuted and it's just all in a day's work?

Let me know what you think!

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Girls Give Up Olympic Dreams to Boycott Nazis

8/5/2016

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Just hours from now, hundreds of millions of television viewers will tune in later today for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games in Rio, a modern global spectacle with historical roots in Nazi Germany.

The Berlin 1936 games were the first ever broadcast on television, and the first to feature the Olympic torch relay from Greece to the site of the games. The torch-lighting was part of Nazi plans to host an Olympics that would out-shine all previous games.

Adolf Hitler's propaganda machine was also the first to plan a monumental Olympic stadium. Built of natural stone, with massive budget over-runs, it became the largest coliseum in the world, seating 110,000 spectators.

In the month before the dazzling opening ceremonies police arrested nearly one-thousand Roma and Sinti people, interning them in a camp on the edge of the city near Berlin's sewage fields.

Organizers in Rio de Janeiro promise a pared-down opening ceremonies due to budget constraints, they have swept their city of "undesirable" street children prior to the onslaught of international tourists, just as the Nazis "cleaned-up" Berlin.

In the Copacabana and Maracanã neighborhoods, teenagers and children as young as seven sleep by the roadside and beg for change. Youth advocates say Rio police are detaining children arbitrarily — and in some cases kids are simply vanishing. China's pre-Olympic sprucing-up rid Beijing of beggars, hawkers and prostitutes. See video here...

Few stood up to Nazi propaganda portraying Germany as a tolerant and hospitable nation. The only country to boycott the 1936 games was the Soviet Union. But three young Jewish girls gave up their Olympic dreams to follow their consciences.

Judith Deutsch, (left in photo) Austria's top swimmer in the mid-1930s, knew of the persecution of Jews in Germany and she experienced much anti-semitism in her home country.

She and two other Austrian swimmers, Ruth Langer (middle in photo) and Lucie Goldman (right) swam at a Jewish club because they were barred from training pools, by signs reading No entry for dogs and Jews.

At age 14, Ruth held eight national titles and the Austrian records in 100m and 400m free-style. Judith

dominated Austrian swimming 1934-36 and was the Austrian National champion in the 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle, and 400-meter freestyle all three years; she was elected Outstanding Austrian Athlete in 1935.

Three young Jewish girls gave up their dreams to follow their consciences.

The girls took a stand, stating, ''We do not boycott Olympia, but Berlin."

In an interview with Reuters, Ruth said, "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But being Jewish, it was unthinkable to compete in the Games in Nazi Germany, where my people were being persecuted.''

Because of their refusal to swim in Berlin, Ruth (at right), Judith and Lucie were stripped from the Austrian record books, and suspended by Austrian authorities from all national and international competition.

All three girls escaped the Holocaust. Judith (left) emigrated to Israel and became the Israeli National champion and represented Hebrew University at the 1939 World University Games, winning a silver medal.

Lucie Goldman, the Austrian backstroke champion, escaped to Australia. In 1995, when the Austrian government finally apologized and reinstated the champions’ records, all three women declined to travel to the ceremony.

Judith wrote: "I am happy to accept your apologies and the withdrawal of sanctions against me...And in no way do I regret having done what I did sixty years ago."

When American Jews and Christian and labor groups called for U.S. athletes to boycott the 1936 Olympics, the US Olympic Committee President, Avery Bundage traveled to Germany to investigate claims of Nazi discrimination against Jews. He reported such claims were exaggerated “and the unhindered continuance of the Olympic movement were more important than the German-Jewish situation.” Three Jewish-American track and field athletes withdrew from Olympic trials in protest of Nazi policies.

See the PBS film The Nazi Games here...

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Small Steps, That's How Peace Happens

7/15/2016

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I've written a lot about the courage of American World War II nurses, but this week I discovered the heroism of a Canadian nurse, and learned the story of her valiant effort to save a friend after a torpedo attack by the Germans.

I also discovered how taking a step or two out of my comfort zone can generate courage, and I witnessed an amazing step toward peace and reconciliation. It was quite a week after last week's violence combined with my historical photo research.

In ten years as a television news reporter I attended scores of demonstrations.
Often when there was a protest, there were protesters protesting the protest.

Never once did I see the two sides come together as I did last week at Spokane, Washington's #BlackLivesMatter rally. But that's what's happening in this photo.

Spokane, Washington, Photo courtesy Daniel Wallace McLay

An African American pastor asked the crowd to stop reacting to a heckler, then invited the heckler up for a hug. Later, the head of the local NAACP offered the protester the mic and him speak, while the crowd listened respectfully.

Before the end of the rally, those who came to say #BlackLivesMatter, walked to police headquarters and gathered at the memorial for fallen police officers. With a moment of silence and a prayer they demonstrated #BlueLivesMatter, too.

Spokane, Washington, courtesy Daniel Wallace McLay

The spirit of the rally moved me. I found myself in tears several times as speakers talked of justice, and of healing divisions, of valuing all lives, of ending violence and working toward understanding.

I came away empowered, empowered not to be silent in the face of trouble, but also, not to be strident and not to be judgmental.

Opportunity immediately presented itself!

Empowered not to be silent in the face of trouble, but also, not to be strident and not to be judgmental.

Isn't it funny how that is? This week my personal life offered me the chance to climb down off my high horse, lay down my sword and shield and make the first move toward dialogue. Yes, it was scary. I was afraid I might makes things worse. I was afraid I might get hurt.

But at the rally, I had joined the chant silence is consent to the status quo. And I found myself braver than I ever knew I could be.

Which brings me to Canadian WWII Nurse Margaret Brooke and the fact that sometimes you can summon your greatest courage and still fail in your task.

When the German torpedo slammed against the passenger ferry, the SS Caribou, in the early morning darkness of October 14, 1942, Margaret and Nurse Agnes Wilke were asleep in their bunks.

Margaret and Agnes made it to the deck, but their life boat was gone.

The ship, crossing Cabot Strait off the coast of Newfoundland, sank in just five minutes, taking the women into the water.

"We were just busy staying afloat until an overturned lifeboat came along and the people on that helped us," Margaret said later. They grasped ropes, "and we just hung there."

It would be nearly two hours before rescuers arrived, and before then Agnes' strength collapsed. With one arm Margaret clung tight for her survival, and with the other she held onto her friend.

"I held her as long as I could," Margaret says. "I failed. I couldn't hold her any longer." Agnes slipped into the cold depths, one of 137 passengers and crew to die that night.

For her selfless act, Margaret Brooke was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and the Royal Canadian Navy has named an offshore patrol boat after her.

Okay, I'm not saying I'm a hero like Margaret Brooke, far from it. What I'm saying is that whether it's a large step or a small one, when we venture from our comfort zone, we risk failure.

And often there's a lot of failure before big change is achieved. But no matter how small, every successful step toward dialogue moves us closer to peace. Small steps also give us hope and strengthen us to take big ones.

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A Week of Killing, A History of Killing...What Can We Do?

7/10/2016

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I've been doing photo research for my upcoming book about African American women in the 1940's, and the racial prejudice they suffered while serving in the United States Army.

The lynching of blacks was a fact of life for these women, and though it happened mostly in the south, blacks were lynched in northern states, too. I'd been putting off choosing a photo for this part of the story, but finally had to face the images and they left me depressed for days.

Especially after stumbling across a new study that documents the number of lynchings in America is 700 more than previously believed. Titled Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, the report says 3,959 lynchings of African-Americans took place from 1877 to 1950 in states across the South.

I'll spare you the images, but take a look at this bit of my research.

An African American in the Women's Army Corp spent a week in the hospital being beaten by a civilian cop for sitting in white waiting room at the bus station in

Elizabethtown, KY.

The cop smashed Private

Helen Smith over the head with a blackjack, dragged her across the bus station floor and threw her in the town jail.

When she was handed over to military police at Fort Knox, she was ordered to face court martial for disorderly conduct and disobeying Kentucky Jim Crow laws. Two other WACs, beaten less severely were similarly charged.

The three service women were eventually aquitted when NAACP lawyers argued Kentucky didn't actually have Jim Crow laws written in the books.

The civilian cop faced no repercussions in the case.
The news of two black men killed by police this week and at least four police officers shot to death overnight has added to my very heavy heart.

People have very strong feelings on both sides of this issue, but I wish we could create a safe space to talk about violence in America.

Since writing the adaption of IRENA'S CHILDREN last year, I've been much more tuned into Polish history, and the atrocities Poland suffered under the Nazis.

This week I stumbled across some haunting color photographs taken by Adolf Hitler's personal photographer, Hugo Jaeger, in occupied Poland in 1939 and 1940.

They are heart-breaking, but I looked at each nameless person and envisioned
them beyond the photograph--as flesh and blood, with loved ones, with a life of joys and struggles-- all cut short by the Nazi regime.

See the photos here, in a piece called The Brink of Oblivion. Does remembering the victims move us closer to peace? I don't know. But it's something.

Click here to check out an interactive database with information
on police killings in the last eighteen months. There's tons of information, and you can decide for yourself what you think.

Police have a dangerous job. They are often on calls where they fear for their lives.They are human and vulnerable to mistakes when they have to make split-second decisions. Here you can see the honor roll of law enforcement officers killed this year.

Information, talking and listening don't kill anyone. Let's give it a try.

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It's Time to Thank a Teacher...

6/2/2016

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One of my heroines is a middle school teacher. She is one of the most dedicated people I know in any profession. She cares deeply about her students' learning and goes way beyond the requirements of the job.

Teachers require courage, commitment to the common good and a selfless dedication day in and day out.

Did you know that it was public school teachers in Norway who organized one of the few successful nonviolent campaigns against the Nazis in World War II?

When the Nazis invaded Norway, military defenses crumbled within days, and the new government ordered all teachers to join an association led by Nazi storm troopers. Among the new rules for schools:

Textbooks will be changed so they conform with Nazi viewpoints;

Every child must learn German as a second language; and

Teachers must instruct their students in the fundamentals of Nazism

More than 85% of Norwegian teachers refused the orders, forcing the government to close schools. "It was a matter of conscience. We couldn't have looked our families and friends in the face if we hadn't taken this stand," one teacher explained.

In America today, it is underfunded classrooms, overboard mandated testing and lack of instructional autonomy driving teachers away.

In Florida, Nevada, Kansas and and Indiana teachers are quitting in droves.

In a school district in East Phoenix, Arizona, an elementary school principal keeps the toilets running. He's also the district’s director of maintenance. Teachers are doubling up on duties, but haven't had a raise in seven years.

In cities like Boston and San Francisco, teachers are priced out of housing.

Photo and details courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco kindergarten teacher Rebecca Sheehan-Stross rents the dining room of an apartment in Oakland. The dining room. That's where she lives with no closet and little privacy. After a long day of teaching, she babysits to try and make ends meet.

Other San Francisco teachers have after-school jobs tending bar or driving for Uber. A few have lived in their cars or stayed in hostels.

Teachers in the U.S. obviously are not suffering like Norwegian teachers did under Nazi occupation, some of who ended up in prison camp. But the committed teachers who work hard every day for our children and the future of our country belong to this same sodality of generous commitment, caring and courage.

Kirkenes prison camp, photo: Arkivverket.no

Thirteen-hundred teachers were arrested when they refused to return to the classroom. Despite harsh treatment, the educators held firm and continued to do so when nearly 500 were sent to Kirkenes, and Arctic concentration camp and forced to labor with Russian POWs.

Their journey started by cattle-car... "This was followed by a sea voyage, in conditions that horrified even the Nazi doctor who went on board…. The ship had room for only 250 passengers, but all 499 were crammed in. Many could not even lie down, though they were now ill with “pneumonia, gastric ulcers, asthma, bronchitis, hemorrhage and mental derangement.” ~Thanks to Peace Pledge Union, London.

All but one of the teachers survived, and their bravery gave hope to people throughout Norway. Finally the occupation government gave up and released them to go home.

You can read a Norwegian Prisoner's diary entries here...

You can read more about America's teacher shortage here....

You can encourage or thank a teacher by remembering her when you vote in local, state and national elections.

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Cover Reveal!

5/6/2016

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So proud and excited to show off this cover! The book is due out from Abrams Books for Young People November 1st. They have done a fabulous job turning my story into a piece of art.

This project has been a labor of love since I ran across Fannie Sellins on the internet more than ten years ago! As with any important undertaking, I stumbled through many challenges on the way.

Fannie Sellins entered my life via a Google search on American labor history back in 2007. I was working on a teacher's guide for my novel, Fire in the Hole! And here is an entry that turned up: In the Midst of Terror She went out to Her Work.

Who could pass on that? Not me. The article by Mary Lou Hawse started: "Fannie Sellins was a labor organizer -- and from all accounts, she was an exceptional one. But she paid with her life."

I soon discovered much about Fannie's courage and compassion. When immigrant women earning poverty wages in St. Louis sweatshops voted to strike, Fannie Sellins was there. When destitute coal miners dared to unionize in West Virginia, Fannie was there.

When hired gunmen threatened, beat and shot miners walking the picket line in Pennsylvania, Fannie was there. Mine operators would have paid any price to get rid of Fannie. They threatened to kill her, but Fannie refused to go away.

The United Mine Workers Journal called her an "Angel of Mercy," who went into the miners' homes, encouraging their wives and caring for the sick and dying. "Whenever there was a strike, with its inevitable suffering, Mrs. Sellins was found, caring for the women and children through the dark days of the struggle."

I'm so proud and happy to share the story of this courageous women who has inspired me so. By the way, you can pre-order the book now.

As always, thanks for your support! We authors are nothing without readers.

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Do Black Heroines Matter?

4/15/2016

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Remember Jessica Lynch? The first American POW to be rescued alive since World War II. Blond, blue-eyed, and first-ever female POW.

What about the name Shoshana Johnson? That name ring a bell?

I was shocked to discover Shoshana was captured POW the same time as Jessica, but not rescued for another 13-days.

Oh, and she's black, the first U.S. African American female POW. Below Shosana is being interviewed while in captivity in Iraq, March, 2003.

By the time Shoshana came home, the army and news media had made Jessica Lynch an American hero, the girl-next-door who'd been shot and stabbed and still kept firing. Actually, she was hurt in a Humvee crash and her gun jammed before she could get off a shot.

Lori Piestewa. Recognize that name? She was there with Jessica Lynch. She was captured, too!

But Lori died in captivity.

The first American woman to die in Iraq, the first-ever Native American woman to die in combat outside the U.S. (Below: Lori Piestewa-day she deployed to Iraq)

Lori, a Hopi, was the mother of two children. The name Hopi means "Peaceful People" and when the U.S. Cavalry occupied their ancestral lands, the Hopi with stayed true, offering nonviolent resistance.

Lori believed in peace, but the army offered a good job when she had few options. It was a chance to build a better life for her children.

Jessica and Lori had become friends in basic training. They grew even closer when they were assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company as roommates at Fort Bliss. When the 507th got orders to the Middle East, Lori was not on the list to go because of an injury. Jessica's job as a quartermaster supply clerk was not a combat position, but she was nervous about heading to a war zone.

Lori had a premonition that Jessica or someone else in her unit would get into danger in Iraq, and she wanted to be there to help. She convinced her superiors to add her to the list for deployment.

Three days into the war-- disaster struck.

A U.S. Army investigation blamed the ambush of the 507th on navigational and human error, lack of rest and communication problems. Eleven soldiers died and nine were injured.

The unit had been on its way to Baghdad, the tail end of a 600-vehicle convoy. It’s heavier, slower vehicles bogged down in the sand, fell behind and got lost. After wandering through the desert for hours, the support group of clerks, repairmen and cooks took a wrong turn and stumbled into the city of Nasiriyah. They were surrounded and attacked by paramilitary forces loyal to Saddam Hussein.

Here, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Curney Russell provides a steady arm for Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson after she and four male POWs were rescued in April 2003, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch still suffer from their physical and psychological wounds. In Shoshana's case, the army initially refused to treat her PTSD. Lori Piestewa's family was comforted to hear, like Jessica, she never fired her gun during the ambush. Lori died a Hopi, trying to help a friend.

Click here for the memorial fund for Lori Ann Piestewa's children. Scroll to the bottom of page 3.

U.S. military recruiters target people with few options for education and employment. They sign up black women in numbers highly disproportionate to white women. In Iraq and Afghanistan African American women have also died in higher numbers.

Do black and brown lives matter?

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Can Ants Teach Us to Be More Human?

4/7/2016

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The battles in the Irish Parliament this week make me feel a little less embarrassed about the bitter gridlock in American politics. But mostly, I'm sick at heart about why we can't do better. Working together demonstrates our humanity.

But ants work together better than humans.

Photo courtesy commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photographs_from_CSIRO_ScienceImage

Each ant selflessly does their own job and the whole colony works together to achieve a common goal. But did you know that different species of ants who hate each other co-exist and work together? Compare that to the United States Congress.

In 1939, a republican senator, Elizabeth Norse got together with a democrat senator, Robert Wagner. They both wanted to do something in response to Germany's Kristallnacht pogrom against the Jews. The two worked together on legislation to allow 20,000 German Jewish children to immigrate to the United States.

Members on both sides of Congress came together to support the legislation, including former President Herbert Hoover, who'd led efforts that restricted immigration ten years earlier.

I wish this story had a happy ending. But opponents mobilized against the bill. President Franklin D. Roosevelt remained silent on the issue, and congress killed it. I wish we would learn more from history.

Kindertransport evacuated Jewish children from Nazi Europe to Great Britain.

Did you know during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, citizens of New York City righteously criticized the authorities in Salem for convicting people on the basis or hysterical witnesses, executing them on little actual evidence?

Did you know 50-years later, New Yorkers--fearing not the devil, but a slave revolt--conducted their own witch hunt complete with hysterical witnesses and deadly justice? Remembered as the "Bonfires of the Negroes," 17 blacks were hanged, along with 4 white "ringleaders," 13 African slaves were burned at the stake and 70 more shipped to the Caribbean and sold. I wish we could learn more from history.

Enough depressing stories. Please tell me you believe there is life after Donald Trump! Share your hope that we can work together for better.

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Imagine: A Teenage Girl goes to War to Impress Her Mom...and that's just the beginning

3/25/2016

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Two Women Revolutionized Science and Changed the World.
Irene Curie--not Marie Curie, the Nobel-Prize-winning scientist you've heard about, but her teenage daughter. The story takes one twist after another, and here to tell it is Winifred Conklin author of the new book Radioactive!

Seventeen-year-old Irene Curie volunteered to serve in World War I as an x-ray technician. She used portable x-rays to help surgeons identify shrapnel and perform operations near the battlefield.

Below Irene Curie on a mobile x-ray unit in 1916.

Her mother had developed the military x-ray program. Marie wanted to win her mother’s respect, and, frankly, she wanted to spend some time with her mom. This combination of brilliant scientist and vulnerable teen made her an irresistible subject to me.

Lise Meitner in the laboratory (1913).

The Germans were using x-ray technology, too. Lise Meitner, an Austrian who had been working in Berlin when the war began, performed the same work as Irene. She was an x-ray technician on the German side of WWI.

Both Curie and Meitner would prove to be among the most accomplished female scientists of the 20th century. These women were among a handful of physicists worldwide who were working on better understanding atomic structure.

Curie had been born into the “First Family of Science” (both of her parents had won Nobel Prizes), But Meitner had been turned away from higher education programs because she was a woman.

She finally had a chance to study physics at the University of Vienna in 1901, but she repeatedly came up against obstacles.

She was not paid in the early years of her research program, and she had to set up her own laboratory in the basement of the science building because she was not allowed to work in the main lab with the men.

The chief scientist claimed he was afraid her hair would catch fire, even though she wore her hair in a tight bun and the men in the lab almost universally wore elaborate facial hair.

Otto Stern and Lise Meitner, possibly 1937 colloquy with Nobel Price winners

During their careers, both Irene and Lise made important discoveries in the understanding of physics. Curie and her husband, Frederic Joliot, discovered artificial radiation. They won a Nobel Prize in 1934 for their work.

Lise had to flee Nazi Germany in 1938, leaving her laboratory and research behind. She continued to consult with her former lab partner, Otto Hahn, and she made the breakthrough in understanding of nuclear fission.

Ultimately, Hahn took credit for her discovery and claimed the Nobel Prize for the work they did together. Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn in West Germany in 1962.

Bombing of Nagasaki, Japan

The women had seen such horrors on the battlefields during World War I that they had become pacifists; both were horrified that the work they did in the name of science had been used for the creation of the most destructive weapon in the history.

“It is an unfortunate accident that this discovery (of fission) came about in a time of war,” Meitner said.

I find these women inspiring not only because of their accomplishments, but also because of their humanity.

They were undeniably gifted scientists, but they also held fast to their love of peace. Curie dedicated her later years to working for nuclear disarmament; Meitner worked on the development of nuclear energy.

Throughout their lives, they both envisioned a world where scientists could master the art of using the power of the atom not for a weapon but for the benefit of humankind.

Winifred, thrilled to have you on the blog today, and to highlight your wonderful book. Thank you!

Winifred Conkling is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers whose works include Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson’s Flight from Slavery (Algonquin, 2015) and the middle-grade novel Sylvia and Aki, winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Literature Award and the Tomás Rivera Award. See more about Winifred's books here.

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We Need Diverse Books: Here's a Story that Needs a Writer!

3/18/2016

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Thanks to photographer Bob Coleman for sharing this photo of the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, so to be re-named the Billy Frank, Jr. Wildlife Refuge.

Billy Frank Jr. grew up on the Nisqually river in Western Washington, becoming an expert fisherman at a young age, knowing every current of the river, and every creature that made its home in the delta.

The Medicine Creek Treaty had guaranteed Washington tribes the right to fish in their "usual and accustomed places back in 1854. But in 1945. When Billy was just fourteen, state fish and game wardens arrested him for "illegal fishing".

Billy knew then he’d have to fight for his right to fish, for his the culture and his heritage. But most of that would come after his stint in the U.S. Marines during the Korean War.

When he returned, things hadn't changed. His boats and nets were confiscated, he lived like an outlaw, fishing at night, always on the lookout for men in uniforms.

He was "chased and tear-gassed, tackled, punched, pushed face-first into the mud, handcuffed and dragged soaking wet to the country jail."

Billy Frank Jr., photo courtesy of the NW Indian Fisheries Commission.

Billy Frank Jr. was arrested 50 times fishing on the Nisqually River over next thirty years, as he spearheaded the civil disobedience movement for treaty fishing rights for the Northwest Coast Salish people.

There would be protests at the state Capitol, a full-scale riot on the banks of the Puyallup River in 1970, myriad lawsuits and finally a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1979 before the so-called fish wars in Washington were resolved.

Following that victory, Billy Frank Jr. led conservation efforts to restore and protect Puget Sound, worked to unite local tribes and became a national voice for Indian Country.

After his death in 2014, President Obama posthumously awarded Frank the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that can be given a US civilian.

“He saved the salmon that had fed his family for generations,” President Obama said. “He was spat on, shot at, chased, clubbed and cast as an outlaw, but Billy kept fighting because he knew he was right.”

This is a man of courage and many other laudable qualities who was instrumental in creating more justice for Native tribes. His story should be a book for kids, written by a Native American. Maybe I could be a mentor, helping with writing and knowledge of the publishing business?

A new school curriculum on tribal treaty fishing rights and salmon conservation has been developed for free download and use by teachers.

The lessons are intended to supplement history and science classes, middle through high school and include videos and historical photos.

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Announcing My New Book!

3/11/2016

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Coming in September!

Irena's Children
Young Readers Edition

The "Female Oskar Schindler"

From the publisher...
At long last, the extraordinary and long forgotten story of Irena Sendler—who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II—now adapted for a younger audience.

Irena Sendler was a young Polish woman living in Warsaw during World War II. With guts of steel, Irena crossed the walled Jewish ghetto with babies in toolboxes and coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through the dank sewers. Then she convinced her friends and underground resistance network to hide them.

In this heroic tale of survival and selflessness, Tilar Mazzeo and adapter Mary Cronk Farrell share the true story of this bold and brave woman, who risked her life to save innocent children from the horrors of the Holocaust.

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Cover Reveal Friday!

3/9/2016

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Imagine a women who risks her life to save a child.

Imagine a woman who risks her life every day for 4-years to save children.

Imagine a woman who's tortured and condemned to death for saving the lives of children.

My new book is about this woman! Cover reveal coming next Friday!

Go ahead, take a guess! Who is the subject of this biograghy?

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Guess Who Won the Civil War Battle between Doctors & Nurses...

3/4/2016

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Pamela D. Toler, author of a new book about the agreed to talk to me about the book, and right off, I told her I tend to be queasy.

She assured me the book touches lightly on the blood and gore of battle wounds, and focuses on the doggedness of the women nurses.

Doggedness they sorely needed because the doctors didn't want their help.

Pamela says ""Just getting to the hospital or battlefield required these women to push against societies assumptions about what ladies should and should not do.

Georgeanna Woolsey was a New York socialite who took all the trimming off one of her dresses and a bonnet, dressed her hair as plainly as possible and, to the amazement of her family, bluffed her way into a slot in the nurses training program."

Civil War Nurses, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Library of Congress

Georgeanna Woolsey wrote, "No one knows who did not watch the thing from the beginning, how much opposition, how much ill-will, how much unfeeling want of thought, these women nurses endured. Hardly a surgeon whom I can think of received or treated them with even common courtesy. Government had decided that women should be employed, and the Army surgeons - unable therefore to close the hospitals against them - determined to make their lives so unbearable that they should be forced in self-defense to leave."

Savage Station, Virginia. Union field hospital after the battle of June 27 Includes the straw-hatted Sixteenth New York Infantry who fought at Gaines' Mill on June 27. Most were captured when Confederates overtook the area during the battle of Savage's Station on June 29 during the Peninsular Campaign. Library of Congress

Pamela says the nurses "learned to cope with the sights and smells of a military hospital—dysentery and amputations were both ugly things. Some women didn't last. And I can't blame them.

Author Pamela D. Toler

Even filtered through nineteenth century gentility, the first hand accounts of Civil War hospitals are pretty grim. But many women gathered up their courage and learned not only to bandage wounds but to elbow their way through a hostile bureaucracy. They came out of the war with new skills and new confidence.

And after the war many of them used their new skills at organizing and working within male-dominated bureaucracies to make the world around them a better place.

Woman seated in doorway is volunteer nurse Abby Gibbons of New York City (Source: descendant Angela Schear, Oct. 2013. Library of Congress)

"Many people, including me," says Pamela, "are intrigued by the stories of the women who disguised themselves as men to fight in the Civil War. They were colorful and heroic, but their choices didn't change anything.

"I would argue that the women who served as nurses and their counterparts who ran the soldiers' aid societies that provided soldiers with basic necessities throughout the war had a profound impact on the status of women after the war. If you look at an American reform movement after 1865, the odds are you'll find a former Civil War nurse in the middle of things."

Pamela says the message she has taken from these Civil War nurses is that the first step to changing the world is challenging yourself.

Sometimes I think I get enough challenge just waking up in the morning, but these women went out and grabbed trouble by the horns and hung on. For women of their time, they were downright amazing!

What's an amazing woman for our time look like? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

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5 Tips for Upping Your Curiosity Quotient and Why It Matters

2/27/2016

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The century-old proverb, curiosity killed the cat, is usually dusted off and pronounced by an adult trying to hide something from a child.

Whether it's snicker-doodles in the cookie jar or a shameful family secret, the message is stop right there.

Story books about Curious George have been telling kids for 75-years--curiosity will get you in trouble. I'd rather see curiosity as fuel for the creative mind, a pathway to learning, a catalyst for change.

I've always had a strong a need to know, which may have led to my career as a news reporter, and more recently, writing non-fiction for kids. Although, I must admit my curiosity has gotten me into trouble a time or two.

My quest for facts can go too far. It never served me well to grill my kids for information when they came home from school. And my husband’s not too keen on me interrupting him to ask questions.

Curiosity helps improve relationships,
reduce stress
and find more
enjoyment in life

I've had to work at curbing my curiosity to become a better listener, and at the same time, redirecting my inquiries to understand myself better. A subtle probing behind my actions and reactions has turned up a wealth of information about how I tick. Sharpening my curiosity helps me improve relationships, reduce stress and find more enjoyment in life.

I came up with this list of tips from my own practice. In my experience, cultivating a gentle curiosity contributes to better mental health and happiness.

5 Tips for Better Living Through Curiosity

Be curious when somebody gets under your skin.

Ask yourself what your reaction reveals about you. When we blame others, we lose options, we get stuck and feel powerless. When we ask questions, we gain options and the freedom to make new choices.

Be curious about your thoughts.

Many of our thoughts are not true, but we go on believing them. Moment by moment we let our thoughts say terrible things about us, things we'd never say to a friend. Pause, investigate, acknowledge some of our thoughts are ridiculous, or just plain wrong. Being curious, seeing useless, hurtful thoughts for what they are helps us begin to let them go.

Be curious about your emotions.

Exploring our feelings helps us act with more clarity and wisdom. Letting emotions like fear, anger and pain go unacknowledged creates hidden motives. It sounds backward, but understanding our feelings actually helps us make more rational choices.

Be curious about your everyday surroundings.

Rushing through the same routine day after day we can miss the excitement of being alive. Endless mystery awaits our attention, genius even. Both Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were sitting daydreaming when everyday sights sparked amazing ideas. Newton saw an apple fall from a tree, was curious, and discovered gravity and the laws of motion. Einstein saw a builder on the rooftop, was curious what would happen if he fell, and extended his theory of relativity to gravity.

Be curious about other people.

There's a theory we're hardwired to hang with people like us and feel threatened by those who look different, act different or believe different. Supposedly, it goes back to the days of running around in bands protecting our food sources. But if we let go of our fear and our judgments and open our minds to discovery, relationships become more complex, more interesting, more intimate. People are fascinating if we give them a chance.

Being curious is a requirement for my work as a writer, but we're all born curious, and we can all benefit from making a conscious effort to explore, learn and discover. So please share your tips for expanding curiosity in the comment section. Thanks!

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Coming in September!

Irena's Children
Young Readers Edition