For the Love of Books Podcast

Come to the 50th Island Art Fair in Grand Ledge

Bring Joy and Love to the Island Fair. There will be no sad faces.

Be a part of history, as this epic fair, run by volunteers only, celebrates 50 fantastic years on the island on July 29, 2023. What better way to make up for the missing Covid year and to enhance this year's celebration than to add 50 new vendors for a total of more than 180 vendors?

"They put a little light into this dark time," said event producer Stephene Lapp.

Twenty Michigan Authors will be located both on the island and at the ballfield. Don't miss out on this opportunity to get a signed book by a live author. And food trucks are back.

Find out more about the island's fascinating history in this action-packed episode with Lapp of Ledge Craft Lane.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Author Karen Tintori pens Unto the Daughters

In her memoir and historical mystery Unto the Daughters, author & former journalist Karen Tintori unveils a family secret set in turn-of-the-century Detroit. The inciting incident to break the silence was an obliterated passport, and then a wedding photo.

 

"I am Italian, " she said. "My mother's side of the family was from southern Sicily. You don't tell family secrets."

The story of her great-grandaunt Francesca haunted Tintori's inquisitive mind for decades. After 12 years, three novels, and advice from the editor, Tintori re-imagined the haunting truth of an honor killing.

In crafting this family story, Tintori combined her novelist's heart with a journalist's head.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Unto the Daughters.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger, the hometown newspaper in Lowell, MI

This episode is in memoriam to American journalist Barbara Walters since both guest author Karen Tintori and host Emma Palova are journalists.

 

Lowell author Gladys Fletcher pens memoir My Garden of Stones

How would you respond if told by your parents you could not marry the love of your life… That special someone you had known since the age of seven?

 

 

Fletcher's book is an autobiography, a memoir, and a biography of her husband Al to whom she was a caregiver for 59 years. This is a journey of two determined people through their garden of stones overcoming hurdles that could have destroyed a marriage, but God was good, always, even performing miracles.

 

From eloping to living happily ever after with Al, the forbidden love of her life, Fletcher captures significant moments with a dose of nostalgia and a bit of humor.

At the age of 85, Gladys Fletcher published her first book after taking a few memoir writing classes at Calvin University in Grand Rapids.

"At 80, I decided to do something," she said. "At first I just wanted to leave a legacy for my children, but the instructor encouraged me to write a book."

"You've got more to share than just with your family," the instructor said.

Fletcher shut the door and meditated while sitting in front of the computer for hours. In two years, she had a book.

"I had to write it chronologically," she said. "I was honest. It's all true."

Listen in to Fletcher's great feats together with Al who was handicapped with rheumatoid arthritis and graduated from Lowell High School at Mary Free Bed in 1941.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Authors’ Tent at Palmer Park Art Fair in Detroit presents variety of genres on June 4 & 5

The Authors' Tent no. 140 at the Palmer Park Art Fair in Detroit will feature 18 authors representing different genres plus poetry this weekend, June 4 & 5.

"Most of the authors will have readings," said Mark Loeb, Integrity Shows director said. "We'll have poets in between."

The Palmer Park Art Fair is a recreation of an event popular in the 70s & 80s.

"We will have a limited edition poster," he said. "It's stunning."

Signs from Woodward Street direct visitors into the huge park, one mile by 0.5 miles, surrounded by upscale historic district neighborhoods and low-income apartments.

"We are a great melting pot," Loeb said. "It's a joy to be there."

The unique event will have 135 to 140 vendors including food vendors such as Southern Heritage of Detroit.

"I expect a lot of people," Loeb said.

Author and podcast host and producer Emma Palova will be inside the Authors' Tent at 140e. Stop by. Emma will be signing her books including Greenwich Meridian Memoir about the Konecny family immigration saga from Czechoslovakia.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

 

 

 

Author Caroline Topperman’s memoir ”Your Roots Cast A Shadow” slated for publication

"Some stories need to be told in their original form so history is not forgotten. Those stories are slowly dying......."

Memoir Your Roots Cast A Shadow is a shocking family history story spanning three generations and several continents from Europe to the Middle East countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Canadian author Caroline Topperman was born in Sweden, raised in Canada with a recent stint of living in Poland where she traced her roots and did the research for the memoir.

Listen in to the episode for a chance to win a signed copy of "Tell Me What You See," an inspirational book of photographs to spark your imagination."

In her memoir, Caroline tells the story of grandparents Paula and Fryderyck Toperman, Communist Jews, who fled Poland for Uzbekistan, returning to their homeland in 1944 to help rebuild their country. Their story is one that’s seldom told--they survived the Holocaust, and the war, by plunging eastward.

On the other hand, Franciszek and Wanda Wichrzycki were Polish Catholic Communists who had been living and working in Afghanistan. They too returned to Poland.

Their children, Caroline's parents, fled Poland as political refugees, settling in Toronto by way of Baghdad, Paris, and Sweden. Caroline bailed from Vancouver to move to Poland in 2013, to find a new life. That journey led her to the capitals of Europe and deep into the maze of shocking family history.