22 JULY 20, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
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 diff erent books.
One was brilliant and beautiful
award-winning NY1 anchor,
author and sought-aft 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. Th e other was Blanche
Wiesen Cook, who writes about
my hero Eleanor Roosevelt.
Both write engaging books in
diff erent ways.
Th e 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-great-greatgrandfather
in a voice meant for
elementary and middle school
students.
I read “Th e 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
off 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, effi 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.
Th ey 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.
Th en, 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. Th e most recent one covers
1939-1962, “Th e war years
and aft 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, Maure
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.”
Th e 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
SCHNEPSYUNIS
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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
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