On the wall of my office hangs a beat-up sign that says “Breslau Farm.” More than sixty years ago, that sign stood on the corner of Scantic Road and Route 5 in East Windsor, Connecticut. It pointed to my father’s farm, our farm. Now it presides over a bulletin board full of notes for writing a book about my father, Sam Breslau.
Am I writing a memoir? A personal history? A biography? Many years ago, I interviewed my father Sam using a little mini cassette recorder. Recently, I finally listened to all the tapes and transcribed them. I was surprised that it wasn’t upsetting to hear his voice. I had thought it would make me sad, but instead I felt soothed, comforted.
I’m writing about Jewish chicken farmers immigrating from Russia. About my father Sam – a man who did good deeds – as Stephen described him, he was a “Good Deed Doer” the title the Wizard of Oz gave the Tin Man. Sam was a mitzvah man.
When Stephen invited me to write Pilgrim Maya with him, we had a wonderful, fluid writing method that involved passing a single file back and forth, editing pages, adding more and sending the file back. It was a dynamic collaboration. We were able to finish Pilgrim Maya in less than a year. I believe Pilgrim Mara will eventually delight a host of readers.
It has taken decades for me to begin Sam the Mitzvah Man, this book about my father. How long will it take me to finish it? Only time will tell . . .
Have any of you started to write a memoir or a personal history of family? We’d love to hear about what you are writing.
I so appreciate this sharing, Bela. I love your title, Sam the Mitzvah Man and feel happy that you are working on this book, which no doubt is also working on you. 🙂
My father was also a Jewish chicken farmer! He was one of many refugees who immigrated after WWII and the Holocaust and settled on a farm in South Jersey. He was part of a second wave to that area, the first, from Russia, escaping pogroms is my understanding. I am just completing (an unexpected) memoir of my childhood on our chicken farm, lived in the shadows of my parents’ Holocaust trauma, the prejudice of the immediate area around us (far from where the other Jewish farmers lived)–and also a life lived in the embrace of nature and a child’s innate wonder.
When the time is right, let’s talk! I wish many riches in the writing of this story, the inner and the outer!
With love,
Ani
Nice write up on your project!
Bela,
Your writing about your father may become a powerfully emotional task. I wonder if your post-its suggest individual stories, poems, artistic illustrations for a “children’s book”? Does it make sense to focus on Sam’s many good deeds?
I think the world and our children would benefit from knowing such a man.