Dear Friends and Followers:
A message from “FRED: Buffalo Building of Dreams,” (2021); and “Forever Violet: From Stony Hill to Broadway,” (2023)
FRED’S REFLECTIONS
While my current co-writers work on my new novel “FRED’s Timeless Tenant Tales: Buffalo West Side Stories in the 1930s and 1940s,” I’d like to share a couple of thoughts about learning what it’s like being a human being in the early decades of the Twentieth Century.
When the stock market crashed in 1929, millions were put out of work and lost their life savings. Fortunately, two of my tenants, Sammy and his Sicilian born father, managed to keep the jobs they had secured after years of struggle. Less fortunate were so many of my other tenants who lost their livelihoods and joined the legion of unemployed.
It pained me when my adopted families were forced to leave my premises because they could no longer afford to live here. To make matters worse, I was sold during the heart of the Great Depression of the 1930s. My new owners were irresponsible and because of their neglect, I soon began to deteriorate and grow shabby. Finding myself without tenants I grew depressed and expected to be torn down. However, not long afterward, I was sold and purchased again by more loving owners. I was rejuvenated, and new tenants again began to fill my vacant apartments. Ultimately, I survived, and so, too, did the parade of families that filled my halls and rooms with laughter and life. Despite the hard times that persisted, my tenants never gave up hope. Their stories are inspirational and in most cases, heart-warming. It is my hope that my readers may be inspired to emulate their indomitable spirit and overcome any obstacles they encounter as they pursue their dreams.
Best,
FRED
To be continued in September….
FOREVER VIOLET’S REFLECTIONS
Now that ‘Forever Violet,’ my coming of age novel, has been published and my co-authors are busy working on my new historical fiction novel, I thought it would be interesting to ask Violet this important question: “Violet, if you could re-live your childhood would you do it?”
Violet replied, “If you had asked me that question at an earlier time in my life, I might have said I would not. After all, who would willingly choose to grow up in abject poverty with an absentee mother and an abusive, alcoholic father? Today, however, my answer is yes, I would.
True, I lived through some very difficult times, but I always held on to hope because I sometimes found someone who believed in me, particularly my high school teacher, Miss Barlow. Having her in my formative years fortified my determination to free myself from an environment that crushed the not only the bodies of the people inhabiting it, but their spirit, as well. In my struggle to escape, I faced many obstacles I could not have foreseen; however, being forced to survive the rigors of oppression, negativism and poverty hardened my will and strengthened my character. Hope and trust in myself, a belief that I not only could survive but would ultimately prevail as long as I persevered sustained me in my struggle to escape the bondage of my past.
It is my fervent wish that my novel inspires you, the reader, to appreciate and develop your inner strength, to rely on your natural resilience and to believe in yourself. With determination, hope and a vision of your future before you, you can and will succeed.
Best,
Forever Violet