Writing Practice Prescription

Leon and I were in the same writing retreat group with David Fryxell a few years back at the Maui Writers Conference. Since that time our group stays loosely in touch. What a joy to get Leon’s email a few days back in which he reported:

“Hot off the Press: ZigZag Pass: Love and War, is a memoir of my experience as a teenage soldier in combat in the Philippines during World War II and, subsequently, with the Army of Occupation in Japan. Interwoven throughout the book is a love story. After returning home, as soon as I turned 21, Florence, the girl I left behind, became my partner, lover, inspiration, and wife of 62 years.”

Leon was kind enough to send some info from the back cover of his forthcoming book:

An Endearing Love Story that Blossoms during World War II

A compelling account of a young infantryman’s experiences in combat in the South Pacific during World War II. His later work as a combat medic provides insight into what was and still is one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in war. Readers also will find interesting the story of his boyhood days on an Indiana farm and his return to ‘the girl he left behind’ at war’s end.

–Dick Stodghill, author of Normandy 1944

I loved reading ZigZag Pass. It was great! I related to so much of it.

Peter Thomas, Oscar-winning radio and TV narrator

I finished your memoir … It is terrific! I wish I had learned WW2 history in that way. … ZigZag Pass definitely will appeal to teens. If I were an 11th or 12th grade history teacher, I would use your book as required reading.

Jane Kiester, author of books for children and youth

Your memoir is superb, a wonderful balance of history/fact and personal story that brought tear, laughter and learning for this reader. … This is … a real gift to those of us who didn’t live thru any of those horrors and only knew as teenagers ourselves through history courses, dry with dates and numbers.

Estelle Rauch

Apart from this work, I have not seen such a mix of solid history and first-hand experience. I do like it.

Tony Arnold

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Leon Hesser, semi-retired State Department Foreign Service Officer, is the award-winning author of nonfiction books, including the best-selling biography of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Fed the World. Learn more about Leon and his book by clicking here:

www.zigzagpass.com

Bavender House Press
P.O. Box 770883 www.bavenderhouse.com Naples, FL 34107-0883