In a Strange Land

Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement

My friend and college classmate Anne Pardo is teaching a survey course on African History to Independence in the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. She invited me to talk about Nigeria.

I drove to Boston yesterday, spent the night in Anne and Felix’s lovely apartment on the Charles River, and spoke to her class of eager students this morning. I used stories from Clem’s childhood to highlight themes of colonial Nigeria. I told about how he was deemed ready to start school.

Do you know how children in Nigeria and other British colonies were checked for school readiness in the absence of birth certificates? I’ll tell you next time if no one knows the answer!

I talked about his experience with the catechist’s wicked wife and how he used to run away from school to follow his mother home from the market.

I heard many interesting comments from class members and answered lots of great questions.  After the break I talked about Biafra and Boko Haram. And I sold five books!

Virtual Assistant’s Advice

When I was setting up this website and starting my blog, I had help from Virtual Assistant Michelle Anastasio-Festi. She has worked with other first-time writers like me. In her most recent newsletter she offers great advice for selling more books and even finding a literary agent. One of her recommendations – get reviews on Amazon! I’m still eagerly waiting for the first! She also mentions Goodreads and I’d love reviews there too. (I just tried to link my book to my author page on Goodreads. I was not successful. Any hints from other authors?)

Here’s her newsletter article. If you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see a notice about my next book talk, or you can read it here.

Brother in a Strange Land

I had a wonderful email about my book from fellow former Peace Corps volunteer and reader David Koren. He said, “On your dedication page you give an Igbo saying, ‘Nwa nne di na mba.'” The translation, which David didn’t include in his email, is “Even in a strange land, a brother can be found.”

David helped with the Biafran Airlift in 1968-70, ferrying food into Biafra to help avert starvation. He said about the quote, “It was a thrill to see that.” He said he was given an award by the Igbo League in Chicago. It was presented to him “by former starving Biafran children who survived, grew up to be successful professionals, and who read my book.  They gave me the Igbo praise name Nwannedinamba.”

If you take the praise name apart, you will see it’s the same phrase! Certainly fitting for him.

His book is Far Away in the Sky, A Memoir of the Biafran Airlift. I am enjoying reading it. I have it on my Kindle. I’m working on having my book available as a Kindle edition very soon.

7 Bookish Questions

I was interviewed by Sally Allen, Books, Ink Editor and Founder. She posted the first part of the interview today on Books, Ink’s Hamlet Hub. What fun to open her email and see my name and the interview answers I had given, making it look as if I were a famous author!