Topic: I'm doing something amazing...Hush

[Hush]

Dad died about 7 years ago and a few months later my brother gave me a copy of Pop's war diary, it sat unread since then. This week I decided to read it...amazing! It was written in any scrap of pencil he could scrounge and is very hard to read unless you knew my Father's hand writing. It details his enlistment in 1939 and continues though to 1945, he was overseas for 4 years and 239 days, during this time his wife (not my Mother) ran off with someone else. Anyhow I have decided to make it into a book for my kids and grandchildren and any yet to be born. The diary follows his advancement up the east coast of Italy and mentions places I have had to Google to find! My one huge regret is that I didn't know about this diary before he died and I took 7 years to bother reading it even then. The original copy was so well thought of it is held in the Alexander Turbull Library in Wellington which is a Government run place where books of historical significance are stored. My Dad wrote! I still can't believe it as I thought I was the only writer in the family, now how the heck do I get it published?

[dave500]

thats great hush,my mum wrote a book about her growing up in the blitz in london"warts an all",she had about 50 printed to give away to freinds etc,,my son is a graphic something and had it organised and all that stuff with pictures and fonts and what not,i think youll need to find a mate who has the same sort of link or itll cost a few bucks,,can you spend time and sort of copy it to say "word" or similar so you have a type written copy at least?thats a start i think.

[petercb750]

Wow Hush, what a relic you have there.
Good luck with it mate.

[Hush]

Yeah Dave, that's what I'm doing right now, typing it up onto A4 so I can print it out from my PC. I have a forward already written of some of the stories he told me over the years and were not included in the diary. I found some old photos he took in Cairo of his trucks and despatch bike. Thought they might be good for the cover. Will put a map in on a page so readers can follow his travells.

[dave500]

make sure you save as you go hush,you dont want to do it twice,good on you.

[trueblue]

That would be an interesting read, my mother found my grandfathers diary of those days after he died, but alas I can't understand his hand writing, and she hasn't had a chance to type it up as yet.

[demon78]

Hey Hush if you get it done, I'd like a copy, my father in law went that way, he was another D-day Dodger in the Governor General's Horse Guards (a tank regiment).
Bill the demon.

[Tintop]

Hey Hush, it seems the Italian battles have a link to many.

My mother is just waiting for the book she wrote on it to be published.  She was an OT, and treated many of the injuried when they returned.

[luder]

That is way cool...good read I bet

[Hush]

Trueblue, don't wait too long, our parents are not with us forever and once they pass we lose so much of our family history.
Tintop, my dad spent the whole Italian part of the war moving field hospitals along the Italian coast (he was in transport division of the 6th Kiwi Battalion) and speaks of 900-1000 patients they were looking after, would be a hoot if our parents had met all those years ago in that far off land eh.
Bill, if I can get this done I'll put you on my mailing list.

[Bob Wessner]

now how the heck do I get it published?

Hush, Google "self-publishing." There are many options for doing it yourself.

[demon78]

Thanks Hush.
Bill the demon.

[Tintop]

I'm sure they didn't cross paths Hush, but she likely worked with patients your father transported.  When its published, I'll send you a copy if you wish.

My sister, & brother also tape recorded conversations with our grandfather, about growing up at the turn of the century, and his experiences in WW1, particularly at Vimy Ridge.

[Hush]

It's a deal Tintop, a one for one swap when they are both published.

[Tintop]

It's a deal Tintop, a one for one swap when they are both published.

Deal, I'll reserve your copy immediately, and look forward to the day you publish yours.

By the way, regarding getting it published.  My mother is using Queen's University's press.   Maybe check out your local university, and see if they have any interest in helping you publish it.   Being as it has already been recognized as an NZ historical document, I think you would find some support for your endeavour.