PRO CONNECT
Simon Perlsweig is a historical writer and researcher who lives in West Hartford, CT and has a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Connecticut, during which time he completed three independent study projects. In 2018, he published his first book, Front Porches to Front Lines, a historical memoir of World War One and the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, based on two of those independent studies and inspired by a trove of family letters, one of which discusses what took place on Armistice Day in 1918. Given the topic of this book and the year it was published, he chose to have the book released on November 11, 2018 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice and the end of the Great War. While writing his first book, he began to write poetry on the side as a form of light writing and a cure of writer’s block. From that he began to write short three-line poems, with a simple A-A-A rhyme scheme. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in history at Southern New Hampshire University.
He's always enjoyed writing and after completing an associate’s degree followed by an unsuccessful attempt at being an architectural draftsman, he re-enrolled at the University of Connecticut, with the intention of finishing his B.A. in American Studies. With the desire to do something other than traditional coursework and upon finding a family letter which talked about Armistice Day in 1918, he chose to take on an independent study project. The result of this project was a comprehensive academic essay which would be expanded on a couple semesters later and turned into a book a couple years after that.
The greatest things about being a writer are the incessant learning and discovery which comes with all the research one needs to do when writing a book. There is also a tremendous sense of satisfaction which one has upon seeing their book get closer to closer to being a finished product. Being a writer is also something which keeps one of their toes at all times from the very first bit of research to going through the final set of changes and corrections with one’s editor and publisher. Having a team of interested and supportive individuals around you makes the process that much more enjoyable. He also finds it good to write in more than one genre, in his case history and poetry because that second genre very often serves as an antidote when one has a case of writer’s block with their main genre. When not studying or writing, he enjoys baseball, cooking, baking, drawing, gardening, hiking and photography.
“Out of this patchwork of information emerges a rich tableau of American life during the period—one of great fear and uncertainty but also one of sacrifice in many aspects of day-to-day life. And although the author’s account focuses on positivity, he acknowledges darker aspects of the era, including fierce anti-Polish and anti-Catholic bias in Springfield... Perlsweig’s prose is unfailingly lucid, and the story of his relatives adds a personal dimension to this
impressively researched study. The book concludes with an assemblage of advertisements and posters that provide an engaging sampling of the tenor of the time. An often captivating and edifying history." - Kirkus Reviews”
– Kirkus Reviews
A collection of old family letters forms the core of this historical tour of a small town during World War I.
In 2015, debut author Perlsweig stumbled upon a box in the attic that contained letters that were exchanged between his great-grandparents Lawrence Reed and Gladys Steere during two of the nation’s most daunting challenges: the First World War and the 1918 flu epidemic. Both correspondents were born in and lived in the vicinity of Springfield, Massachusetts, but even before the war started, the pair largely conducted an epistolary courtship; Lawrence’s work as a machinist compelled him to move 95 miles away from Gladys to Springfield, Vermont, a small town in Precision Valley that was undergoing a manufacturing boom and, as a result, a population boom, as well. However, the international military conflict loomed threateningly over their happy relationship; Lawrence only narrowly avoided conscription, as machinists were considered essential for the war effort back home. Nevertheless, the war demanded sacrifices from everyone, and he was compelled to work much longer hours than usual and see Gladys rarely. The author, with poignancy and scholarly precision, details the impact of the Great War on New England and the rest of the country: “There was no family in the United States for whom the war in some way did not raise the level of stress within it and one of the ways many American families coped with this stress was through writing letters to each other.” The attempt to return to normalcy after the war’s end was waylaid by the onslaught of a flu pandemic that “chose to rear its ugly head.” Perlsweig also looks at the period from the perspectives of American soldiers sent off to war and diligently scours historical records, including local newspapers, for letters sent from the front lines to the homefront.
The author’s brief account can be cacophonously diverse; one learns, for example, of Thanksgiving meals enjoyed by American soldiers in France, the nature of modern courtship, and homemade antidotes for the flu as well as the personal details of the romantic arc of Lawrence and Gladys’ relationship. However, out of this patchwork of information emerges a rich tableau of American life during the period—one of great fear and uncertainty but also one of sacrifice in many aspects of day-to-day life. And although the author’s account focuses on positivity, he acknowledges darker aspects of the era, including fierce anti-Polish and anti-Catholic bias in Springfield—even among family members: “when another house on Furnace Street came up for auction…the Reeds’ upstairs neighbors, the Dashners, bought it….Lawrence, at the time, was overheard saying that Mr. Dashner deserved a gold medal for buying it and keeping a Polish family out of the neighborhood.” Perlsweig’s prose is unfailingly lucid, and the story of his relatives adds a personal dimension to this impressively researched study. The book concludes with an assemblage of advertisements and posters that provide an engaging sampling of the tenor of the time.
An often captivating and edifying history.
Pub Date: March 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-935258-72-8
Page count: 264pp
Publisher: Husky Trail Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Hometown
West Hartford, CT
FRONT PORCHES TO FRONT LINES: ONE SMALL TOWN'S MOBILIZATION OF MEN, WOMEN, MANUFACTURING AND MONEY DURING WORLD WAR ONE : Beverly Hills Book Award, 2019
FRONT PORCHES TO FRONT LINES: ONE SMALL TOWN'S MOBILIZATION OF MEN, WOMEN, MANUFACTURING AND MONEY DURING WORLD WAR ONE : National Indie Excellence Award - Finalist, 2019
FRONT PORCHES TO FRONT LINES: ONE SMALL TOWN'S MOBILIZATION OF MEN, WOMEN, MANUFACTURING AND MONEY DURING WORLD WAR ONE : Literary Titan Gold Book Award, 2019
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