A whirlwind activity has prevailed since my last blog post. All drivers have been busy. They have chosen their own route. Some have taken the highway, the byway, the World Wide Webway, the good old fashion telephoneway, and perhaps some undisclosedway. As promised I would like to introduce you to my drivers, AKA Stella’s launch team:
Massachusetts: Charles, Chris M, Chris S, Elaine, Jennifer, Joan, Joanne, Julie, Kathy, Lynne, Maureen, Lauren, Sandy, and Pat.
Florida: Andrea and Lark.
St. Croix: Janice, Marjie, Marlene, Susanne.
Illinois: Millie, and Pam.
My teammates are reaching out and spreading the word to as many readers as possible to preorder their copy of Taxi to America. They are posting on social media, contacting bookstores, restaurants, libraries, and organizations, whether it be to encourage them to stock my book or hold a book signing event or both.
A few have read an advanced copy prior to the book’s publication and wrote testimonials. And some are reading it before the release date to be the first to leave a review. A tremendous shout out to all.
I will share the unedited testimonial by Janice Ambrose.
“How fitting to finish reading my friend Stella’s memoir over the Thanksgiving weekend. I‘m so thankful that Stella endured persevered, overcame such loss, so many disappointments and obstacles to become the woman and friend I am fortunate to have crossed paths with through our Bass Rocks Golf Club connection. Even though I have heard snippets of her life story, absorbing it throughout this reading of her life’s journey brought this understanding to a whole different level and evoked much reflection from my own personal history and experience. Even if I had not known Stella personally, this memoir is one I would have read from start to finish. Her connection to her yiayia I certainly could relate to as I had a Polish paternal grandmother who I believe had the most influence on my personality and attitude toward life. I wanted to stand up and cheer loudly when Stella had the strength and determination at that young age to say “I’m not going in there!” refusing to be legally adopted. Had that adoption gone through, Stella would not be in my world. Lastly, as a former special needs educator in the early 70s, I was often involved in developing programs to help students emigrating from other countries to assimilate into our education environment. Often times language difficulties were mistakenly thought as learning disabilities. Another moment to cheer was when Stella was moved to the school focusing on ESL learners. Kudos to her adoptive dad. A great story , well worth telling. Now when cousin Soty comes to play in a Bass Rock’s member guest or Stella’s sister Lena comes to Gloucester, I too will embrace them with open arms.”
As you can see, Janice’s kind words were more than the editor could allow for print. However, the essence of Janice’s message was printed.
A big thank you to all taxi drivers and to you for visiting my website. Feel free to comment or ask a question by clicking the contact button.