Four local authors will discuss their writing journeys and sign copies of their book at the Ponte Vedra Book Fair, to be held Monday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ponte Vedra Branch Public Library.
Participating authors include Thomas Bragg, Sheila Weinstein, Bill Yancey and 92-year-old Martin Olsen, who served in World War II. In his memoir, “We Were Amateur Soldiers: How the Great Generation Changed the Face of America,” Olsen blends the history of a generation born during the Great Depression, who fought and won a world war, and went on to rebuild a society that launched new industries and sent men to the moon. His story is more than a war memoir in that it tracks his life from growing up on Long Island, working at his father’s small business, and taking it over after the war and growing it into a market leader. He lives in Vicar’s Landing.
Bragg was a country boy from tiny Nankipooh, Ga., living in poverty and turned out by his mother because she couldn’t feed him and his five brothers and sisters. He joined the army at 17 and his life was never the same. In his memoir, “Nankipooh Ranger,” Bragg writes of his long climb in the ranks to master sergeant, becoming a Ranger fighting in Vietnam, and being inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame. He’s recently moved from Blackshear, Ga. to Nocatee.
Weinstein wrote of a difficult time in her life when she lost her husband of 42 years to dementia. Her book, “Moving to the Center of the Bed: The Artful Creation of a Life Alone,” discusses her struggles to adapt after his death, fighting depression and despair and finding the strength to build a new life on her own. Weinstein has worked at the United Nations, and taught French and piano. She now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach and is working on a novel.
Yancey is a retired physician who grew up all over the world as the son of an Air Force officer. He’s also the prolific author of nine books, ranging from alternative history to medical suspense novels. His latest, “Quantum Timeline,” is a science fiction thriller exploring the machinations and ramifications of time travel. In the book, Detective Bill Engle learns that changing history may be more dangerous than interfering with the space-time continuum. Yancey lives in St. Augustine.
