...And They Wrote Back

Growing up, our dad would write to people he had never met, but who he found interesting and wanted to know more about personally -. Remember, no Wikipedia! The replies to those letters were on the walls in many rooms of our home, displayed on shelves, and delicately stored in bookbinders. It was normal for our dad to be waiting for a reply from people like George H. W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, or Rudy Vallee. The idea to write this book began after spending a day at our mom's apartment on Long Island. ,We had taken out the binders of correspondences and began to look through them. When we were done, we put them back carefully. On the way home, we both felt that it just did not seem right to have all these amazing letters tucked away in a cabinet in Hewlett, New York. Our dad's interests, which leaned toward American History, but his Judaism,, and general interest in art, entertainment, space, and many other topics makes his collection unique and eclectic. Therefore, in this book, you will find our dad wrote to many different kinds of people. You'll read entertainer Rudy Vallee writing to our dad-- "Stop getting stupid feelings!!! Nothing could change the high regard and affection I feel for you, least of all whether or not Ronnie (Ronald Regan) signed the letter!!!", --as well as Minister of Armaments and War Production for Nazi German, Albert Speer telling him, "...I consider it wrong, not to describe also the good points of Hitler, for if we want to learn something for the future, then it is necessary to show that a man with normal characteristics can pursue such a criminal course."Writing this book became a labor of love and was many years in the making. We are so proud of our dad and only wish he were still here to know we did this. Ever the pessimist, he always thought he would never hear from someone he wrote to. But he needn't have worried. They wrote back!

-- Ellen Granat, Donna Granat Schobel and Lynne Granat Stark