Dear Poppa: The World War II Berman Family Letters

by Ruth Berman (Editor), Judy Barrett Litoff (Editor)

David, Betsy, and Sammy Berman were nine, six, and four years old in May 1943 when the U.S. Army sent their father, Dr. Reuben Berman, to Europe. Over the next two and a half years, the children regularly gathered around their mother, Isabel Berman, in their Minneapolis home while she typed exactly what they wanted to say to their father. This collection of more than 340 letters, selected from more than a thousand exchanged by the Berman family via V-mail, captures the anxiety and loss that children experienced when their fathers left for war.

314 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 1997

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Ruth Berman’s work has appeared in many science fiction and fantasy magazines and anthologies, as well as in general, literary, and scholarly magazines and anthologies.

In 2003, she won the Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem with the Poem "Potherb Gardening" published in Asimov's. Ruth received the Minnesota Fantasy Award at the Fall 2004 Arcana, a convention of the Dark Fantastic. She was also the winner of the 2006 Dwarf Stars Award for her poem “Knowledge Of.” Her work has appeared in Analog, Asimov’s, F&SF, and many other f/sf magazines and anthologies.

She edited Sissajig and Other Surprises (a collection of the fantasy writings of Ruth Plumly Thompson, IWOC), The Kerlan Awards in Children’s Literature, 1975-2001 (Pogo Press), and Dear Poppa: the World War II Berman Family Letters (Minnesota Historical Society Press). She was one of the co-authors of Autumn World, a group novel (Stone Dragon Press).

Ruth was one of the founding members of The Rivendell Group. She was at the first meeting, back in December of '73 or so, along with David Lenander and Margaret Howes. She was also a founding member of Minn-Stf, the local Minnesota Science Fiction Society, and lots of other activities and groups.

Bibliography and some info about her at this unoffical page.

Reviews

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I FINALLY finished this book! Whew! It is a great slice of history to read these letters between a WW II Doctor and his family, but at times I'll admit it was slow going. The family talked a lot about people and places that I had no idea who or what they are/were. I was annoyed at times at how bratty the kids were, but had to remind myself that they were being raised by only their mother and it was a very stressful time. It was sad that Dr. Berman was gone for years without even a visit home. I so admire the Mother for having the children regularly dictate letters to their Father. I'm glad I read it, it's a great resource, but it was definitely not something one can read in one sitting.