Mama Cass aka Bookhugger
asked
Lisa Wingate:
The Book of Lost Friends is one of my all time favorite books. A subject I had never thought about once. What was your inspiration?
Lisa Wingate
A reader friend directed me to the “Lost Friends” database, where I tumbled down a rabbit hole of lives long gone, stories and emotions and yearning
encapsulated in the faded, smudged type of old-time printing presses.
Names that survived perhaps nowhere beyond these desperate pleas
of formerly enslaved people, once written in makeshift classrooms, at
kitchen tables, and in church halls . . . then sent forth on steam trains and
mail wagons, on riverboats and in the saddlebags of rural mail carriers,
destined for the remote outposts of a growing country. Far and wide, the
missives journeyed, carried on wings of hope after being printed in a Methodist newspaper that was read from pulpits all over the country. Former slaves were seeking their family members and some were actually reunited.
You can read more detail and see some of the original ads on my website. Just go to the For Book Clubs page and see the resources and interviews for this book.
encapsulated in the faded, smudged type of old-time printing presses.
Names that survived perhaps nowhere beyond these desperate pleas
of formerly enslaved people, once written in makeshift classrooms, at
kitchen tables, and in church halls . . . then sent forth on steam trains and
mail wagons, on riverboats and in the saddlebags of rural mail carriers,
destined for the remote outposts of a growing country. Far and wide, the
missives journeyed, carried on wings of hope after being printed in a Methodist newspaper that was read from pulpits all over the country. Former slaves were seeking their family members and some were actually reunited.
You can read more detail and see some of the original ads on my website. Just go to the For Book Clubs page and see the resources and interviews for this book.
More Answered Questions
Maddie Lock
asked
Lisa Wingate:
Hi Lisa, Who do I contact for permissions to quote a sentence from Before We Were Yours? I have written a memoir that deals with my aunt finding out that she was born under the Lebensborn program. In my book, I refer to a statement one of the characters made that justified all the emotional turmoil: "the best thing is to know… to know who you is." Thanks, Maddie
Miranda
asked
Lisa Wingate:
It really disturbed me the way Camellia was treated. Is it true that the fair haired light eyed children were more adoptable and treated better? Not that the fate of any of the children was good but poor Camellia did not have a chance. It seemed similar to the way Hitler wanted a fair skinned nation. Camellia was molested and discarded like trash.
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