tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4545574038721982988.post3347298269203162012..comments2024-03-28T15:33:44.318-07:00Comments on Ever Ready: Weekend Round-Up- Part OneSue Readyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01907436485708204256noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4545574038721982988.post-57278366081484844612017-07-24T09:23:07.140-07:002017-07-24T09:23:07.140-07:00Fascinating book! We've had the privilege of w...Fascinating book! We've had the privilege of working with Nancy on a number of projects, including our Minnesota Red Cross centennial. For more information, check out redcross.org/mn100. Thanks for giving her a shout out!<br />Carrie Carlson-Guest, Red Cross Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15218907800410236609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4545574038721982988.post-31274182833258354072017-07-24T07:38:30.446-07:002017-07-24T07:38:30.446-07:00This sounds like a really interesting read. You fi...This sounds like a really interesting read. You find the most intriguing books.Minnesota Prairie Rootshttps://mnprairieroots.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4545574038721982988.post-71754721250254515282017-07-23T13:59:00.472-07:002017-07-23T13:59:00.472-07:00Hi Sue -
I hadn't heard about the book 'A...Hi Sue -<br /><br />I hadn't heard about the book 'Alice in France' -- it sounds fascinating! I love learning that Alice didn't HAVE to go, but chose to go. There are so many yet-untold stories of brave/heroic/patriotic/smart women in history, so I'm delighted to hear Alice's story is out. <br /><br />I would like to tell you about another history book with a Minnesota connection. The work of non-fiction just came out last month. It's titled, "Marcel's Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man's Fate." The book weaves together two stories. The first is about the design of a modern connected cursive computer font. The font was based on beautiful handwriting found on letters bought at an antique store in Stillwater, MN. The letters were in French -- I could not read them -- but for the purposes of the font, that did not matter. An 'a' in French looks like an 'a' in English, after all. <br /><br />The letters themselves were extraordinary to find The pen-and-ink handwriting was filled with flourishes, the paper had been painted in the background with stripes of blue and red, the papers themselves were beautiful shades of yellow. The letters had been mailed from Berlin to a small village in France in 1943 and 1944. <br /><br />After working on the font for years (evenings and weekends as I could carve out time), I decided to have one of the letters translated. It turns out the man who wrote them, Marcel, had been one of 650,000 French forced laborers compelled to go to Germany. The letters had been mailed from a labor camp. <br /><br />After reading the translated text of Marcel's letters, which combine beautiful words of love and testimony of survival inside the camp, I HAD to learn answers to the questions: Who was he? Why had his letters been for sale in Stillwater? And most importantly, did he survive the war to be reunited with his wife and daughters. <br /><br />If you would like to learn more about this book with ties to Minnesota, I invite you to visit my website: www.carolyn-porter.com. Or you can send me an email at carolyn (at) porterfolioinc.com<br /><br />Best to you,<br />Carolyn PorterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02462092793761728934noreply@blogger.com