Shortly after we announced the formation of Eckhartz Press in 2011, we were contacted by Felizitas Sudendorf about a book project she was working on. She called it "A Reluctant Immigrant" and it was the story of her traumatic childhood in wartorn Europe, and the very difficult choice of becoming an immigrant.
I knew a little bit about her life story because she is my mother's cousin, and I thought it would be a good idea to publish it. At the very least, I figured, it would be a way of preserving family history. We created an imprint called Helgard Press (a mixture of my mother and my co-publisher's mother's names--Helga and Hildegard) for projects of personal significance like this.
When I got the manuscript, however, it was much more than I thought it would be. Felizitas really immersed herself in this project. She wrote from the heart about difficult and emotional times. And she did something else I thought was brilliant--she turned the second half of the book into a cookbook. Now it was a story you could you see, smell, and taste.
By the time "A Reluctant Immigrant" came out last December, I was very proud of it. And the German community in Chicago really responded to it. Before I knew it, Felizitas had ordered another box of books because everyone wanted a copy. The German-language newspaper in Chicago, the "Eintracht", published a nice piece about her. Every time I went to German events in Chicago (I go to many), people stopped me to say that they were really touched by the book, and thanked me for publishing it. Felizitas had done a remarkable job. She had truly captured the experience of immigrating to the United States during that tumultuous time.
Just last weekend I ran into one of my father's old friends at a soccer tournament, and he pulled me aside to say: "I have to talk to Felizitas about her book. I loved it. It was like she just changed the names and places of my own life story. I was reliving my life on every page." After talking to my father's friend I realized that I needed to bring a copy along to our family picnic in September for her to sign. Ironically, I had autographed copies of every book we've published except for hers.
Unfortunately, that's no longer possible. My mom was really shaken up when she called me to tell me the news. Felizitas had died suddenly and unexpectly in her home. She was only 75 years old.
Her wake is tomorrow, and her funeral is Friday. I'll be there, of course, supporting the family. If you've read her book you know how much tragedy her family has already had to endure. It breaks my heart that they have suffered another loss--especially this one--the matriarch of their family. But thanks to her hard work, her intelligence, her diligence, and her writing ability, she will always live on in the pages of "A Reluctant Immigrant".
That's an incredible gift she has left behind for her children and grandchildren, and I'm so happy that we published it.
