On Jan. 23, 1943, my uncle, Frank Ebner Gartz, (photo in uniform, above) reported to the draft board in Chicago to start his training for WWII. So began the correspondence between him and family & friends, comprising almost 300 letters going both ways. I’m posting many of these World War II letters, each on or near the 70th anniversary of its writing. To start with his induction, click HERE.


This blog began in Nov., 2010, when I posted a century-old love note from Josef Gärtz, my paternal grandfather, to Lisi (Elisabetha) Ebner, my paternal grandmother, and follows their bold decision to strike out for America.


My mom and dad were writers too, recording their lives in diaries and letters from the 1920s-the 1990s. Historical, sweet, joyful, and sad, all that life promises-- and takes away--are recorded here as it happened. It's an ongoing saga of the 20th century. To start at the very beginning, please click HERE.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Locker room talk spawns interview

Joan Brunwasser,
editor and
interviewer
See Joan's interview with me here: Digging Up Family History

"Hey, Linda! What have you been up to, lately?" Joan, a fellow-swimmer at our local YMCA asked me recently. So unfolded my tale of discovery and obsession of the last decade: getting to know dead people in ways I never had in life. 

Of course, I'm talking about the vast trove of family history that feeds this blog.

A couple weeks later, dressing in the Y locker room, she said,  "Linda, I  I'm hooked on your blog!" She asked to interview me about the backstory to how Family Archaeologist came about. Thanks, Joan! 

Like all of us cruising through Y water, Joan Brunwasser has a life on land revealed to me only when we stopped splashing and started conversing

Joan has been Election Integrity Editor since 2005 for Op-Ed News.com, a source of wide-ranging news stories and opinions with a progressive bent. She co-founded Citizens for Election reform in 2005. The goal, stated on her OpEd News profile page is "to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public."

Joan has conducted more than 560 interviews for Op-EdNews.com, with artists, politicians, environmental activists, film-makers, writers––you get the idea, all sorts of people who work in every facet of human endeavor. 

Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and scoop.co.nz

Here's Joan's interview about how this blog came to be: Digging up Family History. 
Posted by Linda Gartz at 8:23 AM
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2 comments:

Jasia said...

Wonderful article, Linda! And you deserve the "blogolanche" you'll no doubt receive from it. I couldn't be happier for you. Congratulations.

March 22, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Jacqi Stevens said...

What a wonderful result of some local networking, Linda! So glad for you--and your blog. As you said, hopefully this will encourage others to delve into their own family stories.

March 22, 2012 at 9:13 PM

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