Welcome to Canadian author Barbara Trendos!
Barb
Trendos is Toronto born and raised, although now living in Uxbridge with her
husband and bunny. She became a writer quite accidentally, starting out as an
avid reader. She spent many Saturday morning hours as a child with her mom and
sisters in the 'reading pit' at the North York Public Library discovering Charlotte's
Web, Paddington Bear, The Children of Green Knowe, Pippi
Longstocking to name but a few.
The seeds of
inspiration for Survival were first sown in Barbara in the
1980s when her father, Albert, casually shared the contents of an old file
folder he had discovered amongst his mother’s belongings after she passed away.
To Barbara, it was a treasure trove: fragile letters that Albert had written
home while he was a prisoner of war; official Air Force telegrams and
correspondence that variously reported Albert as MISSING, then as a POW, and
finally LIBERATED; dog-eared black and white snapshots that begged
identification of people, time and place.
Barbara was hooked, and realizing that she knew only
the highlights of Albert’s wartime story, naively undertook to fill in the
gaps, to what end even she didn’t know.
Website
http://www.barbaratrendos.com
Most difficult piece written and why
The piece in my World War II based book that I found most
challenging to write was the chapters on the two forced marches that took place
in early 1945 during the final months of the war in Europe. The Russian army
was closing in and the writing was on the wall for Germany. It was a stressful
and dangerous time to be a prisoner of war. Even though the men (my dad
included) were Allied officers and somewhat protected by the Geneva
Convention, desperate times called for desperate measures, and the German authorities
in charge of Stalag Luft 3 were indeed desperate men. Rumours abounded and
ranged from the Germans abandoning the camp and the prisoners to save
themselves, to the Germans killing all the Allied prisoners.
To me, the two forced marches, January 27, 1945 to May 2, 1945,
were, and still are, one of the least known aspects of World War II. Many of
the stories from this period are heart-wrenching and undocumented: the men were evacuated from the camp at short notice in the middle
of the night, on foot in one of the coldest winters on record; the men could
take only what they could carry (food included); the men were hungry from the
get-go due to cut rations in the preceding months; the Germans had made no
provision to feed the men or accommodate them at night, so sleeping in ditches,
huddling together for warmth, eating crusts of frozen bread, and secretly
bartering with the local folks were the norm. Worst was the constant fear and
often reality that all their years in a prison camp were going to end in death
before they could be liberated.
My research
- interviewing my dad extensively
- listening to my dad speak about his wartime experiences
through the Memory Project, an insightful educational initiative that offers
veterans and Canadian Forces staff an opportunity to share their service
experiences with students, communities, and anyone who wants to hear
- reading transcripts of talks my dad had given
- networking with other ex-prisoners of war
- extensive reading
- visiting my dad's wartime air force squadron in Cold Lake,
Alberta
- Library and Archives Canada
- talking to researchers at Pier 21 (Canadian Museum of
Immigration) regarding Dad's transport overseas in 1942, and home after
liberation in 1945
Fave books/authors
During the time I was writing my book (and still), many of my
favorite books tended to be either historical novels or memoirs set in World
War II that told well-researched stories from different perspectives:
The Occupied Garden: A Family Memoir of War-Torn Holland, Kristen den
Hartog and Tracy Kasaboski
The Nightingale, Kristen Hannah
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Key supporter
Allyson Latta, a writer, editor and workshop/retreat organizer. I
met Allyson locally in Markham when I attended one of her writing workshops.
She later invited me to attend one of her annual writing retreats, this one in
Tucson, Arizona, where I met and exchanged ideas with other writers, shared my
work and process, gained confidence. Once I had a draft manuscript, Allyson
introduced me to a group of Beta readers who offered me valuable feedback and
insights, many of which sent me back to the drawing board to revise, revise,
revise. Everything they contributed made my book better, albeit often with a
lot of extra work from me (but it was good to have the kick to do it).
Strengths as an author
- Plain language writing, once I decided my book
audience would be targeted to young people/high school students
- Tenacity for getting to the bottom of my dad's
memories. By that I mean getting beyond his "remembered truth". After
all, he was well into his eighties by the time I was writing his story, so I
forgave his memory lapses. Or, the things he simply thought he remembered, when
he had in fact only read them, being a voracious reader of all things World War
II, RCAF, Stalag Luft III (the prison camp in Germany), The Great Escape
- Attention to detail for accuracy (honed while I
was writing corporate communications during my career)
Writing Routine
Nothing structured, perhaps because when I began writing my book,
I didn't know it would actually become a book. (I didn't know HOW to write a
book!) Also, I was still working full-time and could write only in my spare
time, of which, oddly enough, there never seemed to be enough. Once I retired,
I was able to commit to more "regular" writing, albeit still a hodge
podge.
SURVIVAL: My Father’s War as an Air Force Gunner and POW is Flight Lieutenant Albert Wallace’s wartime story, uniquely written in the style of a journal, by one of his daughters, with his collaboration.
They weren’t all flying aces or famous escapers or tunnelers. And they weren’t all decorated for heroism or distinguished military service either. Most were simply ordinary heroes: sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, friends. Young men (and women) who felt strongly enough about doing the right thing to voluntarily sign up to defend their country’s freedom and democracy against the unthinkable evil of World War II. And against the odds, lived to tell about it. Albert Wallace, a Canadian young man from Toronto, was one of the lucky ones.
Book cover and BUY link
https://barbaratrendos.com/order-the-book/
