21 Aldgate

Saturday, November 10, 2012

In Flanders field the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;and in the sky
The Larks still bravely sing and fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Two verses follow .... ending with:

The torch be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields......

And all these years later we continue our wars 'while poppies grow in Flanders field.'

No comments:

Post a Comment

About the Author Patricia Friedberg

British-born author Patricia Friedberg grew up in London during World War II. She attended the Henrietta Barnett School and later the London School of Journalism. Soon after her marriage, the Friedbergs left England to live for many years in South Africa and in the Rhodesias - now Zambia and Zimbabwe - where Dr. Friedberg practiced medicine and where she was a journalist and writer of documentaries for the Rhodesian Newspapers and Rhodesian Television.

Due to civil unrest and for the safety of their children, the family came to America, where Mrs. Friedberg attended university and wrote columns for community and organizational papers, and hosted a television talk show, '"People of the Book," for the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In addition to her talent as a writer and journalist, Mrs. Friedberg has composed music for theatre, written prose for a ballet and has travelled extensively with her husband, a professor of cardiology who lectured around the world.

She has co-authored with her daughter, Adrienne, two illustrated children’s books, Dear Sammie, A Letter to a child of Divorcing parents, and Dear Jake.

She is the mother of four children, each born in a different country, grandmother of eight, and now has three great-grandsons.

Synopsis

When young Clara Simon suddenly quit her steady job in Ernest Maxwell Abbott's law firm over his increasingly shabby treatment of Jewish clients, she soon realized the seriousness of her actions. Giving up any job in struggling, post-WWI London meant taking a chance.

Clara knew her family at 21 Aldgate would not be supportive. With that in mind she did the only thing a Londoner could do: she looked for a quiet place to have a cup of tea and think over her hasty decision. A coincidental meeting with a former Abbott employee resulted in the suggestion of a job offer in Chelsea.

Clara, reluctant to consider venturing into affluent Chelsea, finally agreed to meet with the important French artist, Paul Maze, who needed an assistant to help write his memoir of his work as a field artist during the First World War. Their working relationship ignited a passionate love that forever changed and haunted her.

On the tides of political and social chaos prior to the Second World War, Clara was forced to make decisions that risked both her life and her marriage.