I am deeply honored by the decision of West Point’s Library and Associate Dean Christopher D. Barth, Director of Libraries and Archives, to receive the original manuscripts of my eight books.
Years ago, as an immature poker-playing Cadet, I often used the USMA Library not to complete required reading, but to devour novels and to study arcane archives. Meanwhile, CPT Chester Joseph Stanley Piolunek, my wounded, war-hero English prof, via To Kill a Mockingbird, was stealthily teaching me how to write.
My modest writing collection is currently half novels and half-non-fiction. West Point later selected one from each category to become examinable required reading by West Point Cadets, to lamentably include the course that produced the lowest average grades.
West Point later forgave me my low grades and named me its first chair of character development. Now, the Academy Library has added my writing to its illustrious permanent historical collections.
I absolutely know that only in America could a sickly, blind, self-doubting kid from a poor, broken immigrant family learn to become a novelist at a renowned service academy. Only in the USA could military service have given me skills of the spirit to strive, however imperfectly, to provide value, however small, to all others regardless of the person’s background and regardless of feelings.,
Duty Honor Country, and a Present Arms to all our veterans.
I’ll next return to How to Get Courage.
