📚 A Bookish Chat with 'They Called Him Marvin' Author Roger Stark | Author Interview | #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview
I am, by my admission, a reluctant writer. But some stories demand to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the stories are lost.
Six years ago, in a quiet conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story his father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just months before the end of the war.
The telling of the story that evening by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me to ask if I could write the story. The result was They Called Him Marvin.
My life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our behalf.
My career as an addiction counselor (CDP) lead me to write “The Waterfall Concept; A Blueprint for Addiction Recovery,” and co-author “Reclaiming Your Addicted Brain.”
My next project is already underway, a memoir of growing in SW Washington called “Life on a Sorta Farm.” My wife of 49 years, Susan, and I still live in that area.
We raised seven children and have eleven grandchildren. We love to travel and see the sites and cultures of the world. I still get on my bicycle whenever I can.
You can visit Roger’s website at https://theycalledhimmarvin.com/ or connect with him on Facebook or Instagram.
TWL: Welcome
to The Writer's Life! How did you come up with the idea to write
your book?
Roger: I
am, by my own admission, a reluctant writer. But there are stories that demand to
to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the
stories be lost.
Six years ago,
in a quiet conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story his
father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just months
before the end of the war.
Lt Dean
Sherman was the father he never knew. The telling of the story that evening by
this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me to ask if I
could write the story. The result being “They Called Him Marvin.”
My life has
been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this
sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice
that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our
behalf.
Secrecy was a
priority, “Loose Lips Sink Ships” was the popular reminder. The crazy part was
in spite of all the clandestine efforts, after ten stops and nearly sixty two
hours of flying spread over twenty two days, Tokyo Rose welcomed Lt. Dean
Sherman and each crew member by name to the war the day they landed in Paidoba,
India.
That was a
real head scratcher.
A pattern for
the trip evolved. Fly for four to eight hours, stop over night and get up and
do it again. From Florida, they would follow the coast south to Natal, Brazil,
cross the Atlantic to Africa, jumping the ocean was eleven hours and fifteen
minutes of flying. They then flew across Africa to the Middle East and on to
Pakistan and their duty station in India.
The trip
involved two long stays, six days in Ghana West Africa, and several days in
Khartoum, Sudan for maintenance of the airplane. At each destination, the crew
would get cleaned up upon landing and head for chow. Their next interest was
finding what was playing at the movies.
In Puerto Rico
the crew was quite happy to watch the new release The Lady Takes a
Chance starring John Wayne and Jean Arthur. Coincidently when they reached
British Guiana the same movie was featured. Not to be deterred the crew again
enjoyed the film. When they got to Brazil and it was again the featured picture
show, some murmuring occurred. The Corporalies, were feeling cheated.
When they
found the movie would be playing at their fourth stop also they complained to
Dean.
“Sir, ain’t
the Army got any other movies?”
“We know the
lines better than the actors.”
“We know John
Wayne is going to eat the lamb chops because Jean Arthur cooked them for him even
tho he is a beef man.”
“Maybe there
will be something new at our next stop,” was the consolation Dean offered. But
at each of their ten layovers, The Lady Takes a Chance was the featured movie.
After crossing the Atlantic The Corporalies showed signs of giving up on the
movies.
But in
Khartoum The Corporalies forced into the NCO Club by the searing heat and
therefore ‘forced‘ to drink cold beer all day had a terrible yearning, near evening,
for a movie.
“And damn it,
don’t come back if it is The Lady Takes a Chance.”
Of course he
discovered that The Lady was indeed tonights special feature. On the way back
to the NCO Club with the sad news that John Wayne was again eating those lamb
chops even here on the edge of the Nile Rivers, he met his Airplane Commander.
“Sir, they are
playing that same damn movie here, oh sorry sir, that same John Wayne movie is
playing here. We are sick of it, Sir, ain’t the Army got any other movies?”
Dean could
easily see that Howell was near beer incapacitation. Puffy face, glassy eyes,
speech just a bit off. He took pity on his Central Gunner.
“Evan, the
reason that movie shows up everywhere we go, is that we have been tasked with
delivering it to our final destination while allowing each layover airfield to use
it.”
Howell stared
at his Airplane Commander as his cognitive impaired brain tried to process. The
light finally came on for him, a bit dim, but it came on. “Oh, Sir, I see Sir,
I’ll tell the boys.”
And off he
wandered, not in the direction of the boys, but in the direction of his bunk,
taking his comrades threat to not return with bad news seriously.
Roger: I
thoroughly enjoyed creating the character of Therill Hanson, mail man
extraordinaire and distant relative of some sort. Therill is the kind of guy
our society loves to ignore. No one ever called him handsome, and he came with
a personality filled with quirks, but he gave some very comforting service to
Connie Sherman as she waited on her husband’s letters.
Title: THEY CALLED HIM MARVIN
Author: Roger Stark
Publisher: Silver Star Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance/WW2/Family Saga
BOOK BLURB:
18-year-old Pvt Dean Sherman goes to church with a friend in Salt Lake City. He meets 16-year-old Connie that will become his wife. After Pearl Harbor Dean applies for pilot training and is accepted. Dean joins Connie’s Mormon Church and they secretly become engaged.
By the time Dean has commissioned a pilot, Connie is 18 and they marry and are together for a year and a half before he ships out as an Airplane Commander of a B-29. Connie is pregnant with their son, Marvin.
A Japanese family is introduced, the Kyoshis. She is an important member of the Community Council he is a builder of water guns used in fighting fires and is the neighborhood fire captain. A son Reo will go off to war and train as a fighter pilot. 12-year-old Son Riku has a reappearing role in the story concerning the B-29’s bombing of Japan. They also have 6-year-old twin sisters that are sent to Hiroshima early in the story for their safety.
The crew of 44-69966 arrives in India after a month of flying. Letters start arriving for Connie. Discussion of the B-29s development of strategic purposes is explained.
In Japan Reo Kyoshi goes off to war and the Firebombing of Tokyo occurs. 15 Square miles burned down to the sidewalks. 100,000 casualties and a million people homeless. The Kyoshi survive the conflagration but lose their home.
Marvin is born. Dean returns to duty and his plane is transferred to the Marianna Islands in the Pacific. Some 67 love letters are exchanged between Dean and Connie.
Dean’s plane is shot down over Nagoya Japan, the crew is captured and sent to Tokai Army Headquarters. Connie keeps writing letters that cannot be delivered. She has no idea he is in a Japanese prison.
Prison conditions are horrible, beatings and interrogations constant. Connie receives the war department telegram listing Dean as MIA.
A sham trial is conducted the crew is found guilty and their sentence is carried out the next day.
Almost 50 years later, Dean comes to Connie in a dream/vision and confirms his love for her and that they will yet have a life together.
Book Information
Release Date: September 1, 2021
Publisher: Silver Star Publishing
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-0578855288; 333 pages; $17.43; E-Book, $2.99
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3BnQYnD
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JsqVi1
IndieBound: https://bit.ly/3BnQYnD
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3Lv4sD3
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