Location: Netherlands
Member Since: April 06, 2016

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Bryna Hellmann

Biography

Born in the US in 1928, I have lived in ‘interesting times’, those years when momentous dislocations occur in people’s lives: the depression in the ’30s, World War 2 and the Shoah, the Vietnam tragedy and the Berlin Wall. Yet nothing life-challenging has happened to me: I was always lucky enough to be on the right side of the Atlantic. In 1959, I visited my German husband’s family and ended up staying in Europe for 53 years. In 1977, I founded a Dutch private high school, and in 1987 I added a Dutch private college. I'm retired, both schools are flourishing, and I've written seven books in 10 years. A Happy Man is dedicated to my father, whose working-class life inspired it, and to Senator Sanders who, like my dad, "will fight them till they win".

Smashwords Interview

What's the story behind your latest book?
That fits in nicely with what I just wrote, because I based The Happy Man on my mom and dad's lives during the 20s and 30s in the US. Inspired by the sad fact that life now for so many people is as bad as it was back then, I really got going because I'm a Sanders supporter.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
I've been living in Europe for 55 years and started seriously writing when I retired from teaching and managing a college ten years ago. No agent or publisher in the US wanted to even look at my work, and then I discovered the espresso Book Machine at the American Book Center here in Amsterdam. I've written, designed and "published" seven books since then, sold a few in museum and independent book shops and given away a lot.
Read more of this interview.

Where to buy in print

http://www.abc.nl

Books

A Happy Man by
Price: Free! Words: 50,810. Language: American English. Published: April 6, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » USA
Martin Burke married and raised three children during the Depression and ended up secure and successful. He thought everybody gets some luck, but not everybody grabs his chances and takes the risks. He called it luck but he wrestled it from the bastards who wanted him to stay hopeless and powerless and not be their problem. Well, he and his socialist buddies were going to fight them till they won.

Bryna Hellmann's tag cloud

american socialism    democratic socialism usa    great depression usa    the earth is ours