Tom Kando

Tom Kando, PhD, grew up in WWII Europe, spending his formative years in Paris and Amsterdam. At eighteen he came to America as a lonely immigrant and a Fulbright student. He became a professor at major universities, taught in prisons and lectured worldwide. His memoir, A Tale of Survival describes his far-flung and sometimes harrowing experiences .
He authored articles about crime, terrorism, psychology, sports, and travel in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Examiner and other venues, and nine books, including Leisure and Popular Culture, Social Interaction (C.V. Mosby), Sexual Behavior and Family Life (Elsevier) and Readings in Criminology (Kendall Hunt).
Tom is an avid road biker and he plays the flute. He is married to Anita and he has two daughters and two grandchildren, so far.

Website: http://tomkando.com
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://european-americanblog.blogspot.com/

counterculture    europe    holocaust    memoirs europe    war refugees    world war two   

• Right Now Is Perfect: A Romance, An Adventure, The Unexpected Thereafter on Feb. 22, 2013
  (no rating)
  Carol Anita Ryan has written a beautiful book about her trans-Pacific voyage by sailboat, and also about love, misfortune and courage. The novel is complete, with romance, adventure and tragedy. It is flawlessly written, thoroughly enjoyable, sexy, appealing and heart wrenching. First the adventure: My, my! As a landlubber, I already get uncomfortable when I step on a small sailboat. Crossing the immensity of the Pacific on such a craft would petrify me. Carol, her boyfriend Bill, Bill’s sister Mary Jo and Mary Jo’s husband Charlie sail the Velela from Mexico to New Zealand! Charlie is captain and co-owner of the Velela with Bill. How four people (including siblings and in-laws) get along for this lengthy voyage, cooped up on a tiny vessel, is beyond me. Me and my siblings and in-laws, three days is the maximum we can be with each other. After that, we’d kill each other. But Carol spends nine months at sea with her foursome! There is some minor conflict (about money, supplies, whathaveyou), but nothing serious. They finally separate after nine months - Carol and Bill fly home from New Zealand. For the better part of nine months, they brave thunderstorms, thirty-foot waves, dead seas. We also learn the intricacies required for such an incredible adventure - GPS of course, safety requirements, solar power for electronic gear, desalinization equipment as back up, how to schedule turns at night watch, etc. It takes nearly a month just to reach the very first islands - the Marquesas in French Polynesia. Then on to Tuamotu, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Samoa, finally New Zealand. Sometimes they stay on an island group for a whole month, for example in Papeete, or Fiji. They even toy with the idea of moving there permanently. Fascinating. I actually went to a map of the Pacific to follow their vicissitudes. The book is a great travelogue - the cultures, culinary delights, people of the South Seas. They meet many people, some of them native, many of them adventure sailors like themselves. There are descriptions of magnificent luminescent sea life and star-studded skies at night, whales, schools of dolphins, (I was reminded of the recent movie “Life of Pi”). The book also has a bunch of nice photos. The last part of the book comes as a shock. It takes place mostly on the West Coast, primarily in California. As the 20th century winds down, Carol is struck by misfortune. But her courage and positivity shine through. Wonderful narrative, and wonderfully uplifting.
  
• Right Now Is Perfect: A Romance, An Adventure, The Unexpected Thereafter on Feb. 22, 2013
  
  I forgot to do the rating