More Volcano on the radio

Here follows transcript of author interview with Sandy Hausman, Charlottesville Bureau Chief, WVTF Public Radio, Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 6, 2010:

WVTF:  What got you started on this family history and how did you pull it together?

Gatins:  In 1983, when my dad died, we found an old photo that I’d never seen before of a one-armed gentleman holding a baby in the crook of his good arm.  And I said, “Who is this?”  And it turned out the baby was my father and the one-armed man my grandfather who no one in the family had ever really ever talked about.  So, I decided then, even before I retired, to look into the family history a little bit more.  I had the chance beginning in ’96 and spent an awful lot of time accumulating at old letters and convincing my brothers and sisters to provide what they had in their attics and old files.  And we accumulated a great treasure trove of material, multiple old photo albums and letters that were frankly priceless.   My dad was a prisoner of war during World War II and sent 26 postcards and letters to back to my mom before they were married, which she saved, which gave me a road map to where he’d been, which gave me a road map to what the Red Cross in Geneva was doing to inspect those camps – and I managed to get hold of those reports, as well as basically a lot of e-mails back and forth with brothers and sisters to recollect what did they remember about whom.   There were also a variety of standard sources: Microfilm files, computer files, old newspaper files, many of which are now on computer, and those proved useful as well. So, I started the project off as a project just for my family. I was going to write this up for the children, the grandchildren, the nieces and nephews. But as I got into it, there were enough adventures and misadventures that maybe the public might be interested.  And we’re now testing the waters to find out if the public will buy the book.

WVTF: Well, your timing is pretty darn good, I must say.  Tell me about your grandfather – why he was such an interesting character.

What they're saying ... (blurbs, reviews, comments, etc.) Dec. 1, 2009-Jan. 31, 2010

1.6.10.  Amazon. Very entertaining & educational.  Five-star review from James Campbell, Atlanta.  Dancing on Volcano was indeed a very entertaining and educational book. Joe Gatins does a fantastic job of researching and providing many facts, events, etc., that take you back to the turn of the last century, right up to the present. The book starts out a little slow, and then picks up wonderfully as Gatins takes the reader back, to the lead-up to and the horrific events that occur during his Father's participation in WWII. If one is a history buff, this book will give you a very different and enlightening description of the challenges, tragic events, and various efforts of regular people, just to survive during WWII, and the sections on the POW camps and what prisoners did to survive, was particularly enlightening and educational. A good read, and well done by Joe Gatins. 
12.26.09.  Amazon.  "Riveting history of a family."   Five-star review from Joan L. Amory, Portland, Maine.  What a family of strong, determined, creative, and occasionally unruly individuals. Gatins skillfully folds their stories into the family history that is a great American story. Characters from Ireland and France, then Spain and Germany via Colombia, forge a fortune and a narrative that is emblematic of this country. Each new immigrant takes on the challenges of its generation as he or she joins the family. The reader's joy is taking up with each inimitable personality to follow how trials are met and how good fortune is dealt with. Gatins' fine research creates a vivid milieu for his family, and difficulties of character and decisions are handled with honesty and sensitivity.
12.1.09.  Georgia Mountain Laurel. " ... not a sugarcoated family memoir in the usual sense of the word.  Rather, it lives up to its subtitle.  Fault lines, indeed ... adventures and misadventures aplenty."

Volcano on the radio ...

12.1.09.  Click on: http://www.pba.org/dictator/media/229/btl_reading_list_winter09.pdf WABE 90.1 FM and Valerie Jackson's well-respected "Between the Lines" show has added the book to its suggested "adult literature" reading list for Fall and Winter, 2009. 
11.24.09.  Click on:  www.gpb.org/wppr  and scroll to the Community Life interview for Nov. 24, 2009.  Author was interviewed by Candice Felice (about 28 minutes into the show.)
11.7.09.  Click on:  http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com/2009/11/hot-lava-two-step.html  Review on WCRX-LP 102.1 FM. Columbus, Ohio.  "Hot lava two-step."  Perhaps this non-fiction tale is too Southern, too European and too Hispanic for midwestern tastes.  As the story documents, there is an abundance of "diversity" in this family.  Midwesterners will call it "confusion" but will also be seduced by the family's charm and understanding of its imperfections.