Grieving the sudden death of her beloved husband a few years after they lost their first child, Eda Kampmann Herff picks up an abandoned ledger and starts writing a Diary on the first day of 1884. A century later, her granddaughter, Ilse Herff Frost yields to a grandson�s pleading and writes her Reminiscence. She recounts growing up in South Texas � Boerne and San Antonio � in the early 20th century. These two women are descendents of J.H. Kampmann, one of the 19th century German settlers who brought their enterprise, culture and utopian ideals to the vivid Mexican city of San Antonio. JHK was a dynamic civic leader. He built several of the classic German houses in the city�s King William District, along with now-historic business buildings downtown like the Menger Hotel. He also founded two breweries and a bank that later became a significant cornerstone in the Frost Bank organization. Eda was JHK�s daughter. She married a Herff, a son in a family of active physicians serving the burgeoning population of the young city. Herffs were among the founders of Boerne in Texas Hill Country. Eda records 30 months of 19th century daily life in her Diary as she raises her surviving son, participates in social and civic life, and travels. Ilse, JHK�s great-granddaughter, was a daughter of that son of Eda�s � known as �Johnny� or �Buby� Herff in her Diary. He eventually became another generation�s Dr. John Herff. Ilse�s Reminiscence details life two generations later as her family splits time between the city and the �ranch� in Boerne. These two documents are preserved through the efforts of two more Kampmann/Herff descendents. Judith Carrington is the granddaughter of Elizabeth � Ilse�s Aunt Elizabeth � who was born to the diarist, Eda, after she remarried. Judith found Eda�s Diary among family memorabilia hidden in her mother�s storage. Judith made the Diary available to The Witte Museum in San Antonio for an exhibit chronicling the early German settlers, including a special collection documenting J.H. Kampmann. A volunteer translator brought the lost document, written in old German, to life more than 100 years after it was written. Juanita Herff Drought Chipman � Johnny Herff�s granddaughter and Ilse�s niece � compiled the documents, added historic family photographs, and contributed sketches she drew from other, fading images, to create this book. These stories are valuable to the many descendents of South Texas� German settlers. History records the accomplishments of their men, but the women of the families also carry an important story � bygone routines that kept homes running, raised children, and built community. Thank you for your interest in Eda & Ilse.

Grieving the sudden death of her beloved husband a few years after they lost their first child, Eda Kampmann Herff picks up an abandoned ledger and starts writing a Diary on the first day of 1884. A century later, her granddaughter, Ilse Herff Frost yields to a grandson�s pleading and writes her Reminiscence. She recounts growing up in South Texas � Boerne and San Antonio � in the early 20th century. These two women are descendents of J.H. Kampmann, one of the 19th century German settlers who brought their enterprise, culture and utopian ideals to the vivid Mexican city of San Antonio. JHK was a dynamic civic leader. He built several of the classic German houses in the city�s King William District, along with now-historic business buildings downtown like the Menger Hotel. He also founded two breweries and a bank that later became a significant cornerstone in the Frost Bank organization. Eda was JHK�s daughter. She married a Herff, a son in a family of active physicians serving the burgeoning population of the young city. Herffs were among the founders of Boerne in Texas Hill Country. Eda records 30 months of 19th century daily life in her Diary as she raises her surviving son, participates in social and civic life, and travels. Ilse, JHK�s great-granddaughter, was a daughter of that son of Eda�s � known as �Johnny� or �Buby� Herff in her Diary. He eventually became another generation�s Dr. John Herff. Ilse�s Reminiscence details life two generations later as her family splits time between the city and the �ranch� in Boerne. These two documents are preserved through the efforts of two more Kampmann/Herff descendents. Judith Carrington is the granddaughter of Elizabeth � Ilse�s Aunt Elizabeth � who was born to the diarist, Eda, after she remarried. Judith found Eda�s Diary among family memorabilia hidden in her mother�s storage. Judith made the Diary available to The Witte Museum in San Antonio for an exhibit chronicling the early German settlers, including a special collection documenting J.H. Kampmann. A volunteer translator brought the lost document, written in old German, to life more than 100 years after it was written. Juanita Herff Drought Chipman � Johnny Herff�s granddaughter and Ilse�s niece � compiled the documents, added historic family photographs, and contributed sketches she drew from other, fading images, to create this book. These stories are valuable to the many descendents of South Texas� German settlers. History records the accomplishments of their men, but the women of the families also carry an important story � bygone routines that kept homes running, raised children, and built community. Thank you for your interest in Eda & Ilse.

Grieving the sudden death of her beloved husband a few years after they lost their first child, Eda Kampmann Herff picks up an abandoned ledger and starts writing a Diary on the first day of 1884. A century later, her granddaughter, Ilse Herff Frost yields to a grandson�s pleading and writes her Reminiscence. She recounts growing up in South Texas � Boerne and San Antonio � in the early 20th century. These two women are descendents of J.H. Kampmann, one of the 19th century German settlers who brought their enterprise, culture and utopian ideals to the vivid Mexican city of San Antonio. JHK was a dynamic civic leader. He built several of the classic German houses in the city�s King William District, along with now-historic business buildings downtown like the Menger Hotel. He also founded two breweries and a bank that later became a significant cornerstone in the Frost Bank organization. Eda was JHK�s daughter. She married a Herff, a son in a family of active physicians serving the burgeoning population of the young city. Herffs were among the founders of Boerne in Texas Hill Country. Eda records 30 months of 19th century daily life in her Diary as she raises her surviving son, participates in social and civic life, and travels. Ilse, JHK�s great-granddaughter, was a daughter of that son of Eda�s � known as �Johnny� or �Buby� Herff in her Diary. He eventually became another generation�s Dr. John Herff. Ilse�s Reminiscence details life two generations later as her family splits time between the city and the �ranch� in Boerne. These two documents are preserved through the efforts of two more Kampmann/Herff descendents. Judith Carrington is the granddaughter of Elizabeth � Ilse�s Aunt Elizabeth � who was born to the diarist, Eda, after she remarried. Judith found Eda�s Diary among family memorabilia hidden in her mother�s storage. Judith made the Diary available to The Witte Museum in San Antonio for an exhibit chronicling the early German settlers, including a special collection documenting J.H. Kampmann. A volunteer translator brought the lost document, written in old German, to life more than 100 years after it was written. Juanita Herff Drought Chipman � Johnny Herff�s granddaughter and Ilse�s niece � compiled the documents, added historic family photographs, and contributed sketches she drew from other, fading images, to create this book. These stories are valuable to the many descendents of South Texas� German settlers. History records the accomplishments of their men, but the women of the families also carry an important story � bygone routines that kept homes running, raised children, and built community. Thank you for your interest in Eda & Ilse.

There are literary reminiscences that reek of self-congratulation over the authors' proximity to famous movers and shakers. Andy Bernstein's California Slim aspires to far more than that-and achieves it. Andy was there, at the onset of the post-'50s revolution that, as a beat poet once put it, roared as it ripped the threadbare fabric of an age. Andy was no distant, casual observer during the tumultuous '60s and '70s; he was at the heart of the maelstrom, and writes about it with candor, humor, and originality.

 

The story begins, for God's sake, with Andy and his then unknown banjo teacher, a young Jerry Garcia, finger picking in a back room at Dana Morgan's Music Studio in Palo Alto in 1962. A skinny six-foot-seven-inch Jewish kid (later known as "California Slim"), Andy divided his time between the usual adolescent interests and music, for which he would go on to provide a capital M by promoting and staging concerts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. His Palo Alto nightclub, Homer's Warehouse, across the street from the Stanford University campus, brought revolutionary musicians (among them, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee) to young sensibilities hungry for new driving rhythms and thought-provoking lyrics.

 

The early chapters of this book set the stage for Andy's eventual hooking-up with Willie Nelson and his Family—which felt, Andy said, "like reading a really good book that I couldn't put down." That feeling led directly, if gradually, to California Slim. And you, dear reader, won't be able to put it down, either.

 

-Tony Compagno

There are literary reminiscences that reek of self-congratulation over the authors' proximity to famous movers and shakers. Andy Bernstein's California Slim aspires to far more than that-and achieves it. Andy was there, at the onset of the post-'50s revolution that, as a beat poet once put it, roared as it ripped the threadbare fabric of an age. Andy was no distant, casual observer during the tumultuous '60s and '70s; he was at the heart of the maelstrom, and writes about it with candor, humor, and originality.

 

The story begins, for God's sake, with Andy and his then unknown banjo teacher, a young Jerry Garcia, finger picking in a back room at Dana Morgan's Music Studio in Palo Alto in 1962. A skinny six-foot-seven-inch Jewish kid (later known as "California Slim"), Andy divided his time between the usual adolescent interests and music, for which he would go on to provide a capital M by promoting and staging concerts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. His Palo Alto nightclub, Homer's Warehouse, across the street from the Stanford University campus, brought revolutionary musicians (among them, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee) to young sensibilities hungry for new driving rhythms and thought-provoking lyrics.

 

The early chapters of this book set the stage for Andy's eventual hooking-up with Willie Nelson and his Family—which felt, Andy said, "like reading a really good book that I couldn't put down." That feeling led directly, if gradually, to California Slim. And you, dear reader, won't be able to put it down, either.

 

-Tony Compagno

THEY COME TO THIS EXCEPTIONAL country in every generation by the millions, from every corner of the world, from every country. Th ey come in every generation for the same reason. Th e United States of America is not unlike the shining beacon that never dims, never fails to advertise its promise. For all who seek a better life, to breathe freer, to exercise the skills and the talents they possess, it is the country of fi rst choice for millions of immigrants. It has been this way since the founding of the republic. Th e promise held out to the newcomer has but one condition, loyalty in exchange for opportunity. Every immigrant enters into this time-honored contract with the words: �I pledge allegiance to the fl ag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.� Implicit in the American promise is the opportunity to try and to try again; implicit is the understanding that to try and to fail is not the end, but merely the beginning of new hope, the freedom to try once more. Success in this exceptional country may mean all that one might hope for: fame and riches and a satisfaction to have been free enough to realize one�s potential. In these pages, we have assembled portraits of a few among the millions of newcomers who succeeded to the utmost in what they chose to do. Exceptional in an exceptional country, their lives and their achievements are a refl ection of the larger light that drew them here.

THEY COME TO THIS EXCEPTIONAL country in every generation by the millions, from every corner of the world, from every country. Th ey come in every generation for the same reason. Th e United States of America is not unlike the shining beacon that never dims, never fails to advertise its promise. For all who seek a better life, to breathe freer, to exercise the skills and the talents they possess, it is the country of fi rst choice for millions of immigrants. It has been this way since the founding of the republic. Th e promise held out to the newcomer has but one condition, loyalty in exchange for opportunity. Every immigrant enters into this time-honored contract with the words: �I pledge allegiance to the fl ag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.� Implicit in the American promise is the opportunity to try and to try again; implicit is the understanding that to try and to fail is not the end, but merely the beginning of new hope, the freedom to try once more. Success in this exceptional country may mean all that one might hope for: fame and riches and a satisfaction to have been free enough to realize one�s potential. In these pages, we have assembled portraits of a few among the millions of newcomers who succeeded to the utmost in what they chose to do. Exceptional in an exceptional country, their lives and their achievements are a refl ection of the larger light that drew them here.

THEY COME TO THIS EXCEPTIONAL country in every generation by the millions, from every corner of the world, from every country. Th ey come in every generation for the same reason. Th e United States of America is not unlike the shining beacon that never dims, never fails to advertise its promise. For all who seek a better life, to breathe freer, to exercise the skills and the talents they possess, it is the country of fi rst choice for millions of immigrants. It has been this way since the founding of the republic. Th e promise held out to the newcomer has but one condition, loyalty in exchange for opportunity. Every immigrant enters into this time-honored contract with the words: �I pledge allegiance to the fl ag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.� Implicit in the American promise is the opportunity to try and to try again; implicit is the understanding that to try and to fail is not the end, but merely the beginning of new hope, the freedom to try once more. Success in this exceptional country may mean all that one might hope for: fame and riches and a satisfaction to have been free enough to realize one�s potential. In these pages, we have assembled portraits of a few among the millions of newcomers who succeeded to the utmost in what they chose to do. Exceptional in an exceptional country, their lives and their achievements are a refl ection of the larger light that drew them here.

This book is a compilation of stories covering close encounters the author had with the famous and near-famous, covering many years of observing and sometimes meeting the greats; think Judy Garland, Josef Von Sternberg, Ed Sullivan, Eleanor Powell, Abbe Lane, Donald O’Connor, Anna May Wong, Debbie Reynolds, Ronald Reagan, Gloria Swanson, Michael Feinstein, Hedy Lamarr, Bob Hope, Bette Davis, et al. You’ll find no muck-raking, no exposes or tell-alls—just real life encounters told through an affectionate prism. Well, maybe Preminger was an exception.)

Joe Garba’s Legacy Selected Speeches and Lectures On National Governance, Confronting Apartheid and Foreign Policy

Joseph Nanven Garba came to international attention in July 1975, as a member of Supreme Military Council in Nigeria’s new military government. Then a Colonel, the commander of the Brigade of Guards and a distinguished career officer, fate, which some call luck, thrust upon him the role of Commissioner (Minister) for External Affairs, after initially being slotted for the Transport portfolio. A diplomatic neophyte, Garba, who characterized himself as the “most undiplomatic soldier there was”, would learn the finer points and also the caprices of international diplomacy on the job. He did well, serving as Nigeria’s foreign minister, from 1975-1978 and consequently holding key diplomatic, academic and political positions - all which offered him the unfettered pulpit to speak assertively on national and international issues within his remit. When Garba spoke, people listened; for he was eloquent, had the personality and did not dodge heady issues. He had gone from an unknown quantity, whose appointment as Foreign Minister, had elicited from the Nigerian intelligentsia the terse reaction, “Garba Who?” to become a skillful and renowned diplomat and an assured voice of Nigeria. The thirty-two speeches and lectures in this volume represent just a fraction of the many he delivered. They are presented in remembrance and as a befitting legacy on the tenth anniversary of his passing.