Authored by Lois Herr, “Dear Coach” is the story of ElizabethtownCollege’s, legendary coach Ira Herr, and the men and women athletes of 1937-1946. More than just a collection of letters "Dear Coach" is the scrapbook of an extended family dealing with a war that forced a generation to grow up overnight.
This blog is managed by Opening Windows: Virtual Book Tours in connection with author Lois Herr. It's your number one source for information about the "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" virtual book tour.
Known in the blogosphere for her honest review of books by a variety of writer's Jennifer has agreed to host today's virtual book tour stop. Visit her site Rundpinne to for another free excerpt from "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII."
With the holidays right around the corner, many are on the search for that perfect gift. Consider "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" for the history enthusiast in your family!
If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the latest virtual book tour stop at Crystal's Reading Room! You'll not only be getting a glimpse at the letter-writer on the cover of "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" but also links to help you purchase your own copy. Now is a great time to purchase a copy of "Dear Coach" to the World War II aficionado in your life --- just in time for the holidays!
Crystal's Reading Room will be hosting a "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" virtual book tour stop tomorrow, November 30th.
Stop by to read a profile of one of the athletes who wrote to Elizabethtown Coach Ira Herr during WWII. The athlete featured tomorrow, Wib Raffensberger, is also featured on the cover of the book and has had one of his letters featured during a past tour stop at wwarii.com.
To learn more about the trials this athlete and his friends went through during their time at war buy your own copy now!
With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we're all counting our blessings before settling down for a big meal shared with friends and family. It makes one especially thankful to those giving up their own safety, comfort and holiday traditions so that we make keep ours. So as you carve into the turkey be sure to send out a prayer or good thought to those in war this holiday season. Also remember to keep veterans like the letter writer's from "Dear Coach" in your heart as it's because of these brave men and women that we're able to celebrate as freely as we do.
From Lois and Opening Windows, have a very happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
On Friday, November 20th Lois Herr, author of "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" will be stopping by Genealogy Blog. The readers of the blog were asked to submit their questions and, in essence, interview the author.
Here's a quick teaser of one of the questions, but remember, there's more to come!
Why do you think the athletes had such a strong relationship with your father?
Dad cared about building character, and that meant he tried to build a personal relationship with each of his players. Many of the athletes were first generation college students and many had not played organized sports in high school, so the experiences they had in many cases tied them more to my father than to their own. I was told by several that Dad was the reason they were in college - he recruited them and/or helped them get the financial support they needed. They told me he was always there for them and that they could talk with him about anything.
Tomorrow, November 17th, Lois Herr and her book "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" will be making another stop on their virtual book tour dropping by World War II History: Preserving the Past for the Future to share a letter written by one of the book's letter writer's. In fact, the once athlete turned pilot that will be featured played not only an important role in the book as one of the most detailed and interested letter writer's but his image graces the cover taken from a photograph of the man as he sat below his plan "rough neck's" wing and wrote home at the time... perhaps even to his beloved college coach. Be sure to check it out!
Tomorrow, November 13, Lois Herr will be stopping by Ephemera a blog which "explore the world of old paper" to share a postcard from "Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII" written by four "seagoing cowboys" and former athletes in 1946.
Not only will you see an aerial view of the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia from the time, but you'll experience the beginning of an adventure that four former Elizabethtown College students were about to embark on.
For those lucky enough to have been present at the Elizabethtown Homecoming presentation of "Dear Coach" were able to meet two of the "cowboys" and here even more about their amazing tale.
