Reule-Ekern releases ‘The Ocean is Wide’
Big Island resident Ursula R. Reule-Ekern recently released “The Ocean is Wide: Leaving War-Torn Europe to Find a New Life.”
As a teenager caught up in the conflict of the World War II, the author finds herself desperately trying to survive the Russian invasion accompanied only by her older sister. Her mother in a Soviet gulag, her father’s whereabouts unknown, they struggle to survive among roving Russian troops and the Soviet secret police, always threatening to ensnare them and send them east into hard labor. Follow Reule-Ekern’s true story as she determinedly overcomes her apparent fate and improbably creates herself a future in the West.
The 237-page paperback book features black and white photography taken before, during and after the war. It is available for purchase at www.amazon.com.
Lilly, Lester and Leo headline Words and Wine
M.W. Lilly, Peter Lester and Patricia Leo will be featured during Kona Stories Book Shop’s Words and Wine event at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Keauhou Shopping Center.
Lilly was a Valley Girl before becoming a Kona girl more than 30 years ago. “Eyes of a Valley Girl” is the story of an invisible, magical world that sustained the author’s troubled adolescence during the turbulence of the 1960s cultural revolution. The main character, Marianne, navigates a swirling brew of family, friends, school, French culture, Vietnam, and an alcoholic family, as she prepares to graduate from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. Lilly is currently writing part II of “Eyes of a Valley Girl.”
Lester is a retired college professor living in Kailua-Kona. He has a number of technical publications out there including a couple of textbooks, but “Out of the Shadows and into the Fire” is his first foray into fiction. In the book, we meet Josh Mayer, a high school sophomore who lives in the shadow of his older brother, an accomplished student and athlete. Josh meets a fellow student, Kelly, who, despite excellent grades, has her own issues with her looks and her treatment by some disparaging classmates. Her confidence in Josh inspires him to plan a summer bike trip to prove that his biking is a challenging sport and he is good at it. At the end of the eventful summer, Josh returns to his family, Kelly, school, and surprises he’ll never forget.
Leo is a longtime Big Island resident. “Little One” is a story of a day in the life of a wee mouse who lives with a family on a country homestead in the warmth of Hawaii. Through the unfolding of this story, children are given the chance to see through the eyes and heart of this small being as he travels through his waking hours, concerning himself with life as he knows it, finding food, experiencing his environment and relating to others on his way.
Following a more formal book presentation from each author there will be a Q&A session. The event concludes at 8 p.m.
Info: Brenda or Joy, 324-0350. ■