HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE
Remember, It is not Happy people who are Thankful, It’s Thankful people who are Happy.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
A lot has happened my dear friends, colleagues, family, and supporters since the last newsletter release. I’ve gone from writer’s cramp and printing presses to post-publication with press releases and now, pseudo-marketing efforts.
The Tampa Jewish Book Fair was a very good, immersion experience; I spoke with people interested in exploring new books and authors.
This past Sunday, November 19th was B’nai B’rith’s, Mini-Book Fair which gave me the opportunity to polish my presentation and give insight into the book and why it is worthy of people’s interest and consideration.
With this newsletter, we embark on new and uncharted waters. So far I’ve been involved with two book fairs here in the Tampa Bay area and they have been both very provocative and informative. I’m looking to expand this to other locations and plan to visit Washington and then New York City and some other major metropolitan areas on the East Coast in the near future.
Presentation from B’nai B’rith Mini-Book Fair Presentation, November 19, 2017
We have devised three versions of the book available for purchase. There is the $36 full-blown color addition with over 130 color photos of pictures, letters, charts, maps, documents, etc. The second choice is the $24 version, a modified color edition which includes 40 color pages. Then there is the Black and White version, which is selling for $18 and is available on Amazon.com.
All copies purchased with the exception of the $18 Black & White version will be autographed by the author himself.
$ 36.00 Color version (130 color pages)
$ 24.00 Partial Color version (40 color pages)
$ 18.00 Black and White version (Available on Amazon.com)
The beginning of next month, I’ll be heading up to New York for the Jewish Writer’s Seminar on Sunday, December 3 for a chance to meet with fellow authors, publishers, and editors. It will provide the whole gamut of getting the best bang for the buck so to speak for reaching out to new audiences.
Moving Forward
I will be undertaking writing projects including possible additional books and new blog postings. A following is a sampling of the topics.
What America means to me: www.Whatamericameanstome.org
What Immigrants means to America: www.Immigrantsrusa.com
Messages and guideposts to dwell upon: www.Joebabylifelessons.com
Good feelings from good actions: www.Feelthegoodness.com
The one that I am most excited about is: www.Itsworked4me.com
Thank you for your support and I wish you all a great holiday season and as always we welcome any of your thoughts and comments.
FROM RECENT BOOK FAIR PRESENTATIONS
This is just one of dozens upon dozens of letters reflecting the outpourings of love that these two-people shared for 67 years.
It’s so much more than just letters, it’s insight into what it takes to make a life more meaningful. It also teaches us how to be a person that can deal with the urgencies of life with all its exceptional moments. Whether Joe Baby was helping build a museum; hire staff; prepare budgets for Congress; or plan the day to day operations, he certainly did it with a deep seeded passion.
Joe Baby’s passion and commitment to “doing what it takes to get the job done” is clearly reflected in his actions. For example, for two years Joe Baby commuted from New York to D.C. to support the creation of the Hirshorn Museum. He would leave on a Monday and catch a shuttle from D.C. to New York and fly back from New York on Thursday night where he was able then to assess the progress of the Hirshorn Museum. Talk about commitment.
Joe Baby continued to save pictures, documents, and even budgets. He was of course involved with pertinent discussions with Mr. Joseph Hirshhorn and the Curator, Abram Lerner. He even drew a reaction from non-other than Pablo Picasso during some sensitive negotiations.
This is how Joe Baby worked for 38 amazing years with his all his jobs in the Federal government and at the same time being equally successful creating a life of his own, a family, and keeping a marriage intact.
As I have said before, he wrote, collected and documented everything and it’s now available for all to see firsthand. What it took to work with this lifetime partner reaching so many milestones and all the special times together were truly astonishing.
After retiring from the Washington Museum accomplishment, he took part as Finance Officer/Administrator in the establishment of Ruth Eckerd Hall (REH) in Clearwater, FL and here again, you can see the letters and all the background information. In addition, you can learn what it was like working with Arnold Bremen, the Executive Director who had a penchant for bringing all this together. Arnold was the foundation of this Great Hall; the wonderful shows, and Dad certainly documented this as well.
Upon the completion of Joe Baby’s work at Ruth Eckerd Hall he was back in full retirement mode. Now is the time for creating new milestones. For example, A 50-year anniversary with Thelma returning to Europe 50 years later and retracing his WWII experience. Much-to-do about introspection on reaching the magic age; dealing with what you can do. Joe Baby acknowledged “What America meant to him” like the 50th Anniversary Article about the GI Bill that has allowed millions of returning soldiers the opportunity to start and/or complete their education. Or the 50th Anniversary of the liberation of all the horrors of the Concentration Camps where millions perished including at least 15 of his family.
Joe Baby always went the extra mile to acquire the necessary skills to “get the job done”. This is what the book is about. How you can reach the next level, and how people can glean from the work they choose to do.
I’m one of the fortunate ones who has been the purveyor of the “guide” of the saving this for posterity. Whether it’s advice on writing better, joining the toastmasters, building a better vocabulary, analytically challenging yourself, you can find it in American Dreamer: ~Bill Sefekar
What Dad shares with us is the introspection and accumulation of these meaningful things that Joseph Sefekar had acquired. He backed it up by writing about it and sharing it with us. He talks to us about these meaningful things’ like long-lasting friendships.
“To realize early on how important it is to keep an inner circle of friends you could rely on and trust. I was so fortunate that these friends would be enduring and follow me through most of my life.”
One such friend, Martin Sobel, wrote a letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation stated that ‘Mr. Sobel could unquestionably stand by his endorsement of my character for over 16 years.’ “Considering I was only 24 at the time, then this meant I must’ve had something going for me, even when I was only eight years old. It was good to carry this around, and hopefully, the personnel reviewing my credentials didn’t check the math.”
In the picture above you can see Mr. Sobel’s letter is dated June 26, 1941.
(see pg. 24 in the book)
All through his career whenever he left a position he was always celebrated. Like when he departed the Veterans Administration in 1952.(pg89) Or the Letter of Recommendation from the Continental Air Command in 1959 and again when leaving The Civil Service and Small Business Administration in 1969. Also, after seven years of serving as the Administrator for the Hirshhorn Museum. One letter he received after his retirement was from one of his staff members. She wrote in glowing terms….
Dear Mr. Sefekar,
“You are as much a part of, to everyone, of the Hirshhorn as the beautiful works of art, and I know everyone will miss you. It’s you who’ve kept us smiling with your calm, kind, leadership.”
American Dreamer lends itself to so many wonderful messages, literally hundreds, so many things that can be garnered from this to shape students, young people and seniors alike who perhaps face life’s challenges can find help in American Dreamer.
Whether it’s the student studying approaches to become a complete individual or the average person yearning to look at the brighter side, American Dreamer offers this and describes what it takes with a little bit of extra effort to achieve your goals. Every chapter inspires us to say “yes, I can do that, or I can to make a difference, maybe I should go for it. Joseph Sefekar did not do this for the affirmation, the acknowledgment, he did it because he was a caring person. Whether it was his family, loved ones, friends, people that he worked with or just strangers he was there and he was available. He was always enamored with education and learning so he said, “Let’s build a library.” Yes! In his 80’s, he helped do this too. The East Lake Community Library in Florida is another testament to Joe Baby’s “Just Do It” attitude.
Why did Joe Baby save and preserve all these documents and memories?
Simply because he knew the importance of life lessons he took the time and the effort to save and preserve so many documents and memories and to make them available for all our future generations. TO LEARN FROM THE PAST.
Another example of this finding in one of Dad’s folders of the “Century Countdown” which was a series of the last hundred years. This series appeared in the St. Petersburg Times every day starting on September 23, 1999, and up to the fateful December 31, 1999, the millennium in the year 2000. Dad had meticulously cut out each year and each day, starting with 1900 and then collected them in this folder for me to find. I cleaned it up and scanned them into the computer and this was a part of the blog post for Joe’s lifelong legacy “some of the major years in our family’s life and then quarter century groupings.”
Although it wasn’t cost-effective to put this in the book, it will be available to people who have the book through sporadic updates on material that we deem to be relevant. This will be one of these extra added attractions that we will provide to our readers that will appear in the upcoming months and year.
I hope I can reach as many people as possible so you all have an opportunity to pick up a copy of this to carry around with you: Words to live by Joe Sefekar; “Joe baby life lessons.”
Again, have a great Thanksgiving and holiday season, wishing you all the best, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put a copy of the book under the Christmas tree, under your Hanukkah bush or even under your pillow. ~ Bill Sefekar
