Area Writers Gather for Book Event

“Made to Order: The Sheetz Story,”  at 11:30 a.m.;  Dianne Salerni,  “TheCaged Graves,” at 1 p.m.; Richard Stevick, “Growing Up Amish: The Rumspringa Years,” at 2p.m.; and Ilse-Rose Warg, “To Cope and To Prevail: Growing up in Germany in 1930-50s,” at 3 p.m.

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Other authors attending are Jon Baughman, editor and publisher of the Broad Top Bulletin newspaper, who wrote, “The Bedford Springs Resort: Its History and Rebirth;” and Brian Lockman, CEO and president of the Pennsylvania Cable Network and author of, “World War II Reflections: An Oral History of Pennsylvania’s Veterans.”

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PCN will film the event.

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The book signing day, in its third year, has “been pretty successful, and we’ve been happy with the results that we’ve been having. There’s a fair amount of people who come out, and everybody has a good time,” said Don Feathers, society president. 

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Hoch, a Vietnam veteran, also wrote “God Help Me! Cause No One Else Will.”

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The book tells the story of his “battle” with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, he wrote in an email.

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“This book was written to help a mother and father better understand what their son or daughter is going through,” he wrote. “It is to help a veteran to better understand why he does the things he does. It tells them all where and how to seek help.”

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Hoch, who donates all profits from his books to veterans groups, schools and libraries, will speak about PTSD and more.

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“I will talk about my experience in the military, including Vietnam. The U.S. never lost a major battle in Vietnam; how is it possible we lost the war? I will talk about veteran suicides and how they can be prevented,” he wrote.

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The society will also be selling for the first time its “Veterans Photo Album, Vol. 2 WWII (Service Between 1936 and 1949)” at the book signing.

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“We’re hoping that people come out and buy some books and (are) able to meet authors, and buy some gifts for the upcoming holidays We’re having five speakers that day, and it’d be good for home school (students), adults, children, the whole family, to learn a little bit more about history, and some of the things that happened in Pennsylvania,” Feathers said.

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