MSI Press Blog

  Khatyn Khatyn was a small rural village in what is now Belarus. On March 22, 1943, Nazi forces and local collaborators carried out a retaliatory massacre there. They burned the entire village, locked the residents — mostly women, children, and the elderly — in a barn, and set it on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot. Only a handful survived—not unlike Belarus at large, where, overall, about 25% of the entire Belrusian population perished during WWII. After the war, the Soviet government chose Khatyn as a national memorial site, not because it was the only village destroyed, but because it could stand for the hundreds of Belarusian villages that were wiped out in similar ways. The memorial was built in 1969. The design is stark and symbolic. Concrete outlines mark where each home once stood. A bell stands at each outline, ringing softly whenever the wind moves it, reminiscent of Pyotr’s peace bell, only less hopeful—and haunting. A sculpture of the lone adult surviv...

  Today's Publisher's Pride is  From Tuscany with Love   by Lauretta Avina, which reached  #150 in emigrants & immigrants biographies, #231 in emigration & immigration studies, and #325 in culinary biographies & memoirs. Book Description: From Tuscany with Love  is an emotional memoir capturing the heartfelt journey of a scared, little girl from the rolling hills of Lucca to the bustling life in America. Through evocative stories and cherished family recipes, the author pays tribute to the rich culture, love, and flavors that shaped her life. This memoir beautifully blends personal reflections on family, resilience, and the timeless traditions of Tuscan cuisine, offering readers a deeply personal and flavorful look at an immigrant's path to finding a home and a sense of belonging in a new world. A Reviewer's Comment: "a cookbook that brought a tear to my eye" I never had a cookbook that brought a tear to my eye, but this one did. [Lauretta's] s...

  All of his children were afraid of my father-in-law. He was stern, gruff, and spoke little. It was not the same with me. Not only was his son (the one I married) very much like him, but my father-in-law and I had the US Army in common. I had joined the Army joined the Army in 1973, at the end of the Vietnam War; my husband failed his physical and remained a dependent throughout my Army career. In 1975, I received a direct commission as an Army officer. This gave my father-in-law and me a common frame of reference for our military service. My father-in-law liked to talk to me about his WWII experiences as a Captain stationed in Alaska because even though I was a Vietnam Era veteran, I understood what those experiences meant to him and mean in general.  At one point, he and my mother-in-law came to California for his birthday, just a couple of years before they both died. They wanted to visit Fort Ord, where he did his basic training, and they wanted to see the house they fir...

  The following story is shared by Fred Craigie, author of the award-winning book,  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living . When my wife and I came into each other’s lives over 50 years ago, she had four living and age-appropriately healthy grandparents. They lived locally when she was growing up and she was blessed to have known them well.   For several years until they began passing away, I was blessed to spend time with them and come to know them, as well. Among them was her paternal grandfather, Charles. Charles had spent much of his adult life around motor vehicles, running a small bus line that failed after the stock market crash, selling trucks in upstate New York during the Depression (often, we understand, to bootleggers, the only people who had money to buy trucks) and selling cars after that. Befitting his professional life, he had an engaging interest in people and a ready smile, coming naturally with total sincerity a...