"Tales from the Old Oak Table" is a memoir told through a series of heart-felt, close-up and personal essays written by the last surviving member of a not so ordinary nuclear family. It chronicles a journey from Austria in the 1880s and 90s and turn-of-the-century Russia - to New York City in the 1920s, to upstate New York farm life during the depression, to the once nurturing working class community of the Bronx before it underwent dramatic changes in the 1960's - to a glimpse of life after the Bronx. The author has listened to, witnessed and been party to countless experiences and stories that date back more than one-hundred-thirty years which she believes makes her honorary "custodian of family history and recollections." Knowing the uncertainties of this life and how memories tend to diminish over time, "Tales of the Old Oak Table" attempts to answer at least some questions about a now nearly extinct generation that played an important role in the American mosaic. The writer hopes it will bring back reminiscences for first-generation Americans and serve as a foundation for growing family legacies that will be passed along in a new genre of memoirs that celebrate ordinary people who led extraordinary lives. While neither famous nor infamous, our ancestors conveyed to our society their own unique knowledge, wisdom, values and life lessons. "Tales . . ." offers a first-hand look at the individual and cultural strengths, tenacity and humor of one immigrant family and their first -generation American offspring. Memoirs like this represent a one-of-a-kind opportunity for successive generations to get to know their predecessors and help make them part of the annals of history and literature. "Tales from the Old Oak Table" is about remembering, passing and preserving family legacies while establishing an often sought after link to the past.
About the Author: Susan Beck Korman is a retired Advertising and Marketing Communications Manager. In her retirement she has taught Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion as an Adjunct professor. She has also worked in the non-profit sector writing literature and grant proposals and volunteered as a literacy tutor. She is currently a member of two writing workshops, the Long Island Writers Guild and Taproot Writing Workshops. Her Essays have been published in Taproot Writing Journals and Newsday. For the last several years she has been writing about her family, most recently incorporating many of her essays into "Tales from the Old Oak Table" A Family Memoir." A labor of love, this book was initiated to acquaint current generations of her family and other interested readers with her parents, siblings and extended family. As the last remaining member of her nuclear family she considers herself "custodian of the family history and memories," a legacy she hopes to preserve. She lives on Long Island with her husband, Arnold.