A Message From John
Thank you for spending time visiting my website. Currently I am writing new literary fiction titled “Bonfire Nights” set in Britain 1965-1975. Estimated publishing date is year-end 2018. It’s a love story of two Hull University students who graduate in 1966. It’s a business story, focused on Ford Motor Company and the Labor and Conservative British governments’ economic policies during 1965 to 1975. It’s a bird watching story that nurtures the protagonist through difficult coming-of-age experiences. Most events occur when Britain sat outside the European Economic Community and Labor Government values applied. I am currently working on additional character development and detail of how individual citizens dealt with the economic and disruptive circumstances at the time.
I have taken some months away from my primary mission, to write a novella “Abandoned in Berlin”, involving a Jewish family (mother and two teenage daughters), who inherits a Berlin block of apartments at the beginning of 1930, and what happens to the family and its business under Hitler and National Socialism during the 1930’s. This is followed by the surviving family’s efforts to recover the building during the early 1950’s under the West German legal system. Guardianship Courts for under-age children during the 1930’s and Restitution Chambers (Courts) during the 1950’s feature prominently. It’s an extraordinary account, especially since it is a true story, and one worth reading. It should be published by the end of summer 2018.
Meanwhile the manuscript is posted as a blog on this website and can be accessed by going to the “Abandoned in Berlin” page. It opens in June 2016 when Hilda, the only child of the youngest daughter, discovers her mother’s home in Berlin at the start of a Rick Steves tour, and vows to find out what happened to her family. Nearly two years of research follows. The publication is a tribute to the many organizations and people who assisted with the research, and especially the Charlottenburg (Berlin) Land Registry, the Association of German Banks, the Berlin branch for Central Services (BADV), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the State Archives of Berlin, the Berlin Compensation Office, and the Harvard University Law Library. Many others encouraged and supported Hilda’s work.We should never forget despite the efforts of those who would wish us do otherwise.
My first novel “An Unplanned Encounter” was published in 2014 and is available through bookstores, Amazon, etc, under the author pen name of Jonathan Husband whereas the above two use my real name of John R. Cammidge. Authorship has become a new career for me after retiring as a Human Resources executive. I try to combine my interest in history, the many years of experience helping people, and my hobby of creative composition, to educate and engage my audience. You are welcome to leave comments and questions and I will try and respond to the best of my abilities.
