June 3, 2005

Library of Congress contacts: Anneliesa Clump Behrend aclump@loc.gov; Helen Dalrymple hdal@loc.gov

Public Contact: (202) 707-4916

Veterans History Project to Host Book Talk

Author Karen Spears Zacharias Discusses Her Personal Story from the Vietnam War

[view a recording of this Book Talk]

Journalist Karen Spears Zacharias will discuss her book, “Hero Mama: A Daughter Remembers the Father She Lost in Vietnam and the Mother Who Held Her Family Together,” at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 17, in the West Dining Room of the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The multimedia presentation coincides with the national reunion of “Sons and Daughters in Touch,” an organization for adult children of service members killed in Vietnam, and is sponsored by the Library’s Publishing Office and Veterans History Project.

Reservations may be made by phone; call (202) 707-6179. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before the start of the program, after which standbys will be admitted to unclaimed seats. All programs are free, but seating is limited.

Zacharias knows firsthand the shock and life-altering sorrow of losing a parent to war. In her book “Hero Mama,” she tells the absorbing and sometimes searing story of what happened to her family following her father’s death in Vietnam. Zacharias has traveled thousands of miles and lectured extensively as an advocate for families losing loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Zacharias’ writing has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek and on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” She lectures at universities and at literary, civic and veterans events around the nation. Her columns and news stories have won dozens of awards, including the C.B. Blethen Award for Distinguished Feature Writing. She was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year in 1997 for “Benched: The Memories of Judge Rufe McCombs.”

Zacharias serves on the national advisory board of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and The Virtual Wall.

The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is a nationwide volunteer effort to collect and preserve oral histories from America's war veterans. The collection is housed at the Library of Congress. To date the archives has received nearly 35,000 individual submissions. Those who are interested in participating are encouraged to e-mail the Veterans History Project at vohp@loc.gov or to call toll-free (888) 371-5848 to request a free project kit. For more information about the Veterans History Project, visit http://www.loc.gov/vets.

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PR 05-Z130
06/03/05
ISSN 0731-3527