I would like to share a new book with you My American Dream: A Journey from Fascism to Freedom by Barbara Sommer Feigin (Author) I received a copy of for this review.
Charlie and I will be reading My American Dream: A Journey from Fascism to Freedom in his History Class because we were able to learn about the 1940’s and a child arriving in America after arriving her with her dad who was Jewish from Nazi Germany allowing Charlie and I to learn things we didn’t know.
We will also be able to study the following Countries Berlin to Seattle by way of Lithuania, Russia, China, Korea, and Japan before crossing the Pacific when we began our studies on the States. We learn about her career in advertising which was a male dominated career at the time. A mom to boys and a caregiver to her husband and still she never gave up and brought us a amazing book.
About: the book:
On August 4, 1940, the Seattle Times featured a photo of a toddler sitting on a dock, surrounded by suitcases and looking dazed. After a harrowing journey with her parents, she’d just stepped off a boat and into her new life in America. Barbara Sommer Feigin was that little girl.
Over seventy years later, Feigin made a stunning discovery: her Jewish father had kept a detailed journal that chronicled their family’s escape from Nazi Germany. Her parents had never spoken of it, and she remembered nothing of their terrifying, death-defying passage three-quarters of the way around the world—from Berlin to Seattle by way of Lithuania, Russia, China, Korea, and Japan before crossing the Pacific.
Featuring three intertwining narratives, My American Dream is a memoir of resilience, grit, and grace. Feigin tells of her life as a young German-speaking refugee living in a small Washington town and yearning to become an “authentic” American. She details how she became a trailblazing executive in the advertising business in New York City—a completely male-dominated business in the 1960s—rising from the ranks and ultimately securing a seat in the executive boardroom. A devoted wife and mom of three sons (including one set of twins), she spent twenty-five years as a caregiver for her husband, who suffered two serious strokes, and remained fiercely committed to building strong family bonds during turbulent times.
Despite overwhelming odds, her parents’ grueling journey to America has fueled Feigin’s lifelong resolve to dream big, work hard, and never quit. My American Dream is an inspiring tale of love, dedication, and how uncovering the past and preserving history can inform your identity.
About the author: Barbara Sommer Feigin
As a young German-speaking refugee who fled with her parents from Nazi Germany in 1940 at the onset of World War II, Barbara Sommer Feigin spent her childhood and teenage years in tiny Chehalis, Washington, yearning to become an “authentic” American girl.
With the help of scholarships and work grants, Feigin attended Whitman College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, before completing a graduate program in business run jointly by Harvard Business School and Radcliffe Graduate School.
Feigin found success in a completely male-dominated business—advertising—when career-building opportunities for women were virtually nonexistent. In her illustrious thirty-year career at Grey Advertising (now the Grey Global Group), she solidified her reputation as a visionary thinker. In all her years as a senior advertising executive and a corporate director, she was more often than not the only woman in the room. In 2017, Feigin was named one of the century’s Legendary Pioneers by Grey.
Feigin and her husband, Jim, built a strong, loving family of three sons, including identical twins. Their lives were shattered when Jim had two very serious strokes when he was quite young. For the next twenty-five years, she was Jim’s caregiver-in-chief. The family’s strong bonds and great love for Jim helped them navigate this traumatic time.
Feigin currently lives in New York City.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
