Forest (and Field) Gumption
NIH'er Perseveres to Write Book on Family
On the Front Page...
The true stories of life shared between a mother who was born in 1899 and her daughter, Yvonne "Bonnie" Georg, an NIH employee, have been published in a 400-page hardback book to be shared by generations of family members and friends of the Middletown Valley in Frederick County. Georg works in the Office of Research Services as secretary to Executive Officer Joan Topalian. Often prompted by ORS Deputy Executive Officer Anne Marie Gillen to record her family stories, Georg in 1993 could no longer resist the prodding and began to write.
Continued...
Yvonne "Bonnie" Georg
Daughter of Letha Alice Grossnickel Wiles of Middletown and the late Russell Peter Wiles, she has written a book entitled So Many Mornings. She is the tenth of 11 children, nine of whom still live, ranging in age from 51 to 79. The stories are presented in the first person, as if Letha were paying you a visit and telling you about her long life and memories that happened from as far back as the 1700's when three Grossnickle brothers — ancestors of the family — came to America from Germany. Georg has recorded never-before published Civil War stories told to her by Letha's mother, Clara Rebecca Leatherman Grossnickel, who lived during the war with her family on a farm in the little village of Harmony, Md., and died at age 92. The book relates encounters with soldiers, battle accounts and hardships created by the war for the people living in this rural community. The reflections give readers an inside glimpse of life in Middletown Valley during the war between the states.
Letha vividly remembers the effects of World Wars I and II and natural disasters on her family and the community. She has lived under 17 Presidents. She recalls primitive farm life, home preservation of food, sickness and home remedies, and poverty. She also shares the satisfaction of reaping the rewards of hard work from sunup to sundown. Letha Wiles expects to celebrate her 97th birthday in September and enjoys good health while still living on the 132-acre Middletown farm she and her husband purchased during the Great Depression in 1932.
Georg says she learned a valuable lesson during the early stages of writing the book. With so much work and research facing her, she reminded herself many times that "success does not come by waiting and watching, but by putting your energy into the project with such perseverance that nothing can discourage you."
The first printing of So Many Mornings occurred at the end of January and sold out in 8 weeks. The book is available at Olsson's Books in Bethesda, and in other local stores where Georg is often asked to give previews and sign books on weekends.
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