Throughout the course of the war and after, Americans held fund-raising events for Jewish refugees. One such event was the Night of Stars, which Dalya attends in the book. It was an enormous fund-raiser held annually at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Each year, approximately twenty-thousand people crowded into the arena for the four-hour event, which featured music, speeches, and theatrical performances. Through the years, a number of famous musicians, comedians, and actors performed at the gala, including Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, Danny Kaye, and the Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall. Dalya attended the Night of Stars in 1940, and for the purposes of the story, I took some creative liberties with this scene. Dalya meets famous people who may have attended the event in other years, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who attended in 1941.
Though the number of child refugees brought to America during the war years was small in comparison to the number who perished in the horror that was the Holocaust, the children who came were able, despite facing numerous challenges, to begin again with hope. For more information about these refugees, visit the website of the organization One Thousand Children at onethousandchildren.org.
The following book also provides inspiring first-person accounts:
Jason, Philip K., and Iris Posner, eds. Don’t Wave Goodbye: The Children’s Flight from Nazi Persecution to American Freedom. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.
Down Syndrome
In the story, Chopine “Pinny” Miller has Down syndrome. This condition occurs when a person is born with a full or partial extra copy of the genetic chromosome 21. The physical characteristics of Down syndrome can vary greatly from individual to individual, and the cognitive delays can range from mild to severe. Some people with Down syndrome are nonverbal; some have health complications; some may have autism in addition. Their personalities, talents, and capabilities are as wide-reaching as any individual’s. Many people, like Pinny, are capable of taking part in almost all school, social, and recreational activities. They can attend college, have jobs and relationships, and become successful members of society.
While tutoring a wonderful young boy with Down syndrome years ago, I got a privileged glimpse into his life and his challenges. It was amazing to hear recently from his parents about his successes as an adult—his hobbies, his friendships, and his travels and adventures. Pinny is an entirely fictional character. She is not meant to symbolize or represent Down syndrome in any way. She is a shoe lover and a believer in the joy of life and the inherent goodness of human beings, which is something she shares with me and, I hope, with my readers.
For more information, visit the National Down Syndrome Society’s website at ndss.org.
Also, the following book is a candid memoir about one father’s relationship with his son:
Palmer, Greg. Adventures in the Mainstream: Coming of Age with Down Syndrome. 2nd ed. Seattle: Bennett and Hastings, 2012.
Shoes
In my research, I came across some delightful facts about shoes, their history, and the art of shoemaking. The very first pair of shoes was probably crafted nearly forty thousand years ago. Early versions of shoes might have been woven-fiber sandals, followed by cowhide moccasins dating back to BC eras. They helped to protect feet from harsh terrain and keep them warm in cold climates. As time passed, shoes, with their designs and ornamentation, became status symbols to help designate a person’s wealth or social standing. Gradually, the purpose of shoes changed. Some shoes were built for comfort, but others were built as art—to make a statement, convey a mood, and enhance a wearer or her outfit.
While most shoes today are machine-made in factories, some people still make custom shoes by hand. Many tools are involved in the process, including lasts, shaves, edge planes, and fudge wheels. Throughout history, different craftsmen contributed to the shoemaking process. A fellmonger got skins and hides ready for the tanning process. A currier softened and thinned tanned leather, making it more flexible and comfortable. A cordwainer, or cobbler, was the shoemaker himself; he crafted the sole and upper of the shoe and melded them together.
Shoes are a fascinating part of human history. In some areas of the ancient world, a father would give his daughter’s shoes to her betrothed in the marriage ceremony to show that the groom was taking responsibility for the bride. In some regions of China, a bride’s red shoe is thrown onto the roof of her house on her wedding night to symbolize the newlyweds’ love for one another. Chopines, for which Pinny was named, were platform shoes rising as high as thirty inches off the ground. They were designed to keep noblewomen and courtesans from dirtying their feet in the mud and muck of Renaissance streets. In the early 1900s, Mary Janes like Pinny’s became a staple children’s shoe; though now primarily worn by girls, they were initially for boys. Minnie Pearl’s Mary Janes can be found, for the next few years at least, on exhibit at the Grand Ole Opry, just as they appear in Ray and Pinny’s visit there. In fact, the curator at the Opry told me that Minnie Pearl’s shoes were the very first thing she rescued from the Nashville flood of May 2010. The original pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz is on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Heel heights have been raised and lowered throughout history as materials have been rationed or fashion fads have come and gone. Techniques for finding comfortable, well-fitting shoes have also continued to change. From 1920 until the early 1960s, shoe fluoroscopes, like the one Dalya saw in Filer-Machol, were popular in stores nationwide. The boxy wooden cabinets used X-rays to determine whether a shoe fit properly. Eventually, after concerns about exposure to radiation were aired and the effectiveness of the machines was questioned, their use was discontinued.
A colorful parade of shoes has marched through human history and will walk on, but one thing remains certain: There is nothing like the perfect pair of shoes to make you feel comfortable, confident, and magically, mystically extraordinary.
For an informative website that includes a glossary of shoemaking terms and descriptions of the shoemaking process, see Heart & Sole: Boot and Shoe Making in Staffordshire at staffscc.net/shoes1/.
The following book also provides beautiful photographs and a fascinating look at shoes and their history:
Walford, Jonathan. The Seductive Shoe: Four Centuries of Fashion Footwear. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If connections are the More of life, then it is my connections to many remarkable people that allowed this story to grow into what it has become. At times, when this story was in its beginnings, I was overwhelmed by the immensity of what I’d taken on. On the morning I began writing the prologue, I asked the higher powers that be for inspiration and guidance. In return, I was blessed with friends, family, and colleagues who encouraged, inspired, and challenged me to persevere. With a heart full of gratitude, I would like to thank everyone who helped me to write Serendipity’s Footsteps.
Eternal thanks go to my sister, Christy Howe, for asking me to write about “the shoes in the street,” and then reminding me (rather relentlessly) to finish it. She has never once laughed at any of my ideas, no matter how ridiculous they sound. And to my parents, who kept me supplied with dozens of journals and diaries throughout my childhood to foster my writing.
My agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, offered constant encouragement through every draft and gave me the nerve to press on. None of this could have happened without her. I am indebted to her and everyone else at Erin Murphy Literary Agency for the gift of community and fellowship.
My editor, Michelle Frey, deftly stretched my skills where they needed honing, reinforced when I was hesitant, and taught me to face head-on all the fears that come with revision. It is extraordinary to have an editor who is a mentor and dear friend, and she is both.
My friend Abigail Young moved me by sharing her family’s heart-wrenching but remarkable history with me. I have the greatest admiration for how she continues to honor her Jewish faith and
culture in her life and the lives of her children.
The Drake family—Suzanne, Scott, Shelby, and Troy—showed infinite patience with me when I was a young and blundering tutor. Tutoring Troy was one of the highlights of my senior year of high school, and Suzanne’s candid conversation with me about Down syndrome was incredibly helpful and informative.
There is also a host of scholars I am indebted to for their expertise and astute observations: Dr. Astrid Ley, deputy director of the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen, for thoughtfully and patiently answering my questions about Sachsenhausen in email after email; Dr. Verena Buser, research assistant at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, for her wealth of knowledge on the child inmates of Sachsenhausen and its satellite camps; and Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit, Charles E. Smith professor of Judaic studies and professor of history at George Washington University, for her careful reading of the story and her insights into Jewish culture and life in 1930s and ’40s New York City.
Thanks go to Brenda Colladay, museum and photograph curator at the Grand Ole Opry, for rescuing Minnie Pearl’s Mary Janes from the floodwaters and then sharing their delightful tale with me. Also, thanks to Dr. David G. Roskies and the University of Nebraska Press for granting me permission to use an excerpt from Abraham Sutzkever’s poem “A Load of Shoes.” Thanks also go to Janet R. Falkenthal for allowing me to use her charming consignment boutique, Fashion Exchange, as the location for my author photo.
My family is my greatest joy, and their faith in me brings me back to my computer even when I’m faced with that terrifyingly fresh, blank page and blinking cursor. Thanks to my wonderful children—Colin, Aidan, and Madeline—who show no end of patience waiting for me to emerge, drained and glassy-eyed, from my office after hours of writing. And to my husband, Chad, who gave me a “Blue Castle” all my own. Thoughtful, bighearted, and noble, he is my champion and my stronghold.
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