Everitt’s mother, Sylvia, was grieving after the death of her second husband in 2000, when an acquaintance sent her a clipping about the WWII death of her first husband, Sam Kramer. Everitt (A Shadow of Red
) had never known much about his mother’s first love, but suddenly found himself curious. Fortunately, Sylvia, who was willing to reminisce, had a well-preserved cache of Sam’s letters, enabling Everitt to piece together the bittersweet story of this wartime romance. After the war broke out, Sylvia, a Brooklyn College graduate, took a job in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she met Sam. Tight budgets meant a lot of dates with long walks and conversations; they came to know each other very well. When Sam was called up for military training in October 1943, they decided to marry. A year later, Sam shipped out to the European theater, and was killed in an ambush just days before the German surrender. Sylvia was shattered, but went to work with the Red Cross rehabilitating blinded veterans, where she met the man who became her second husband. In the end, Everitt has told a brief though sweet story. (Sept.)
