Living in Oshkosh Wisconsin, a small city in the East Central part of the state in the 40’s and 50’s, proved an earnest location to raise a family for Grace and Ralph Bollom. But asking their grown children what they remember most about their youth, Lola Bollom Schroeder and William
Bollom both agree that their family cottage “the Old Shanty,” was the essence of their childhood. As a tribute to their father, whose special brand of spirituality affected their lives and beliefs so strongly, brother and sister independent writers, Lola and William, compiled their family stories in “A Speck in God’s Eye.”

Interview with Lola Schroeder & William Bollom

Reader Views welcome the brother/sister co-authors of the new book “A Speck in God’s Eye.” Lola (Bollom) Schroeder and William J. Bollom are being interviewed by Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views.

Juanita:  Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your unique memoir “A Speck in God’s Eye.”  First off would you give readers an idea of what your book is about?

Lola:  It’s about a brother and sister who, after sharing the same childhood for nineteen years, journey down totally different paths during their adult life.  It’s about values, and struggles; and the uniqueness of the individual—who we are and what we believe. 

William: It’s a memoir, a joint memoir.  It’s about family life—stories from our childhood growing up together in Oshkosh, and then our separate lives with our own families.  There are 44 separate stories, each with a beginning and end.  These are not joint stories.  We each have our own.

Juanita:  What inspired you to write your book?  And, how did the idea for a collaborative effort happen?

Lola:  Shanty life was the very essence of our childhood and our father was a very colorful character in our lives—the way he talked and the stories he told.  It was Bill who suggested we write them down so future generations would know him like we did and what shanty life was like.    

William:  This is something I thought about for many years before we began our project – not writing a book to publish but just writing family stories.  Lola and I were out at a nieces wedding in Cleveland about nine years ago and I asked her if she’d be interested in writing family stories with me.  She agreed.  At that time I didn’t know the benefits to be had from collaboration; it kept us on task and very much enhanced the quality of our stories.

Juanita: Would you tell us where you grew up, the community that you lived?

Lola:  We grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  In addition to our house we also owned the corner lot along side.  Our mother put it all to garden.  Although we lived in town we had lots of animals.  We kept the cow in our garage and when winter came Dad butchered it.  We had chickens too.  Our folks lived through the Great Depression and food was a top priority.  At times we had pigs, rabbits and even a goat.  We didn’t eat the goat.  Dad raised it for the Jewish people.  Even though we lived in the city, people didn’t complain.  They, too, remembered the depression and were too busy trying to put food on their own table.

William:  Oshkosh, Wisconsin is a small city in the East Central part of the state.  At that time, it had a population of about 40,000.  Also, we grew up at our shanty on Spring Brook, quite an isolated spot in the swamp.

Juanita:  Where was your Spring Brook cottage and what was its significance to your lives growing up?

Lola: It was located on an inlet off Lake Butte des Morts and no more than a 15 minute drive from home.  We were out there every weekend.  Our father built everything that was there including our boats and the decoys that were used for hunting; he even dug the artesian well.  Our father called it the old shanty with much reverence.  He was a naturalist—a person in awe of Mother Nature.

William:  It was more a hunting and fishing shanty than a cottage.  It was about 10 miles from our home and we went there every Friday evening and returned on Sunday evening.  The very first story that was written involved the shanty—it was an important part of our lives.

Juanita:  What influence did your mother and father have on the family?

Lola: Togetherness, shared experiences at the shanty and conversations around the supper table have had the biggest influence on our lives.

William:  Our dad hated liars, cheats and hypocrites (particularly religious hypocrites – those making a big issue of being in the front row of church on Sunday but who lacked any Christian goodness the rest of the week).  Our mother was a hardworking optimist.  Because of the two of them, we and our brothers are hardworking, honest and pleasant people.  We also get up in the morning a lot earlier than most people.

Juanita:  How do you separate your different memories, thoughts and recollections in “A Speck in God’s Eye”?

Lola:  Our stories are written in the first person just as we experienced them, but we also have a third person lead-in to each story; sort of an introduction followed by “Lola remembers” or “Bill remembers”.  This allows the reader to know at all times who is speaking and the lead-ins help to jell the stories together.  The book is divided into four parts.  The first nineteen years are stories about our childhood.  Then there is a section about Bill, and another section about Lola.  These sections contain stories about our adult lives.  The last section is on Spirituality and other thoughts to ponder.  These stories provide a conclusion to what has been and who we are today. 

William:  After we both had written a lot of stories, we thought some time on how to organize them and jell them together.  Lola came up with the idea of third person lead-ins.

Juanita:  Why do you think it is important for future generations to hear these stories?

Lola:  So they can relate to the past with something more than names and dates; to give them a window into the personal lives of those who lived during the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.

William:  I believe that family history and memories are crucial to future generations to have a foundation on which to grow and develop a meaningful philosophy of life.  If one is aware of their roots and the problems of their ancestors and how they dealt with these problems, this will give some guidance to their own lives.  If I had had a memoir of my great grandparents, I think I would have referred to it many times as I was growing up and confused about my place in the world and dealing with family problems and religious beliefs.

Juanita: Is “A Speck in God’s Eye” a religious book?  Would you comment on the spiritual aspect of your book, and your inspirational influences that come through in your writing?

Lola:  Our book is not a religious book, but it is thought provoking.  It is a tribute to our father whose special way of looking at life affected our religious philosophies—each in a different way.  Our religious perspectives, Bill’s and mine, are as diverse as our lifestyles. 

William:  I agree with Lola, the book is not religious, in spite of the title.  At first we thought it would be titled “The Shanty”, but later thought it wasn’t the dominant (although very important) theme of the book.  Lola came up with “A Speck In God’s Eye” because spirituality creeps into many of our stories.  It creeps in, I think, for two reasons: one, our dad was in awe of Mother Nature—he loved this earth, and two, we found out while writing the book, as Lola has commented, that we are very different—even in our religious perspectives.

Juanita:  You both grew up to have very different lives and lifestyles. Would you comment on this diversity? How have your perceptions of life changed because of it, and how they have stayed the same? 

Lola:  Bill was told at the age of 22 that he would be blind by the age of 50.  I’m sure that had a bearing on his decision to accept teaching assignments in Europe, Asia and Africa, and to see the world.  I married a farmer and moved to the small rural community where he grew up.  I became a member of the little country church that overlooked our farm; and eventually became a rural school bus driver.  I still believe as I did when I was young, that a person should follow their heart.

William:  I think the main reason I ventured out to discover the world was because I was told I’d be blind by age 50.  I figured I had to see things early on.  I couldn’t wait for ‘later’ to travel.  But in spite of our having different life styles and different religious beliefs, Lola and I are still very much alike.  We both believe in the importance of family, of persevering any problems we face, of being able to find joy even when things are going poorly in our lives and, finally, the importance of being a decent person, such that when we look back on our lives we can do it with pride and satisfaction with our actions.

Juanita:  What are some of the primary issues, values, or thoughts you wanted to convey to readers through your memoir?

Lola:  The uniqueness of each individual and mystery associated with who we are and what we believe; and that it’s okay to be different.

William: The importance of family, of winning over adversity and the joy of discovering the beauty of our world—this little speck in the infinite universe.

Juanita:  What are your thoughts on how children grow up today, in comparison to the more natural living of the 40’s and 50’s?  How have values changed over the years?

Lola:  In the hustle and bustle of today’s world, children are shortchanged because of a lack of family togetherness.  The family no longer gathers around the supper table to share their thoughts, television takes the place of conversation and the 40 hour work week is no longer 8 to 5 Monday through Friday.  Work hours now include 12 hour days, Saturdays and Sundays and even holidays.  These work hours eat into the time families can spend together and share experiences.  A child’s day is filled with scheduled activities allowing no time to use their imagination or ponder over the wonderment of life itself.

William: There was much more family togetherness.  Kids found things to amuse themselves, generally out of doors (instead of computer games); and we listened together to the radio on Friday nights.  People seem more egotistical now than when we were growing up—maybe it’s because of family breakups, or, in many cases, families never forming.

Juanita:  What is the underlying message of your book?

Lola:  That laughter, good friends, family and the beauty of the world around us are essential to success and a feeling of self-worth. 

William: That’s a tough question, but I’ll take a stab at it.  Children from a happy family are best equipped to deal with adversity; and they will find happiness—in many different ways and, at the same time, be good contributors to society.

Juanita:  Lola and William, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today.  We have enjoyed hearing your thoughts and encourage readers to look for “A Speck in God’s Eye” at local and online bookstores.  If readers would like to find out more about you and your endeavors, how can they reach you?

Lola:  Visit our website:  www.oldtimesolddays.com