On June 14, 2007, a number of local authors donated books for the troops serving overseas. Our thoughts and prayers are with the young men and women serving our country.

Local authors donate their works to the troops
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Photo by Mali Lim
Authors Michael DeCicco and Patricia Perry prepare boxes of care packages for U.S. troops in the Middle East.

By Mali Lim
Lakeville Call
Fri Jun 29, 2007, 10:10 AM EDT
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LAKEVILLE -
Eleven local authors gathered at the town library on June 14 – on Flag Day, quite fittingly – to put together several very special care packages for U.S. troops abroad. Aaron Bornstein, Jan Bornstein, Beth David, Michael J. DeCicco, Robert Keith, Dick Lewis, R.H. Lewis, Patricia Perry, Alberta Sequeira, Susan Mello Souza, and Joyce Walsh, representing the new organization Local Authors United for the Troops, met at the Lakeville Library to sign their works and to pack them up for delivery to service members stationed in the Middle East.
In all, 20 local authors and musicians donated copies of their books and music CDs for inclusion in the care packages, which will be shipped for free by FedEx to distribution centers in Salt Lake City, where they will be forwarded to troops serving in the Middle East.
The idea for Local Authors United for the Troops came about when author and former Lakeville resident Jan Bornstein and her stepson Aaron decided to look for ways to send books to troops. “My brother’s in the military, a 25-year veteran in the Air Force, so it was natural that we wanted to do something for the troops.” Aaron said.
When the Bornsteins attended a book signing at the Lakeville Library with Sequeira, Walsh, DeCicco and Perry last March, their idea was met with enthusiasm from the other local authors and thus the group was born. News of the group spread through the local literary grapevine and through the media, and soon dozens of other writers were stepping forward to generously donate copies of their novels. From romance, science fiction and fantasy, to local histories, murder mysteries and spiritual memoirs, the troops will have several genres to choose from. “You have no idea what this will do for them,” said Robert Keith, a Dartmouth pilot, aviation artist and a contributing author has a co-worker who has just returned from the Middle East.
“We wanted to send something more than the regular care packages,” Bornstein added. “We wanted to send something that would bring a little diversion, something to stimulate the minds of the troops and remind them that people back home were thinking of them.”
The authors wished to publicly thank the American Seafood Processing Company of New Bedford for donating the boxes for shipping, and the Lakeville Dunkin Donuts and the Rochester Bakery in Rochester for donating coffee pastry and donuts for the book signing and packing meeting on June 14. They also extended their gratitude to library director Olivia Melo, who provided the space for the authors to drop off books for donation. A copy of each author’s book will be kept at the Lakeville library for patrons to check out and read. The following authors contributed their works to the care package drive: Johnny Barnes (Dead Men Talk, Sleep While I’m Dead); John R. Bockstoce (Arctic); Jan Bornstein (Beyond Beautiful); Beth David (Zorena); Skip deBrusk (Codfish, Dogfish, Mermaids and Frank); Michael DeCicco (Kaurlin’s Disciples); Louis Garafalo (Road to Phrygia); Nancy Grossman (The Placenames of Portsmith); Robert Keith (Blue-Collar Wings); Mark McNulty (The Sea Shack); Robert McNulty (Hoi Polloi); Steven Manchester (Jacob Evans); Dick Lewis (Dick Lewis Music, Shenanigans); R.H. Lewis (Lottie Little); Patricia Perry (Quest for the Source of Darkness); Alberta Sequeira (A Healing Heart); Susan Mello Sousa (The Same Smile); Joyce Keller Walsh (Juckets, Swamp Yankees); and Richard J. Ward (Grampas are for All Seasons).