News For Immediate Press Release
October 2024
In time for Veteran's day, Flying Ketchup Press ®, Kansas City, MO, launches a new story collection of over sixty love letters sent by a Midwest guy to his Kansas City Girl during WWII.
“Last night, we had the most beautiful moon filtering through these trees. I would have given anything to have had you here with me, but this “messy ole” war doesn’t allow companions. So, all I did was sit and look and wish.”
~ D.W. Newcomer III
Contact:
Polly McCann,
Managing Editor pollyamccann@gmail.com
Title: Mail Call: A Combat Soldier’s Lifeline
Date of Publication: October 2024
hardback: ISBN: 978-1-970151-85-5 ($35.99) Available through Ingram!
paperback: ISBN: 978-1-970151-84-8 ($24.99) at online retailers!
epub: 978-1-970151-66-4
Kindle ($9.99)
Library of Congress Number: 2024918413
Brief:
In Mail Call, David W. Newcomer IV takes readers on a journey of discovery through over 60 letters written by his father, Lt. (j.g.) David W. Newcomer to his wife, Pamela Harrison Kinney, during WWII. After years of transcribing and research, Newcomer IV navigates us through his father's experiences in the Pacific Theater while he served with a Top Secret Navy Unit, Argus 11.
Blurbs:
“This book is mythic; readers become part of the journey of a son’s revelations, the love and dedication of a husband and father serving his country . . . .There is a pleasure in reading how Newcomer became like a sleuth to discover the stories behind the stories from the letters, adding declassified documents and research…that his father didn’t share while he was alive . . . wisdom that comes when facing life or death. Not only is this book a testimony to those who make sacrifices to serve our country, but also shows the power of memoir. As readers, we are left in awe.”
Dennis Etzel Jr.
Everything is Ephemera
“Interspersed with humorous events, these letters are treasures to be read, reread, and savored. They are a beautiful, stirring tribute to a complex man serving his country . . . . a must-read for anyone who appreciates the power of letters to . . . capture a deeper understanding of those who lived through one of history’s most trying times.”
Charles L. Templeton
Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam.
Description of the book:
In Mail Call, David W. Newcomer IV takes readers on a journey of discovery through over 60 letters written by his father, Lt. (j.g.) David W. Newcomer to his wife, Pamela Harrison Kinney, during WWII. After years of transcribing and research, Newcomer IV navigates us through his father's experiences in the Pacific Theater while he served with a Top Secret Navy Unit, Argus 11. Along with Kansas City’s juicy gossip, readers will experience the perils of one landlubber’s journey as he adjusts to shipboard life, receives his King Neptune polliwog initiation for crossing the Equator, and navigates intense jungle battles. Entertaining accounts of programs, films, radio, and a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt are outshined by a father's desire to return home. His words expound on dreams for the future for his newborn son and his beloved wife connected through their lifeline of almost daily letters. Each day of war brought a heavy weight, but anticipating news from home lifted a combat soldier's spirits with two life-saving words: "Mail Call!"
Mail was no easy thing in 1943. Letter writing and delivery were extremely difficult in wartime across vast distances. Paper letters were heavy and easily damaged. A procedure called "V" mail turned handwritten letters into microfilm negatives. They were developed onto specialized paper and delivered. During this process, censored information was literally cut out with actual scissors. David IV fills in the historical blanks behind his father's 1943 letters. Through his research of declassified documents, he shares what truly went on behind the scenes and includes over one hundred images of handwritten letters, maps, documents, and photographs of both the war and the Newcomer family: a fourth-generation business from the founding era of Kansas City.
Newcomer IV shares how the little-remembered Argus groups turned the tide for the US in its war against Japan, alongside the story of his all-American family legacy and how his father's life influenced his own journey. He wants to inspire future generations to remember how our words shape relationships and who we become as people, as families, and as a nation.
Features:
Over 100 historical photos and maps
Family and KC history
Kansas City Gossip Column News from 1943
Historic Insight into Argus II and Military Life during WWII in the Pacific Theater
Bio:
David W. Newcomer IV, like his father, David III, also served as an officer in the United States Navy and served as president of Funeral Security Plans, a division of D. W. Newcomer’s Sons, for over thirty years. He served on the board of Capital City Bank and its Trust and Trust Investment Committees for fifteen years. “Mail Call” is Newcomer's first book. He has previously published articles in trade publications, including his story in the respected Veteran’s Voices magazine, honored with the WFW Auxiliary, Department of Kansas prize about his time as an NROTC midshipman.
David and his wife enjoy traveling, having visited six continents, just missing landing on the seventh when they viewed Antarctica from forty miles away while on the Queen Mary. In addition, you can find them camping throughout the US and Canada in their RV or sailing on Clinton Lake just west of Lawrence, Kansas. When not globetrotting, they enjoy being at home with their beautiful and affectionate Aussiedoodle in Prairie Village, Kansas–only a mile from David’s childhood home.
Publisher:
Flying Ketchup Press ® is a trademarked small press in Kansas City, Missouri, established in 2018 to champion new voices in poetry and short story; making room for personal narrative that empowers, heals, and unites diverse audiences. Our dream, to share worlds of wonder and delight; to share stories.
Other True Life Story Collections by Flying Ketchup Press
A Sheltering Place: Musings of an Iowa Farm Boy by Kevin Callahan 2022
Pray Like a Woman by Polly Alice McCann 2022
Poems in Glass: Hasna Sal 2021
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