MECHANICSBURG, Pa., July 30, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- John Smither, an American in London, looked into the British skies and witnessed through his child's eyes, the five-year-long blitzkrieg that nearly crippled the country. Growing up an expatriate in London offered him unique experiences that would form a universally unique life, a life recounted in his new autobiography, From Here to There and Back Again (now available through 1stBooks).
Smither says he was "blessed by chance and circumstance to be born in the United States," a fact that would open many doors and offer a plethora of opportunities that would have not been available in London. During the Great Depression, he and his family went to visit relatives in England, leaving their Cleveland home behind. They ended up staying for 17 years. During this time, Smither witnessed the effects of the depression of England. His formative years saw the coming of German planes and the falling of bombs. In a playground of rubble, Smither spent his teen years amidst the bombs and burst of a city under siege.
He later joined the U.S. Army to fight for his birth country, where he felt he always belonged. After the war, he returned to the states. Though his education was cut short by air raids, he was able to find work and succeed because of the willingness of people to offer opportunities and believe in his abilities. He began as an insurance underwriter trainee and retired in 1991 as a company president and chief operating officer.
Smither tells a unique story of one of the most important events of world history. Focusing on the first 21 years of his life, Smither weaves the history-making events that occurred throughout the world into the tapestry of his own life experiences.
"No event in recent history has had a greater impact on Mother Earth's family of nations than the second World War. Yet despite America's enormous contribution to the Allied cause ... this important and significant chapter in our country's history rarely gets addressed or taught in our schools or universities," Smither says.
From Here to There and Back Again is his first book.
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