From New York—the greatest city in the world.
It's “The Friday Evening Post” with Marvin Hayes
for Friday, March 8, 2013.
Dear Friends
In New York, it is amazing how many “REAL” friends Frank and I
have. We are very lucky and blessed with good neighbors and good
friends. We have someone we could meet for breakfast, lunch or
dinner almost every day of the week and go to plays on and off
Broadway and movies or share movies with them or go to museums.
One of these friends is a writer—actor friend who after all these
years is still working 18 to 22 hours a day writing. His name is
Norman Beim and he just published his autobiography called “A Not
So Nice Jewish Boy Faces World War II-A Memoir”. This, over
five hundred page book, is his first “Memoir” and brings him through
birth and school and into the army and World War II. The book is a
real “Page Turner”. Norman does not leave anything to be guessed
at. He lays it all out, the good, the bad, and the ugly—his triumphs
and failures. The ring of HONESTY, INTEGRITY, and TRUTH sounds on
every page.
Growing up I had uncles and aunts that fought in World War II that
never talked about it. Seeing exciting movies and reading exciting
books about it, I always wonder exactly what happen to them. They
never would open up and tell me.
The Life of Beim
Norman at nine months Norman's mother's mother & step-father & family
Jack Ghilain (my partner for over 30 years) was in the then Army Air
Force and flew 22 missions over Germany-his airplane was hit and
caught on fire and he was burned badly and was in the hospital for
three weeks and went back and flew several more missions, but he
would never talk about it. I learned this from his step father, Al
Fleming and I would have loved to have heard the complete story. My
mother worked for three years in a Naval Hospital during the war—12
hour shifts and never – never said anything about what she did. She
would come home with blood spots all over her white dress and white
shoes. I remember hearing her cry at night alone in her room.
When I was at Texas A & M, I got a small sample of what the military was like. I played football, but I was assigned to a military unit and ate and slept with them. The upper classmen were relentless hazing and ordering us freshmen about. It was like torture to put up with the nonsense day after day. Norman chronicles his experiences in detail in some of the worse fighting of the war in the Hürtgen Forest and The Battle of the Bulge until the Germans surrendered.
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BOOKS BY NORMAN BEIM
MEMOIRS:
A Not So Nice Jewish Boy Faces World War II
NOVELS
Touring With Stalin
Zygielbaum's Journey
Hymie And The Angel
PLAYS
Behind The Scenes, Plus 2 Comedies & 2 Dramas
Bitter And Sweet: 3 New Musicals
The Wrath Of God, Plus 5 Additional Dramas
Six Ironic Comedies
Three Dark Comedies
Women Laid Bare
Comedy Tonite!
Infamous People
Giants Of The Old Testament
My Family: The Jewish Immigrants
Plays At Home And Abroad
Six Award Winning Plays
THE LIFE OF BEIM
Norman Beim was born in Newark, New Jersey attended Ohio State
University for a year and two thirds, when he was drafted into World
War II. During combat, he learned that his one act play, Inside had
won second place in a nationwide competition. He put aside his
decision to become a novelist and decided to become a playwright,
while he learned he earned a living as an actor.
After the war he studied and worked as an actor at Hedgerow
Theatre, produced and appeared in three plays in Philadelphia,
worked as an actor at the Provincetown Playhouse on the Cape, and
in the national company of Darkness At Noon.
He settled in New York where he worked as an actor on Broadway,
Off Broadway, and on TV. He appeared in the Broadway production
of Inherit The Wind with Paul Muni, and later with Melvyn Douglas.
He was standby for Van Johnson in the national company of Tribute,
and worked with Morgan Freeman at the Public Theatre. He also
worked as a director and, all the while, he continued to write plays.
He is a lifetime member of the Dramatists Guild. His plays have
been produced nationally and internationally, including the classic,
The Deserter. He's written book and lyrics for a number of musicals,
including the remarkable Fritz & Froyim.
Twelve volumes of his plays, and three fact-based novels have been
published, and he continues to produce novels and write plays which
continue to be produced. A second volume of his memoirs is due out in 2014.
“The Friday Evening Post” for Friday March 8, 2013
As I said before “The ring of HONESTY, INTEGRITY, and TRUTH
sounds on every page of Norman's book. I have only one objection:
I have never known Norman not to be “Nice”. He is one of the
“Nicest” men I have had the privilege to call my friend! Get his book
and read it—you will find a true friend for yourself.
GNYIPA member Linda Gnat-Mullin at her reading and book signing for Kisses Out of the Blue at The 440 Gallery in Brooklyn. Linda's reading was a special event for visual artist Karen Gibbons, whose dreamlike paintings and collages provided the perfect environment for Linda's soulful, strange and true stories, told to offer readers a wider sense of the world's -- and their own -- heretofore hidden possibilities. Master chef and restaurateur Fabiane Lima provided beautiful treats for the occasion. The gallery reported that this was their best-attended event in memory. Kisses Out of the Blue is available on Amazon, where it has received a five-star rating, and at other online retailers.
