Forgotten Hero: A Memoir

About the Book

This family saga takes place in New York City’s Greenwich Village. It begins in 1906 when nine-year-old Eddie is sent out by his mother to panhandle. Her husband is dying of tuberculosis and she is pregnant for the eleventh time. She can barely pay the rent, and her two youngest children have no shoes. There is no money for food and to keep the family warm over the winter she burns every stick of furniture in their one-bedroom basement apartment. As the Paul family’s story unfolds, it is at the same time told through the eyes of Eddie as he grows up on the tough streets of Greenwich Village.

About the Author

I was born in New York City the youngest of eight children and lived in Manhattan until I was of school age. My father passed away five years later and after he died, I had little contact with his relatives. My love of genealogy and my curiosity to know more about the paternal side of my family tree was what motivated me to write "Forgotten Hero a Memoir." Through vivid recollections told to me by my mot her and sisters, this book is my recreation of my father's lifetime.