You Are Invited!

Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 2pm

Join us for an afternoon with the author, Loretta Willems, reading from her work and in conversation with Dora Dueck

Book talk & signing with author Loretta Willems on her novels The Gift of Laughter and Child Bride

About this event

Spend an Afternoon with the Author at the Mennonite Heritage Museum as local author Dora Dueck introduces us to Bellingham author Loretta Willems at 2pm.  Loretta will present her books with readings and stories followed by a Q & A.  The book reading will be followed by book sales & signing by the author. Complimentary light refreshments will be served and museum exhibits will be open from 1pm to 4pm.

[from Amazon] The Gift of Laughter is a family history memoir that tells the story of Jacob and Lena (Zimmerman) Willems and their family, a story that begins in WWII California then traces the family’s history back to Holland, Catherine the Great’s Russia, Minnesota, and Saskatchewan, Canada, before the final move to California’s raisin country in 1919. Most of the Mennonites who settled in this fertile farmland prospered. Jacob and Lena did not. They and their young family struggled to survive; yet the stories their children told about their childhood and youth were filled with laughter—their home a place where people sang and joked and enjoyed the drama of their unfolding lives. This book preserves those family stories, while unearthing the family’s history and exploring the mystery at the heart of Lena and Jacob’s marriage.

For more information, please visit the author’s website: lorettawillems.com