In one sentence, the history behind my book, The Irish Ties That Bind that will be released on September 22nd, is as follows: I was greatly influenced by strong, resilient women growing up in Beloit, Wisconsin, which continued well into my adulthood, even after I moved to Darlington, Wisconsin, in 1980 to begin my career teaching high school social studies.
By pure happenstance...or so I thought, I ended up teaching in Darlington, where my maternal great-aunt, Sister Mary Francine Bunzel (a Franciscan nun for fifty-six years) served as the Memorial Hospital administrator from 1960 to 1970. Yet, during the first month in town, I felt like "Norm" on the TV series Cheers, because everyone knew my name and who my great-aunt was every single time I walked into a place. It was ten years since she lived in Darlington, but her impact on people was profound...as it was on me. I began to wonder if ending up teaching and living in Darlington for forty-plus years was destiny, not just a coincidence.
When I found out that the congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa was just over thirty miles away from Darlington, I was naturally drawn to explore their origins, which was started by Father Samuel Mazzuchelli in 1867. When I first visited Sinsinawa in 1980, as well as every time since, I knew that I am standing on hallowed ground.
The following is a paragraph from the preface of my book that addresses my motivation for writing this historical novel: When I read about the leadership of two remarkable Catholic women, Mother Emily Power and Mother Samuel Coughlin, who led the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa from 1867 to 1949, it deeply resonated with me. Both women were capable and resilient, and they shared a significant Irish heritage, which I also relate to in my mixed Irish background. Many scholars view the Irish as the first ethnic minority in American history. While their story is often told, the contributions of women are frequently overlooked, especially from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. This is true for women in general during that time, not just those of Irish descent. I am motivated to write this book, in part, to accentuate women who made important contributions to history by fighting for equality and social justice in various ways, starting with notable Irish women and including others from that hundred-year period.