Author Dorothy “Dot” Read joined hosts Mary Rose and Annie on Whidbey AIR’s Isle of the Arts to share the story of how her book End the Silence came to be written, how she spends her time helping other writers through the Whidbey Island Writers Association, and to read a selection from her book.
End the Silence is the memoir of Ilse Evelijn Veere Smit, who was interned in a Japanese concentration camp for Dutch and Indo women and children, during World War II.
In 1945, Ilse, her 3 younger siblings and their mother lived in a vermin-infested bungalow with 35 other people at Camp Halmaheira on the island of Java. During their internment, Ilse’s mother and several other women in that squalid bungalow were arrested for a “crime”, forcing Ilse to be responsible for herself and her younger siblings. Surviving the camp, and eventually being freed at the end of WWII, Ilse found herself in the middle of a bloody Indonesian revolution, targeted for death.
Taking in excess of 5 yrs. to write End the Silence is a story of endurance, suffering and triumph.
A key volunteer with Whidbey Island Writers Association (WIWA) Dot also devotes time to the Altar Guild, the Banners and Paraments Committee and choir at her church.
During this interview Annie Zeller Horton will also be reading, from a WIWA submission.
You can find more information about Dot’s book End the Silence on her website or at Createspace.
