When retired educator Jacqueline Kane and her siblings found a stash of letters exchanged between her parents from 1943 to 1945, a time when they were separated while her father served in World War II, they were pleasantly surprised.
Both natives of Baltimore and graduates of Dunbar High School and Morgan State University, Jacqueline’s parents, Philip Gough Kane (Phil) and Jacqueline Norris Jones Kane (Jack) married in 1941 and moved to New York City in 1945. During the first four years of their marriage Phil enlisted in the army and was stationed overseas. After 66 years of marriage, Phil died in 2007 and Jack in 2015.
After the extent of their love for each other was discovered by their children in some 200 transcribed v-mail (an expedited postal service that combined stationery and microfilm) and a dozen paper letters, it was agreed that Jacqueline being the eldest and having some experience in publishing would take the lead in publishing the book.
“My siblings and I felt that publishing my parents’ love letters in a book was a tribute to their relationship. I named the book ‘A Real Whole Lot’ because my father always used some variation of this phrase when signing his letters to my mother,” said Jacqueline Kane.
On the pages of “A Real Whole Lot,” are the letters written by the couple who strove to communicate with each other during their separation at this unforgettable historical moment.
Jacqueline Kane will read letters from her book, “A Real Whole Lot” on November 12, 2019, at the “Veteran’s Day Celebration” at the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s (African American Department) at 400 Cathedral Street in Baltimore City from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
To learn more about Jacqueline Kane and her debut book, visit: www.arealwholelot.com