Sunday, August 2, 2015

Monica Sone and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members in Vita Magica

Bildergebnis für betty macdonald fan club

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald Fan Club fans,

i'll contribute something special to Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard fan club letter collection.

Dr. Clyde Reynolds Jensen was really very kind and patient.

I met some of his relatives and they said that he was very interested in Betty MacDonald's and Mary Bard Jensen's work and life of the Bard family.

Betty MacDonald's unique son-in-law and Joan MacDonald Keil's husband Jerry Keil acted the same way.

I'm going to share some of Joan MacDonald Keil's and Jerry Keil's letters.

The letters are very funny and interesting.

You'll enjoy them very much.

We can be very fortunate indeed to have these excellent Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour members Monica Sone, Darsie Beck, Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Mary Holmes, Bernd Kunze, Tracy Tyne Hilton and last but not least our one and only Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli.

The Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.

I like cats and hate chickens. One of our relatives had a farm and they had chickens!

If you ask me, chickens are very stupid creatures and Betty MacDonald knew them very well.

Some years ago my husband like Betty MacDonald's first husband Robert Eugene Heskett wanted to own a farm but I refused.

Daniel wasn't interested in chickens. He liked cows. I said: If this happens we'll have a divorce. We are still married. Daniel is teacher.

I'm convinced Betty MacDonald's and Mary Bard's mother Sydney Bard would criticize my behaviour very much but times have changed.

I love Daniel very much but don't follow him everywhere.

I agree with Betty MacDonald's wonderful sister Alison Bard Burnett, who is very openminded about marriages and divorces in Wolfgang Hampel's delightful Betty MacDonald Interviews.

My family and friends adore Wolfgang Hampel's very witty interviews and his outstanding Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography.

More Wolfgang Hampel Interviews should be published.

We are huge fans of Wolfgang Hampel satirical poems and stories. Very funny and sharp, indeed.

I notice every time I listen to the Betty MacDonald CD how very different Betty MacDonald's and Alison Bard Burnett's voices are.

Betty MacDonald has a rather high voice and she speaks very, very quickly.

Nevertheless I love Betty MacDonald's and Alison Bard Burnett's voices and golden laughter.

Let's enjoy a great breakfast with Brad and Nick, please.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli praises his new girl friend in Athens.

I'm afraid our casanova won't be able to support the Greek Government with his brilliant ideas in this very difficult situation.

Mr. Tigerli is madly in love and only Amore is important at the current time.

Wishing you a very nice Sunday,

Yours,

Carla

Vita Magica

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Monica Sone and Betty MacDonald's grandson Timothy Keil

Lot-3-Mrs-Piggle-Wiggle-series-chapter-books-Teacher-RL-4-AR-MacDonald

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

it's so sad to read the very tragic end of Timothy Keil.

What a loss!

Timothy's father Jerry Keil was really the kindest man on earth.

Betty MacDonald fan club exhibit will be very interesting with the International book editions of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

It's great to know the different names of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for example from the French, Czech, Swedish, German and Japanese editions.

I recently saw a Chinese edition of four Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books published by Dongfang Chubanshe in 2012.

I'm going to order these books for my international Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle collection because I adore the book covers.

Nadine good luck with writing the new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure for peaceful politicans.

We'll have a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Contest during August.

You can win a very rare first edition of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle with Betty MacDonald's cute dedication.

Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares the most delightful Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle stories in her fascinating interview with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.

Alison Bard Burnett and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.

Don't miss a new great breakfast with Brad and Nick, please.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is crazy about his new girl friend in Athens.

We hope our genius will be able to support the Greek Government with his brilliant ideas in this very difficult situation.

Enjoy your weekend,

Mats

Vita Magica

Friday, July 31, 2015

Monica Sone, Jerry and Timothy Keil

Timothy G. Keil

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Jerry Keil, husband of Betty MacDonald's daughter Joan MacDonald Keil passed away 15 years ago.

He died of cancer at the age of 77 on April 22, 2000.

Jerry became an FBI agent based in Seattle in 1947.

Betty MacDonald describes this in her book 'Onions in the Stew'.

According to Wolfgang Hampel, author of the Betty MacDonald Biography and interviewer of Betty MacDonald's family and friends, published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club, Jerry Keil was the kindest man on earth. Jerry was unique and answered every letter and many questions from Betty MacDonald Fans all over the world.

Jerry Keil became Joan MacDonald Keil's adviser as she lobbied publishers to reprint the out-of-print "Nancy and Plum." When publishers rejected the reissue, Jerry and Joan printed and distributed the book themselves.

They included some beautiful family photos in this very special edition of Nancy and Plum. Both did a great work to bring Nancy and Plum back to the audience.

Jerry and Joan's son Timothy Keil, 61, was killed in a head-on collision on South Whidbey Saturday on February 14, 2015.

The accident occurred in the evening on Highway 525 near the intersection of Coles Road.

( see obituaries below )

Jerry Keil and Timothy Keil are deeply missed.

We are sending all our love and support to the family.

Sabrina

Vita Magica

Jerry Keil Obituary

Jerry' Keil used skills honed in FBI career to prompte book

By Carole Beers

Seattle Times staff reporter

Girard "Jerry" Keil won awards as a special-agent supervisor in the FBI's Seattle office.

He taught marksmanship and defensive tactics and later did similar work for Paccar, setting up a security plan for the firm's offices nationwide.

It seemed like an about-face when he retired in 1982 to help his wife, Joan MacDonald Keil, republish her mother Betty MacDonald's "Nancy and Plum" book about a pair of orphaned sisters.

But the task drew on skills he sharpened in the FBI: talking to a variety of people and getting them to do the right thing.

Mr. Keil died Saturday (April 22) of cancer. He was 77.

"He was meticulous, and liked to talk and be in charge," said his son Timothy Keil of Whidbey Island. "He enjoyed that discipline. He kept busy promoting the books and took it upon himself to answer every letter from every kid who enjoyed the books."

First he became Joan MacDonald Keil's adviser as she lobbied publishers to reprint the out-of-print "Nancy and Plum." When publishers rejected the reissue, Mr. Keil and his wife, whom he wed 50 years ago, printed and distributed the book themselves.

Later they saw MacDonald's "The Egg and I" book reissued.

Born in Royal Oak, Mich., he graduated from high school in Decatur, Mich. He was class president and played basketball and tennis.

He also was class president at James Milligan University in Decatur, where he earned a degree in business administration before becoming a navigator in the Army Air Forces during World War II.

He became an FBI agent based in Seattle in 1947. He also helped found the Northwest Forum business club.

From 1978 to 1982 he directed security for Paccar.

He then became vice president of Joan Keil Enterprises, his wife's book-promotion firm.

One of his recent joys was sitting on a bench in Kirkland's Marina Park and chatting with people. His family will dedicate a new bench to him and to his daughter Rebecca Keil, who died in 1998.

Surviving besides his wife and son are children Toby Keil of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Heidi Richards of Bellevue; brothers Otto Keil of Pennsylvania and Edwin Keil of Spokane; and seven grandchildren.

Services will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at First Congregational Church, 752 108th Ave. N.E., Bellevue.

Remembrances may go to Evergreen Hospice and Health Care Foundation, 12910 Totem Lake Blvd. N.E., Suite 200, Kirkland, WA 98034.

Carole Beers' e-mail address is cbeers@seattletimes.com

Copyright (c) 2000 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.

Update: South End crash claims one, injures another

State police and South Whidbey Fire/EMS firefighters
work at a fatal accident scene near
Coles Road on South Whidbey Saturday night.

— image credit: Justin Burnett / The Record

by JUSTIN BURNETT, South Whidbey Record Editor
Feb 15, 2015 at 9:00AM updated Feb 17, 2015 at 2:41PM

Alcohol a suspected factor, state police investigate survivor for vehicular homicide investigation

By JUSTIN BURNETT

South Whidbey Record

Freeland is mourning the loss of one of its own this week.

Timothy Keil, 61, was killed in a head-on collision on South Whidbey Saturday. The accident occurred in the evening on Highway 525 near the intersection of Coles Road. Keil was pronounced dead at the scene.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Jo, children and grandchildren.

“It’s just a terrible tragedy,” said Pastor Jim Lindus, of Trinity Lutheran Church. “We have a community that’s heartbroken.”

Keil retired about 15 months ago from a career with the City of Bothell. A member of Trinity’s congregation, he was getting into a new rhythm of life, spending time with family and volunteering with the church, Lindus said.

He was especially active with His Hands Extended program, which works to feed and cloth Seattle’s homeless twice a month. He was a dedicated supporter and volunteer for the charity, according to Lindus.

“He was a great guy,” he said. “He had a soft and tender heart.”

“I just can’t say enough nice things about Tim,” Lindus added.

Thomas Beard, also of Freeland, was a friend of Keil’s for about 20 years. He described him as a father, a grandfather, a friend and, to some, a mentor. When he asked how you were doing, he really wanted to know, Beard said.

“He was a caring, gentle soul,” he said.

The other driver in the crash was Michelle Nichols of Clinton. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from the accident scene. She was in intensive care Sunday and her condition has since been downgraded from “serious” to “satisfactory,” a hospital spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

According to the Washington State Patrol, the accident happened at 8:40 p.m. Nichols, 46, was southbound on Highway 525 in a white 1988 Ford Van and had just passed Coles Road when her vehicle collided with the guardrail on the right side of the state route. The van then crossed the centerline and stuck a northbound vehicle, a silver 1993 Honda Accord, driven by Keil.

Keil, 61, died at the scene. His next of kin were notified by a state trooper and the Island County coroner, a press memo said.

According to the release, the cause of the crash was crossing the centerline; alcohol is believed to have been involved, and Nichols is under investigation for vehicular homicide, the memo said.

“At the time of the accident there was an odor of alcohol,” said Trooper Mark Francis, spokesman for the Washington State Patrol in a follow-up interview.

He added that police obtained a search warrant to take blood samples to determine her blood/alcohol content level. The results won’t be determined for several weeks, but she was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide that night, he said.

Nichols is a family woman with several children, and is a longtime bus driver for the South Whidbey School District, according to her Facebook page.

The affected section of the highway was closed at Craw and Maxwelton roads. An emergency landing zone was set up on the highway and an air ambulance landed and picked up Nichols. The scene was processed by Highway Patrol accident technicians, police said.

The closure lasted about four and half hours.

JUSTIN BURNETT, South Whidbey Record Editor
jburnett@whidbeynewsgroup.com

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Monica Sone and Betty MacDonald's friends

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

it's International Friendship Day today.

Don Woodfin was a very good friend of Betty and Donald MacDonald.

Don's son, artist and poet Perry Woodfin is Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.

Don and Perry Woodfin will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.

Don't miss a new great breakfast with Brad and Nick, please.

Yours,

Brigitte

The Thrills of Owning a Chicken Ranch

One hundred years ago today, Vashon Island's own Betty MacDonald was born. The author of The Egg & I, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and many other books, MacDonald garnered a worldwide following and still has millions of fans today.

Why do I care? Number one, if you can't celebrate your local heroes, what the F can you do? Number two, my grandfather Don Woodfin had a chicken farm in Lisabeula (an area on Vashon) in the 1940s and '50s, and was a good friend of Betty and her family. He built them a barn, chicken coup, and caretaker house, all of which are now recognized National Historical Landmarks. Don was immortalized as "the unforgettable Marine" in Betty's book Onions in the Stew, her story of life on Vashon. After 9/11, many members of the international Betty MacDonald Fan Club e-mailed me to offer their best wishes and let us know that they were thinking of us, all because he had built her barn. It was really nice.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Monica Sone's smiling courage

Monica Sone (September 1, 1919 – September 5, 2011), born Kazuko Itoi, was a Japanese American writer, best known for her 1953 autobiographical memoir Nisei Daughter, which tells of the Japanese American experience in Seattle during the 1920s and 1930s, and in the World War II internment camps and which is an important text in Asian American and Women's Studies courses.
more from Wikipedia

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone ( Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I ) is the author of Nisei Daughter.

Monica Sone and her family had run a hotel in Seattle before Executive Order 9066 sent all West Coast Japanese Americans into exile.

With charm, humor, and deep understanding, a Japanese American woman tells how it was to grow up on Seattle's waterfront in the 1930s and to be subjected to "relocation" dring World War II. Along with some 120,000 other persons of Japanese ancestry-77,000 of whom were U.S. citizens-she and her family were uprooted from their home and imprisoned in a camp.

In this book, first published in 1953, she provides a unique personal account of these experiences.

"Monica Sone's account of life in the relocation camps is both fair and unsparing. It is also deeply touching, and occasionally hilarious."-New York Herald Tribune

"The deepest impression that this unaffected, honest little story made on me was of smiling courage."-San Francisco Chronicle

Wolfgang Hampel, Monica Sone's friend - author of Betty MacDonald biography and winner of first Betty MacDonald Memorial Award - wrote:

Copyright 2011 by Wolfgang Hampel

Dearest Monica,

I was rereading your book Nisei Daughter and I have to tell you that I agree with your many international fans. I wished I could read many more books written by great author and unique personality Monica Sone.

I also agree with the New York Herald Tribune review of Nisei Daughter: Monica Sone's account of life in the relocation camps is both fair and unsparing. It is also deeply touching, and occasionally hilarious.

Yes, that's it! Deeply touching, also occassionally hilarious! When I'm reading your great book ( Nisei Daughter belong to the VERY few books I'm reading over and over again ) I'm really deeply touched. I'm with you and your great family. I adore your outstanding book and even much more I adore your unique personality. You are a genius but very human and warm with a deep understanding and a golden heart.

The first time I heard your very warm voice I was lost. To me it's the most beautiful voice in the whole world. Voice and personality fit together in just a perfect way.

Thanks a million for your friendship.

Although we are far away you and your family are always in our thoughts.

All our love,

Wolfgang

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone will included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'.

Good luck for Vita Magica!

It will be the first liteary ' Vita Magica ' event today.

Wolfgang Hampel's stories and satirical poems will be published in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter August and future newsletters.

I hope Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli won't stay in Athens forever because we really need him very much.

Don't miss a new great breakfast with Brad and Nick, please.

Yours,

Kirsten

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel

Betty MacDonald fan club items

Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund

Monday, July 27, 2015

Monica Sone and Betty MacDonald

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

i'm rereading the outstanding book Nisei Daughter by late Monica Sone, described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I.

To me it's quiete a shock to learn the depressing facts of internment of Japanese, Japanese Americans, European and European Americans in a democratic society.

Over 31.000 people were kept interned until July 1948 - more than three years after the war in Europe had ended.

I hope we can learn from the past and we are willing to.

Betty MacDonald Fan Club honor member Monica Sone was furious at the blatant disregard of her civil rights.

Monica Sone said to Betty MacDonald Memorial Award winner Wolfgang Hampel:
I didn't move from Seattle - they moved me away and I never came back. ( only for family visits )

Of course everybody can understand Monica Sone's feelings.
A democratic society has to protect the civil rights of their people. Otherwise it's no longer a democratic society. A simple fact.

In the camps, internees were seen more as prisoners of war than as civilians.

Just imagine the loss of property, the personal insults, the barbed wire, armed guards, the dust storms, horrible food, unfinished barracks, barren land, shared huts, inadequate washing and toilet facilities, green uniforms, military work details, snapping to attention at an officer's approach.

Therefore Monica Sone's Nisei Daughter is a very important book.

Betty MacDonald Fan Club founder, author, poet and Monica Sone's very good friend Wolfgang Hampel told us that Nisei Daughter belonged to the very few books he was rereading.

I know many of us do the very same.

Betty MacDonald encouraged her friend Monica Sone in publishing her book 'Nisei Daughter'.

Betty MacDonald said:

'Nisei Daughter ' is a very remarkable book, humorous and delightfully readable, that takes you into the heart of a Japanese-American family and into the mind of the sensitive, perceptive eldest daughter.
The internment of the American born Japanese during World War II is handled with honesty and rare dispassion. It is certainly to Monica Sone's credit that she she still sings God bless America.

Betty MacDonald was right. Having Monica Sone's experiences I'm not sure I would.

I agree with John Heitman "In a world where there are lots of smoke screens and J. Edgar Hoovers, an individual can really be hurt."

We are sending all our love to Linde Lund and her little daughter.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone will included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'.

Wolfgang Hampel's stories and satirical poems will be published in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter August and future newsletters.

Bettty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is in Athens because he is crazy about his new very beautiful girl friend.

Come on and let's have a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

Take care,

Lasse

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel

Betty MacDonald fan club items

Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Monica Sone and Betty MacDonald on Vashon Island

Monica Sone - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

it' s very touching to read Linde Lund's very intelligent thoughts regarding the secret of happiness.

We hope wonderful Linde and her daughter will recover very soon.

We miss unique Linde so much.

Come back, please.

Many Betty MacDonald - and Hilde Domin fan club fans from all over the world - adore Letizia Mancino's THE SECOND PARADISE.

Thanks a million dearest Letizia Mancino and Mary Holmes.

I enjoyed Anja's delightful story describing the raccoons in Vienna.

It's true: Raccoons are really very shameless when they are looking for food.

I'm rereading Onions in the Stew right now.

I have to laugh aloud when Betty MacDonald, her husband Donald Chauncey MacDonald and daughters Anne and Joan have their experiences with racoons and many other guests at Dolphin Point on Vashon Island.

Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on new Betty MacDonald fan club items.

New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.
It's simply great to read new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others.

I agree. It's so very funny indeed when you listen to beloved Betty MacDonald and sister Alison Bard Burnett in Wolfgang Hampel's interviews.

I listened to them once in a bus and laughed and laughed and I got very strange looks from many people.

Believe me - I'll never do it again.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Letizia Mancino is part of Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'.

I can't wait to read Wolfgang Hampel's new stories and satirical poems.

I miss Bettty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli very much.

Is he still in Athens and in madly in love with his new girl friend?

Let's go to the bookstore and enjoy a new outstanding breakfast with Brad and Nick.

Enjoy a very sunny Sunday,

Lars

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel

Betty MacDonald fan club items

Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund

Monica Sone