Tammy Zimmerman, author of “Blinded by his Shadow” will be signing copies and discussing her book in Quinter and Hays.  The book follows the life of Joseph Zimmerman, Tammy’s grandfather whom she had never met. The book details the life of Joseph, including his time living in the area and raising his family.

The process of finding out about her grandfather’s life took about 5 years of research, countless hours of speaking to people, and reading over numerous old newspapers and military records.

Zimmerman told Hays Post that the first source of information she had was the discharge paper that her grandfather carried in his wallet which showed where he had been in World War II.  The project grew from there.  She spoke with Historical Organizations dedicated to keeping records of military service, family members, and anyone that might have had any information.

The book begins when Joseph’s military career begins, but it’s not just a war-history book.  Zimmerman points out that not everyone likes to hear about military tactics, so she made sure to make the book about more than just about World War II. Instead, it’s a book about Joseph’s entire life.

“I’m always interested in the personal side of it; who they were, what an individual is thinking.  That was a lot more difficult. I could get the general war facts, but I always wanted to hear my Grandpa’s voice: just what he was thinking.  He never talked about those things to people when he came back home, so it wasn’t like I could talk to his brothers and sisters.”

During the war, letters from soldiers stationed overseas were published in newspapers. Zimmerman went through numerous papers that had been digitized and was able to find 5 letters from her grandfather.  While the details of the war weren’t in the letters (which she points out she already had from the military records) she was able to find more personal thoughts he had at the time, which were much more rewarding to her.

Just before the book was finished, Zimmerman received another lucky break: her grandmother had found poems and letters from Joseph that were previously believed to have been discarded.  She was able to include copies of these documents along with pictures of her grandfather in the book.

Zimmerman also said that the title of the book illustrates how impactful her grandfather has been on her entire family.

“His presence was always overshadowing the family, and when you really look at it, his wonderful example of how to live life was just blinding in its emphasis of his morals; how to live right and how to work.”

Zimmerman will be in at the Jay Johnson Public Library in Saturday August 24th from 10:30am – 12:30pm and the Hays Public Library Sunday the 25th from 2pm – 3pm.

She closed by saying that it’s important to document and pass on the stories of the “greatest generation” before those stories are lost forever, and she’s excited to have had the opportunity to preserve the stories of this humble man whose shadow continues to shape her family.