“Border Crossings is the well-told and dramatic story of a young man whose comfortable life is abruptly transformed by the savagery of World War II. Forced to rely on primal
instincts and his familiarity with the rugged highlands of Moravia, Charles Novacek casts his lot first with the anti-Hitler Underground and then with the resistance to the Nazis’ Communist successors. ‘My recollections pain me,’ he writes, ‘still, they have made me who I am.’ Novacek’s experience as a Hungarian-speaking Czecho-Slovak patriot demonstrates the folly of petty nationalism and the resilience of human decency and love.”
― Madeleine Albright
“Exceptionally well written from beginning to end, Border
Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance reads like a best-seller novel but is a true life memoir of a remarkable man who lived in horrific times and came through them to create a successful life despite what he had to overcome — or perhaps because of it! Border Crossings is an extraordinary and highly recommended read. Simply stated, a copy deserves to be in every community library 20th Century Biography collection for the sake of new and future generations of readers.”
― Midwest Book Review
READ AN EXCERPT from Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance by Charles Novacek
EVENTS FOR 2015 – COMING SOON!
RECENT EVENTS FOR 2014
12/14 – “Sunday Street Market Holiday Market.” Detroit Eastern Market, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Shed 3, Detroit, MI
12/12 – “Book Club Meeting.” Talk, 12:00 noon, Detroit
Athletic Club, Literary Club members event, Detroit, MI12/7 – “Sunday Street Market Holiday Market.” Detroit Eastern Market, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Shed 3, Detroit, MI
12/6 – “The Giving Season: Orion Township Public Library’s Local Author & Illustrator Fair.” Book Sale/Signing, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., 825 Joslyn Road, Lake Orion, MI 48362, www.orionlibrary.org
12/2 – Flint Genealogical Society. Presentation/Signing, 7:00 p.m., Burton Senior Activity Center, 3410 South Grand Traverse, Burton, MI 48529, just north of Holy Redeemer Church. Visitors are welcome
11/29 - “Small Business Saturday.” Greeter, Local Author Roundabout, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Source Booksellers, 4240 Cass Avenue, Ste. 105, Detroit 48201, www.sourcebooksdetroit.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-yP31klVgc
11/19 – Global Awareness Day, “Holocaust, Persecution and Refugees.” Presentation/Signing, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., St. Clair Community College, Fine Arts Theatre, 323 Erie Street, Port Huron, MI 48061-5015. Part of a daylong event beginning at 10:00 a.m. Free and open to the public. www.sc4.edu/global
11/4 – “Book Club Meeting.” Talk/Signing, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Cromaine District Library, 3688 N. Hartland Rd., Hartland, MI 48353, www.cromaine.org
10/29 – Marshall Arts Book Club Meeting, 7:00 p.m., Ferndale, MI 48220
10/29 – Independence Village of Brighton Valley – Presentation, 11:00 a.m., Brighton, MI 48116
10/27 – “Authors Live Luncheon.” Sponsored by Novi Public Library – Presentation/Signing, 11:30 a.m., Fox Run, 41000 13 Mile Rd., Novi, MI 48377, www.novilibrary.org
10/23 – “Cavalcade of Authors.” 2014 Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) Annual Conference, 10:35 – 11:45 presentations and 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. signing, Sheraton Hotel, 3200 Boardwalk, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, www.mimame.org/our-annual-conference.html
10/15 – “Study Group on “Border Crossings.” University of Michigan, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), 10:00 a.m., Turner Resource Center, 2401 Plymouth Rd. Suite C, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, www.olli-umich.org/study_groups.html
10/13 – “History Lives @ the Library,” Livonia Civic Center Library. Presentation/Signing, 7:00 p.m., 3277 Five Mile, Livonia, MI 48154, www.livonia.lib.mi.us
10/8 – Scarab Club. – Presentation/Painting & Textile Exhibit/Signing, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., 217 Farnsworth, Detroit, MI 48202, www.scarabclub.org
9/27- SE Michigan Post-Polio Support Group. Presentation/Signing. 10:30 a.m., Troy, MI 48084
9/20 – Berkley Public Library. Presentation/Signing.
2:00 p.m., 3155 Coolidge Hwy., Berkley, MI 48072, www.berkley.lib.mi.us9/10 – Huntington Woods Public Library. POSTPONED until library flood damage is repaired. Presentation/Signing, 7:00 p.m., 26415 Scotia, Huntington Woods, MI 48070, www.huntington-woods.lib.mi.us
9/9 – Rotary Club of Royal Oak. Presentation/Signing, 12:10 p.m., Royal Oak Woman’s Club, 404 S. Pleasant, Royal Oak, MI 48067. www.clubrunner.ca/royaloak
BORDER CROSSINGS @ EASTERN MARKET “SUNDAY STREET MARKET” in Detroit, MI 48207, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sundays through August, 2014, www.detroiteasternmarket.com
9/7 - Kerrytown BookFest. Exhibitor/Vendor, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, www.kerrytownbookfest.org
9/4 – National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library. Presentation/Signing, 7:00 p.m., 1400 Inspiration Place SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, www.ncsml.org
7/24 – “Book Marked on Cass Avenue: Talk + Walk: Happy 313 Birthday, Detroit!” 11:00 a.m. A walking tour covering a slice of history with a slice of birthday cake. Starts @ Source Booksellers, 4240 Cass Avenue, Ste. 105, Detroit 48201, www.sourcebooksdetroit.com
7/21 – Warren Public Library – Presentation/Signing, 6:00 p.m., Civic Center Library, 12 Mile & Van Dyke, Warren, MI 48093, www.warrenlibrary.net
6/21 – Ann Arbor Book Festival: Street Fair – Exhibitor/Vendor, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Washington St. between 4th Ave. & 5th Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
6/4 – “Cass Corridor Conversation,” Panel Discussion, University of Michigan, Semester in Detroit Students @ Source Booksellers, 4240 Cass Avenue, Ste. 105 Detroit 48201
5/9 – Paintings of Charles Novacek Art Show – “Border Crossings Revisited” Show runs through first week in June., Cromaine District Library, Hartland, MI 48353
