Wartime Memories

Joint interview with writers kicks off month-long program

Two authors. Two books. One theme relevant to anyone who has been affected by war, either personally or through family and friends.

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Silicon Valley Reads will hold a unique event to kick off a month of events focused on the two books selected for 2006: When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka and The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father's War by Louise Steinman. Both authors will participate in a joint, on-stage interview with Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell. The free event begins at 7 p.m.

This is the fourth year of Silicon Valley Reads. Under the program, everyone in Santa Clara County is asked to read the same book, at the same time, and discuss with family, friends, co-workers and community.

Both of this year's selections discuss the long-lasting effects of World War II on California families. Otsuka's novel tells the story of a Japanese American family forced to leave their Berkeley home for an internment camp in Utah during World War II. Otsuka was born in Palo Alto and her mother, uncle and grandparents experienced internment during the war.

Steinman's book is a combination memoir, biography and history lesson. After her parents' death, Steinman finds hundreds of letters written by her father while he was in the Pacific during World War II. She also discovers a Japanese flag with the name of a Japanese soldier, and travels from California to Japan to return the flag to his family.

More than 30 public events are scheduled in February at locations throughout Silicon Valley. Detailed information is posted on the website www.siliconvalleyreads.org. The public also is invited to participate in an online discussion forum and to share their own wartime memories in a writing program that will continue at four local libraries into the spring.

Silicon Valley Reads is presented by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Library, and the San Jose Public Library Foundation. Major sponsors include Knight Ridder, the City of San Jose, Adobe Systems, Intel, Applied Materials, the Silicon Valley Library System, the Mercury News, NBC11, KLIV and KRTY.

Co-sponsors of the February 1 kick-off event include Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley, Campbell Library, Campbell Union High School District, Campbell Historical Museum, the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and the Office of Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn.

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