Virginia G. Vassallo

 

Virginia Gillespie Vassallo was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on April 11, 1951.  She graduated cum laude from The Kimberley School in June, 1969, and spent her freshman year of college at Jackson College, Tufts University.  After marriage she attended Susquehanna University and, two children later, she graduated from Montclair State University in 1979 with a BA in history.

As a single mother looking for a better job with more income, she entered the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1982 where she obtained her JD and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1986.

Virginia’s roots hail back to the founding of our country.  Her Quaker relatives arrived in Pennsylvania with William Penn and some of them ultimately owned most of the colony of Delaware. Another relative is believed to have captained a supply ship for Jamestown colony.  Eleazer Robinson and Henry Clayton fought in the Revolutionary War.  The artist, Benjamin West, is probably the most well-known of her ancestors.  And, of course, there is her grandfather, Guy T. Viskniskki, who founded The Stars and Stripes newspaper during World War I. Of  English, Irish, Scottish, Polish and German ancestry, Virginia never intended writing a book of any kind.  But in her search for the grandfather she never knew, she uncovered his personal memoirs and historical data which compelled her to write her grandfather’s story, a process that lasted almost ten years.

Virginia’s interest in history is evidenced by her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Kentucky Historical Society and POINT.  She is also a member of the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association and the European-Pacific Stars and Stripes Association. Virginia and her husband, Russell, who is also an author, reside on a large farm in South-Central Kentucky where she rides her horse, Diablo, and cares for her rescued animals.  She is the grandmother of four and is awaiting the arrival of another set of twin grandchildren. 

An avid reader, she has propelled her husband into their newly founded company, Krazy Duck Productions.  Like her grandfather who took failing newspapers and sculpted them into profitable operations, Virginia is the administrative backbone of her husband’s company and a formidable writer in her own right.

ORDERING INFO: Unsung Patriot can be ordered from GTVisk@msn.com,  
www.krazyduck.com, www.Amazon.com, for $21.95  plus shipping/or free
shipping.
 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life?  Who were your earliest influences and why?

Virginia G. Vassallo: I grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, living next door to my grandmother.  When I was a preschooler, my parents would read to me – Black Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, The Land of Oz.  By the time I was in second grade I was reading the Cherry Ames series and The Little Maid of … series.  I’ve never stopped reading.Writing is another matter.  I’ve never liked, or been particularly good at, creative writing, but I can combine various research articles into something readable.  That’s basically what I did in Unsung Patriot.  I wrote Unsung Patriot because I simply felt I wanted to know the man who had done so much for his country, a man who fought with Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War, was friends with Governor Thomas E. Dewey and worked for William Randolph Hearst.

My grandmother, Robbie, and my Dad were my earliest influences.  Dad encouraged me to use my mind and to excel in school.  He believed that I could do anything with my life that I wanted – and it rubbed off.  Without his belief in my ability I doubt that I would have even attempted to write a book.

Robbie taught me resilience.  At the age of 87 Robbie fell and broke her hip, requiring surgery, an extended hospital stay and months in a walker.  The doctor declared she would never walk unaided again.  Shortly after she came home, Robbie told me, “A lady does not use a walker or a cane.  I will walk without them.”  Within a year, she did just that.

When I’ve been faced with a seemingly impossible situation, I remember Robbie’s calm determination to walk unaided and I find a solution to my problem.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Why do you write?

Virginia G. Vassallo: I had to laugh at this question.  The quick answer is that my husband harassed me until I agreed to write about Guy.  I maintained I was not a writer. I am still not convinced that I am.

On a more serious level, I did want my grandchildren to know about Guy’s accomplishments and I believed that I was the only person in a position to gather the information and tell his story.  As I wrote, I realized that Guy’s story should be available to a wider audience, not just the family.  So, by default, I became a writer.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Your new book “Unsung Patriot:  Guy T. Viskniskki: is about your grandfather who founded ‘The Stars and Stripes’ during World War I.  How did you research for this book?  Talk a little about your grandfather and how this book was born.

Virginia G. Vassallo:Much of the research for Unsung Patriot came from my attic.  When my mom died, I inherited stacks of materials and photos of the family.  Much of it was newspaper clippings from 1918 about Guy.  I also inherited the original issues of The Stars and Stripes which Guy sent home.  ‘The Viskniskki Manuscript’ was there too.  Sometime in the 1930s Guy wrote about his experiences in France getting the newspaper up and running.  The Manuscript is 435 type written pages and it is not written in Guy’s usual style so it is quite difficult to read … and reread … and reread.

My aunt had researched Guy’s family so I had that information too.  Having a starting point in my own possession, it was easy to expand. 

I contacted the Clarksburg (WV) Telegram.  My grandfather had been a partner in the paper in the 1920s.  I wanted permission to reprint an article he wrote and I hoped that the paper would be able to give me more information.  Although I was given permission to reprint the Christmas article, the paper did not have any more information on my grandfather’s time in West Virginia than I did. 

In December, 2000, The Oregonian, a newspaper in Portland, Oregon, had printed a special section about its history which included two articles about my grandfather.  He had gone to Portland as a newspaper efficiency expert to revitalize The Oregonian.  The articles are reprinted in full in Unsung Patriot, giving a good picture of what Guy did and how he operated his newspaper repair business. 

Barry Cleveland, the editor/publisher of the Carmi (IL) Times was a god send.  He allowed me to use anything I wanted from any source from Carmi, Guy’s home town.  He also put me in touch with the present owner of the Viskniskki House in Carmi, who also helped me a great deal.   

My grandfather died about eighteen months before I was born.  I grew up with competing images of him.  My grandmother adored him.  My dad liked and admired him.  My mother called him “The Colonel”.  I never remember hearing her refer to him as Dad.  My Aunt Betty would freeze at the mention of his name. 

I grew up knowing that he founded The Stars and Stripes but, as a child, I thought it was just his job.  Nothing special.  Only as I grew older did I realize what an accomplishment it was.  By then I wanted to “find” my grandfather.  I wanted to know who he was – what kind of man he was.   

So combined with my husband’s “You should write about Guy”, my desire to find out who he really was and my hope that my grandchildren will one day know about him, the book was born.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  For those who don’t know, please detail some brief history regarding ‘The Stars and Stripes’, the newspaper of the American Army.  What was/is its goal?  When was it founded?

Virginia G. Vassallo:The first Stars and Stripes consisted of one issue printed in Bloomfield, Missouri, during the Civil War.  By tracing Guy’s family I believe it is very possible that he had heard about this issue.

During World War I the American Expeditionary Forces in France were scattered all over the countryside, living in some truly awful conditions.  Morale among the troops was non-existent.  In his capacity of escorting journalists around the front, Guy observed this and proposed an army newspaper as a way to let the various divisions know what was going on and to boost morale.  He was adamant that this army newspaper would be run by the soldiers for the soldiers.  Guy believed that was the only way the newspaper would have any credibility with the troops.

I know he would be proud today to know that the paper is still run by and for the soldiers.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Where did your title come from – Unsung Patriot?  Do you feel your grandfather has been left out of the history books?\

Virginia G. Vassallo:The title, Unsung Patriot, was a collaboration between me, my husband and my editor, Janice Phelps, but I had the final say.  And, yes, I definitely feel that Guy was left out of the history books.  Very few mention him and then it is only a sentence or two.   

From my research I’ve learned that during his lifetime Guy was quite well known among newspapermen.  Yet when I contacted The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library looking for more information about my grandfather, I was the one providing information.  That floored me since I thought the Museum/Library would surely have much more information than I did.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What did you learn while writing “Unsung Patriot:  Guy T. Viskniskki”?

Virginia G. Vassallo:The obvious answer is that I learned a great deal about the first year of The Stars and Stripes and how unlikely it was that the newspaper would survive, let alone still be a vibrant paper today that still operates according to the principles my grandfather set for it almost ninety years ago. 

On a personal level I learned who my grandfather was – what kind of a man he was.  Until I wrote Unsung Patriot, I had never integrated the various images I had of him.  Now I see him as a dynamic, complex man – a man who truly loved his family yet spent much of his life away from them – man who had a vision and could break down all barriers to achieve it.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  What do you hope readers will take away after reading “Unsung Patriot: Guy T. Viskniskki”?

Virginia G. Vassallo: I would hope readers would come away with a sense of patriotism – the idea of doing something for one’s country.  I would like people to know that, if one man can overcome all the obstacles that my grandfather had in starting The Stars and Stripes, then maybe each of us can overcome obstacles in our lives.

 

PageOneLit.com:  You and your husband (Russ) have formed a small publishing company called Krazy Duck Productions – How did this come about?  Do you plan to publish other books from outside the family?  Please feel free to plug your husband’s books?  What are the titles/plots of his books?  What are some of his literary accomplishments?  I understand you two enjoy traveling and participating in book fairs.  Any chance of you two writing a book together?

Virginia G. Vassallo: Russ has always been a writer. He writes beautiful materials in all genres and is really quite talented.  We started our own publishing company because it was less expensive to do the work and later, to act as our own distributors.  Russ has written two books, Tears and Tales: Stories of Animal and Human Rescue and The Horse with the Golden Mane:  Stories of Adventure, Mystery and Romance.  Both books are dazzling, filled with compassion, love, struggle and suspense.  He uses real animals and real-life situations to find solutions for complex problems of the everyday man.

Right now he has so many works in progress that I just don’t see publishing for others, although we have received offers.  This is a family operation where we control quality.  And I have to say that I am his greatest fan.  I just admire how he can draw people into his plots, making them really “feel” for the main animal character or the person in his life.   

He has been published in Horse Tales for the Soul, Vol. II and in Loving, Healing Press.  He has had honorable mention in Open Your Heart to Pets.  Tears and Tales has won awards with USABooknews, Indies Excellence 500 and Reader’s Views Reviewer’s Choice, and it is carried in a number of prestigious outlets such as The Greenbrier in West Virginia and the Kentucky Horse Park.  It is even on sale at Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.  Right now it is traveling the seven seas with Seabourn Cruise Line and it has been to the Frankfurt International Book Fair, not to mention that his book has sold in Canada, Switzerland, England, France and Germany.  Yet he has time to donate proceeds from the book to various charitable causes such as the Humane Society and cancer rehabilitation. 

As to the book fairs, we have done a number of them and have more in store.  We are attending events to raise fund for animals and another to raise funds to fight illiteracy.  Russ gives lectures on his books to raise money for all kinds of noble causes.  I think he sees himself as a knight in shining armor, compelled to fight cancer, poverty and illiteracy with his writing ability. 

I love the ending of his story, Taj, from The Horse with the Golden Mane, where he is talking about reclaiming his lost horse and inaugurating a relationship with the young grandson he has never seen.  It goes like this: 

“There are days when I visit Taj alone because old friends should have time alone.  And there are days when I visit him, holding my Danny’s fragile hand and hoisting him on the back of that huge animal.  Taj turns to look at the fidgeting tyke balanced astride his broad back, and in his eyes, I see the wonder of that young life.”

 And, yes, I love traveling with Russ to book fairs and signings and being able to talk about his writing.  But we’ve never thought about collaborating on a book because our works and aims are so different.  I am not sure that I will ever write another book so it is fine with me to read and edit his stories, contribute suggestions on his characters and offer his support.   

I am really proud of him because he had a host of problems that he has solved with his own writing skills.  He often says: “If you want to know about yourself, sit down and create a character.  Ninety per-cent of him will be you.”

 

PageOneLit.com:  What’s next? 

Virginia G. Vassallo: In the immediate future I will focus on marketing Unsung Patriot.  It is already available on our website, www.krazyduck.com, on amazon.com and at The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library.  Some friends and libraries have expressed interest, and Russ and I will be at a number of book fairs this fall, including the Decatur Book Festival, Decatur, GA, just outside of Atlanta,  the Giles Society in Kentucky, Book ‘Em in Waynesboro, VA, and the Kentucky Book Fair.

 

PageOneLit.com:  What was the last book you read? 

Virginia G. Vassallo:Mao, The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

 

PageOneLit.com:  Do you have any hobbies?  What are they?  How do they enhance your writing?

Virginia G. Vassallo:I am very interested in genealogy.  The interest has been there for years but when Russ told me that I would never be able to find out about his family beyond their arrival in New Orleans, it was too much of a challenge to let pass.  Now he knows about his family dating back to the 1750s and it has inspired him to work on a book, tentatively called Streetwise, about his Sicilian roots. 

I also enjoy taking long walks in the woods with my dogs and trail riding my Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, Diablo.

The horseback riding is pure pleasure but the genealogy sparked my interest in my grandfather so that I keep wanting to find out more and more about him.  I still feel there is more to discover.   

Walking in the peace and quiet of the woods is a way to renew myself and I find that often I come back with a new perspective on a problem or just the right way to phrase something.