PRIVATE PATH: The Desk Calendars of Mary Jo Clark 1937-1944

by Mary Jo Clark, Jack Clark (Editor)

When Mary Jo Clark died, she left behind a library that nobody knew existed. In the back of a desk drawer, her children found seven desk calendars. On thousands of three by four inch pages, Mary Jo tells the story of her young adulthood. It's also the story of 'The Greatest Generation.' Raised in the Great Depression, they came of age just in time for World War II. It's a story of faith and family, of hard work and of a hunger for education and advancement; a story of wartime separations and tragedy, and a love story too.

Mary Jo and Jack Clark are also the authors of On the Home Front. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "The book itself is a marvel of writerly restraint... Some are private moments... other brush against history--news of Pearl Harbor, or the Dorchester, a World War II troop ship sunk off the coast of Greenland. It was famous for the four chaplains who gave up their life vests to other sailors, but Bill, who was dating Mary Jo's younger sister, wasn't one of the lucky survivors... The books strength is that it doesn't stoop to Greatest Generation mythologizing. The Clarks are real people, and Mary Jo doesn't try to make them heroes."

320 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2019