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Special to the Tribune-Star
Rockville —
Authors Dom Fiorda and Kendra newlin Brady will host a book talk/signing at 6:30 p.m. June 19 at Rockville Public Library. The title of their book is “Spirit Time: The Adventures of Ernest Spirit.”
Fiorda explains why he decided to write this book: “My interest in the spirit world began at a very young age. There was never any doubt during my youth that my existence went beyond my mortal years — both before and after. It had become such a part of my mind-set that I simply took it for granted. Envisioning humorous and meaningful situations, that I could get involved in as a spirit led me to putting these imaginary stories in writing. After a few years of tossing this around in my mind, I made up the character of Ernest Spirit, and this book is my ‘spin’ on some of the adventures that he was a part of before he was born.”
Fiorda was born at the tail end of the depression in a predominately immigrant Italian neighborhood in south Philadelphia. He served in the U.S. navy during the Korean war, married at 21 (wife deceased), and raised a close knit family of two boys and three girls.
He now has 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren with two more due in 2012. He is retired from his business career as a sales manager and motel owner in the resort town of Wildwood, n.J. He met Kendra Brady in 2004 and found that he shared many interests with her, and they bonded from the start.
Brady grew up in Rockville, receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Indiana State University. She taught elementary school for 32 years, 25 of which were in Rockville.
Brady was told by her sixth- grade teacher, Marie Collings, that she had a special gift for writing. During her teaching career, Brady wrote three children’s books that she read many times to her students but never found the time to have published. After retirement she wrote and published two books about the Marco Island Men’s Senior Softball League, which Fiorda currently plays on.
Fiorda and Brady currently live in Danville, Ind., and Marco Island, Fla.
