Update: Author Ted Gup Discusses "A Secret Gift" at BMFI

Michael Smerconish (l.) interviews Ted Gup at BMFI

Serendipity is a delicious word since it is most often used to describe a delightful and unexpected moment or set of moments.  I enjoyed some serendipity last night.  Bryn Mawr Film Institute was the setting for Michael Smerconish's first installment of his 2011 Book Club and the guest author was Ted Gup.  On November 9, I posted a blog entry (One Good Deed) about the author and his book, "A Secret Gift." To be sitting in a theatre full of book enthusiasts hearing Smerconish interview the author was something just dripping with, well, serendipity. 

Smerconish bubbled with enthusiasm as he introduced the author. He conducted an interview that really allowed Gup to expand on the book and the very personal journey he made to uncover the generosity and fractured beginnings of his maternal grandfather, Sam Stone.

Gup tried to put into context the very real feeling of loss and misery in 1933 when the nation's unemployment rate was 25 percent and, in Canton, Ohio, it soared to 50 percent.  "It is hard to imagine living in an America where there was nothing in place to catch you," Gup remarked. Acknowledging the current difficult economic times, Gup offered a perspective about the psyche of Canton residents which mirrored that of Americans during the Great Depression.  "Entitlement was not in their language let alone in the Federal budget," Gup noted.  "People were raised to believe that resourcefulness and determination would see you through."  They came to discover these attributes were often sadly not enough.  "The quality of human dignity is what defined this generation," Gup stated.  To write letters in reply to an ad offering no-strings attached financial assistance showed the level of need and despair in Canton. 
   

Ted Gup, author of "A Secret Gift"

Being financially crippled by the Depression, Americans dug deep to find ways to support themselves and their families only to find the odds insurmountable.  Understanding hardship firsthand, Gup's grandfather, Sam Stone, anonymously offered the financial help. "Touching those letters and reading their contents, you see there is an inherent eloquence regardless of the writer's place in the world," noted Gup, who heads the Journalism School at Boston's Emerson College. "It is what defined this generation which came of age during the Depression."  Comparing the articulate quality of writing and thoughtful tenor of the letters to current efforts, Gup wryly commented, "you can see the death of grammar today." Gup added that every one of the 150 people who were helped responded with thank you notes shortly after receiving the money.  They often identified specifically how they used the funds with repeated requests to either pay back the gift or imploring the unknown giver to allow them to work in some fashion to compensate one so generous in a very dark time.

Gup spoke with eloquent ease, ever aware of the uncanny nature of how the events unfolded to bring him to this story of generosity.  Gup is a natural storyteller. Gaining further insight into his beloved grandfather's psyche became a poignant result from his research.  Asked why his Orthodox Jewish grandfather would refer to Christmas in his ad as the appropriate time for giving, Gup knowingly replied, "My grandfather was very ecumenical in his beliefs.  Sam was moved by the notion of justice and of giving with no strings attached. The highest form of giving is doing so and wanting nothing back."


In 2010, three Canton residents repeated Sam Stone's generous efforts, using his anonymous name, B. Virdot (an amalgam of his three daughters' names, Betty, Virginia and Dotsie). They pooled  $15,000 of their own money so 150 more families could each receive $100 to help allay today's weighty economic problems.  As news spread of their efforts the total pot of money increased to $52,000; this included a donation of $15,000 from a donor who was a child recipient of Stone's original 1933 gift. Gup acknowledged that generosity is nothing new to Americans and humbly understands Sam's story is but one of innumerous anonymous efforts that occur daily.  Giving voice to Sam's has been "one of the most moving and important things to occur in my life," Gup mused.

I also learned about Gup's life as an investigative reporter. He worked for The Washington Post and New York Times.  His controversial 1992 report on the existence of a large underground bunker created below West Virginia's posh Greenbrier Resort to house US Congress members in the event of nuclear fallout continues to make headlines.  Smerconish ended the evening peppering Gup with questions about the topic, which in no small way intrigues the ebullient talk show host. Here is the link to the Post article. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm

There is nothing more illuminating than hearing an author share their journey, live, about the contents of their novel. It simultaneously humbled and delighted me to connect with Ted Gup.  There is a series of book club events planned in the next months at Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI). http://www.brynmawrfilm.org/ Smerconish's web site lists the dates and scheduled authors with bios.  http://www.smerconish.com/book_club.php
The original letters of request and thank you notes that serve as the basis for "A Secret Gift" are being donated by Gup to a library in Canton Ohio.  Relatives of the letter writers and community members can have access to a painful, yet powerful period in their history, when one man's good deed stretched beyond even his wildest imaginings. 

Here is the link to my original post about "A Secret Gift:" http://asubjectforconsideration.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-for-one.html