Mark Antony

As a way to pass the time during 2020's Covid-19 lockdowns, my Dad, Stan Olszewski, decided to write a historical memoir detailing his life and the lives of his family, who migrated from rural Poland via Germany in the aftermath of World War II and created an amazing life for themselves in Australia.

Dad's memoir, Two Trunks and a Bag of Oranges, has been through dozens of iterations since his initial 2020 draft, including contributions and reviews from other Olszewski family members. After nearly four years, the final draft is finally complete and ready for printing.

Although Dad was always intending to pay to self-publish his book with the help of other generous family members, his recent 80th birthday provides an opportunity for other family members and close friends to contribute to the printing costs of publication and gain a sense of ownership of what is a book for the whole family.

While this is mainly Dad's story, it is the first time that the sprawling story of the Olszewski family, told with the background of world-changing events, has been fully recounted - a record that will hopefully be the perfect keepsake for all descendants of Józef and Karolina Olszewski, now numbering in the hundreds. 

But as Dad puts it so eloquently in his foreword, this is just the start of the Olszewski story. The final section of the book makes a start on the histories of the second, third and fourth generations, but of course their stories are still to unfold - it is Dad's hope that by having his memoir on your family's bookshelves, it will inspire them to keep telling their stories, 

The $5,000 target is to cover the design and printing of hard-cover version of the memoir and a family tree poster, and also cover any potential postage or incidental costs:

Graphic design and project management (book and poster): $700.00

Book printing (150 copies): $3,750.00

Poster printing (20 copies): $400.00

Postage and incidentals: $150.00

Total: $5,000.00