Thursday, February 12, 2015

German Writer has Passed Away

My mother, German writer Sonja Herbert, passed away on Febuary 6th, 2015. She is very loved and will be sorely missed.

http://www.walkersanderson.com/obituaries/Sonja-Julia-Herbert/Provo-UT/1480123

Sonja Julia Herbert
   
Sonja Julia Herbert

September 29, 1947 - February 6, 2015
Resided in Provo, UT
Guestbook Photos Services

Obituary

Sonja Julia Herbert, 1947~2015

On the evening of February 6, 2015, at age 67, Sonja Julia Herbert passed away due to injuries received in an auto-pedestrian accident. At the time of her passing, Sonjalein was surrounded by loving family at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. She was an extraordinarily strong woman who radiated an example of loving acceptance to every life she touched.

Sonja was born to the late Apolinary Wawrzyniak (Father) and Margot Edel (Mother) on September 29, 1947 in Duisburg, Germany. Born in the aftermath of World War II, Sonja experienced an uncommon childhood with her parents and siblings in a travelling carnival (as recorded in her published memoir, "Carnival Girl: Searching for God in the Aftermath of War," available on Amazon.com).

Her early life provided few roots, and the constant shift from place to place left Sonja searching for an anchor in her life. Through her struggles was born a much-sought-after relationship with God. As a result, Sonja was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly thereafter, she served a Mormon mission in the Germany Dusseldorf Mission for eighteen months.

On August 3, 1971, Sonja married Gary A. Towne. Continuing her life's journey, Sonja and Gary moved to the United States. In Manti, Utah, Sonja performed some of her most important work in life as she bore and raised seven cherished children. The death of her daughter, Keena Anne, in 1977 was a terrible trial through which she gained an unwavering belief in the eternal nature of life and of family relationships.

After her marriage to Gary Towne ended in August of 1990, Sonja moved with her children to Provo, Utah. Here, she continued her dream of acquiring higher education. Sonja went on to earn an Associate's degree at Snow College, a Bachelor's degree from Southern Utah University (Summa cum Laudae), and a Master's degree at Brigham Young University. While at BYU, she met Kenneth E. Herbert. Ken and Sonja married December 21, 1996 and remain eternal sweethearts today.

Sonja is an award-winning, published author, best known for her book Carnival Girl. Her historical novel, Tightrope, about her mother's life as a Jew in Nazi Germany, is still in progress.

She is survived by husband Ken Herbert; former husband Gary Towne; siblings Franz Wawrzyniak, Carmen Joseph, Josefa Dahl, Ewa Wawrzyniak, and Michael Wawrzyniak, all of Germany; children Dennis Towne, Daniel Towne, and Liesel Towne of Oregon; Marja Towne, Marit Towne, and Megan Towne Wickersham of Utah; step children Kenneth Herbert of Arizona, Jennifer Cano and Mariah Fralick of Utah, Jonathan Herbert of Texas, and Katherine Girard of Oregon; and by fifteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Sonja was preceded in death by her father Apolinary Wawrzyniak; mother-in-law Verna Towne; and by her daughter Keena Anne.

Sonja left every life she touched with an undeniable sense of their worth to her.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, February 18 at 1pm at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 800 North Locust Lane, Provo Utah 84606. To reach the chapel, proceed East on 800 North and turn left on Locust Lane. All who knew her are invited to come celebrate her life.
- See more at: http://www.walkersanderson.com/obituaries/Sonja-Julia-Herbert/Provo-UT/1480123#sthash.RNqVxCmF.dpuf

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Give Carnival Girl as a Christmas Present!


This Christmas season is the perfect time to order some copies of Carnival Girl from Amazon. They're selling it for a discount right now. And it will give all of you who haven't had a chance to read Carnival Girl yet, the opportunity to read it first before passing it on as a wonderful, spiritual and uplifting Christmas present.

So go for it, order it from Amazon or go to the BYU bookstore or any other bookstore in your neighborhood, and by an affordable and always appropriate Christmas present when you buy Carnival Girl.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Oktoberfest, Part 8

I stared into the sky at the Ferris wheel. It went up and up into the cloudy sky, seemingly right into Heaven. Eventually I looked back down again and realized we stood in a small line of people waiting to get into the gondolas. It was our turn and the roustabout helped us into the yellow and red gondola. It was large, had a canvas roof and the sides were protected by strong plexi-glass. Inside it was dry and almost cozy, and I was delighted to see that we shared the gondola with four other people.

Slowly, bit by bit, the gondola rose. As we reached the top, we could see out over the whole carnival grounds, with the beer tents at one side, and the attractions stretching out for several blocks. I took out our camera and Ken and I took turns taking pictures of the grounds, and of the large churches and other buildings of Munich that lay behind the grounds.


More about a surprise turn at the Ferris wheel tomorrow!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 65 yesterday! Yeah, Yeah!

Book Giveaway and Review

Cami from the blog Love, Pray, Read, conducted a book giveaway for Carnival Girl. The giveaway is over now, but you can read the blog post and a short interview here: Love, Pray, Read.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Oktoberfest, Part 7

A few minutes after we left, Liesel pointed to a lovely sight; a dark skinned and dark haired girl in the most lovely lavender dirndl, accompanied by the most handsome young blond and blue-eyed man in Lederhosen. 


This was the couple we met at the Oktoberfest

I approached them and said, “Excuse me, do you mind posing for a picture for my daughter who is visiting from America?”

They didn’t mind at all, and after the pictures were taken, we found out that the young woman came from Brazil, where she had met the German fellow, and then had followed him to Munich. They took a few pictures of us, too, and we said good-bye and left.

The beer stands were so crowded with half drunk youth standing around them, buying and drinking beer, that we passed them by and went on for our obligatory Ferris wheel ride, Ken and I always take when we are at a carnival.