My memoir Becoming American grew out of a trip I took with my daughter to explore the places of our family’s origin in Eastern Europe, including searching for a hidden cemetery near Prague where my paternal great-grandparents were buried. On our return, I wrote a stand-alone story about our adventures
for the rest of our extended family. That led me to write more stories about my life growing up in Europe in the years following World War II, with parents who were Holocaust survivors. After writing a half dozen such stories, I visualized making them the heart of a book, describing not only my youth in Europe during an interesting and volatile time, but also my family’s immigration to the United States and my professional and political careers here. That first story became the opening chapter and portions of subsequent chapters of my memoir. And the book evolved into a chronicle of my experience in becoming American.
Writing this book took several years. I have published dozens of essays in major newspapers, as well as articles in professional magazines, but this was a much larger and much more personal undertaking. I required that time to recall experiences from decades ago, perform research to fill in the gaps, and turn all of that into a manuscript.
With the help of a professional writers’ group, I edited and rewrote every chapter repeatedly, each time remembering additional details. Ultimately, I was able to tell what I hoped would be an inspiring tale built around such events as Army Counterintelligence agents gathered at my family’s home in Austria; a tense encounter with Russian soldiers during the post-war occupation; seeing Jim Crow racism in the South during a childhood visit to the United States; becoming an American citizen in my teens; having my citizenship challenged by American border guards; fearing for my new country upon witnessing the Watts riots during a visit to California; serving as an officer in the US Navy; rising to leadership positions in organizations shaping important government policies; and advancing the American dream as a real estate lawyer helping develop entire new communities.
As I wrote, I recognized a more significant purpose for the book than simply telling a good story. At a time when issues of immigration and American identity are foremost in national political discussion, I wanted my book to provide an inspiring tale of how much an immigrant can contribute to America’s culture, politics, and economy, all while retaining ties to one’s family roots.
I hoped, of course, that this story would resonate with agents and publishers. I quickly learned that, no matter how fascinating the subject matter or how good the writing, it is extremely difficult to interest major publishers in a memoir written by someone other than a known celebrity. Fortunately, I quickly found an independent publisher interested in my story. Then, shortly after the book’s release, it won the 2020 Discovery Award for best political writing from an indie publisher. Now, I’m on to writing about other first-person experiences. And it all started with a search for a cemetery.
BOOK BLURB:
Becoming American is the inspiring story of the author’s transformation from a child of Holocaust survivors in post-war Europe to an American lawyer, academic, and activist associated with such famed political leaders as Robert Kennedy, George McGovern, Jerry Brown, and Tom Hayden.
Searching for his great-grandparents’ graves in a hidden cemetery outside Prague makes him recall his experiences of becoming American: listening to Army Counterintelligence agents gathered at his family home in Austria; a tense encounter with Russian soldiers during the post-war occupation; seeing Jim Crow racism in the South during his first visit to the United States; becoming an American citizen in his teens; having his citizenship challenged by border guards; fearing for his new country upon witnessing the Watts riots in Los Angeles; advancing the American dream as a real estate lawyer, helping develop entire new communities; and rising to leadership positions in organizations shaping government policies around some of the most important issues of our time.
Becoming American won the 2020 Discovery Award for best political writing from an independent publisher. It features a foreword by bestselling author Edith Eger.
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Cary Lowe is the author of the award-winning book Becoming American: A Political Memoir. He has published over fifty essays on political and civic issues in major newspapers, as well as professional reports and articles in professional journals.
Mr. Lowe is a retired California land use lawyer with 45 years of experience representing public agencies, developers, Indian tribes, and non-profit organizations. He holds a law degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He taught courses in law and urban planning at USC, UCLA, and UC San Diego, and he writes and lectures on land use and environmental issues. In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Lowe is a credentialed mediator affiliated with the Land Use & Environmental Mediation Group of the National Conflict Resolution Center.
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Website: https://carylowewriter.com/
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