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When you move around a lot as a child, or live overseas,
one of the advantages you miss is a "hometown" network - people who write you
recommendations, people who support your artistic endeavors in their infancies,
people who cheer you on just because, well, you're the "hometown guy" or the
"hometown gal."
This type of networking is particularly important for writers and artists and
actors and musicians - even athletes. There aren't too many college football
scouts roaming the streets of Ankara, Turkey to check out the latest
halfback, right?
That's why Brats Without Borders is pleased to present this list of brats who
are out there making their mark on the world. Support them, cheer them on, or
just wish good thoughts for them. They're your "hometown" guys and gals.
We're also putting together the
BRATS Hope Network
- to acknowledge and spread
the word about BRATS that are out there doing good deeds! If you know of a brat
trying to make a difference in the world, please
let us know - and we'll help
get the word out.
Books and Films by
or about Brats
Music by Brats
Artwork by or about Brats
Theatre by or about
Brats
Other Brats Doing
Good Work
Books and Films by or about Brats
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Donna Musil
Writer-Director of BRATS: Our Journey Home, the first documentary about growing up in a military family, narrated by legendary singer-songwriter, Kris Kristofferson (an Air Force brat), and featuring General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (an Army brat), author Mary Edwards Wertsch, psychotherapist Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, and many others.
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Donna Musil
Writer-Director of Brats Raw: Kristofferson & Schwarzkoppf, the uncut interviews of iconic military "brats" Kris Kristofferson and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
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Mary Edwards Wertsch
Author of Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood
Inside the Fortress, the ground-breaking
1991 non-fiction book which opened the eyes and soothed the soul of many a military brat,
including the writer-director of BRATS: Our Journey Home, Donna Musil. Donna
discovered Mary's book after embarking on her journey to make the BRATS film. It's a
remarkable book, which covers both the positive and negative legacies of growing up
in a military family. Every brat will relate to something in this book. Mary also
founded Brightwell Publishing in 2005, which specializes in books and films
that explore and strengthen the military brat cultural identity.
Click here for the Kindle version!
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Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman
Author of The Narcissistic Family: Diagnosis and Treatment.
Don't let the title fool you. This is an amazing book. If Mary Wertsch's book helped
BRATS writer-director Donna Musil see "why she was the way she was," Stephanie's
book helped Donna figure out "what to do
about it." It's actually written for mental health professionals about children
who grow up in environments where their emotional needs always took second place to
"something else." In Donna's case, it was the Military Mission. In a missionary kid's case,
it's God. In an alcoholic family's case, it's the alcohol. Whatever it
is, it seems to affect individuals the same way. Stephanie doesn't designate
the Military Mission as "something else" in the book. Donna made that connection
when she was reading the book for personal reasons. But she does think Stephanie
hit the mark and recommends it highly!
Click here for the Kindle version!
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Jane Barcroft
Author of Pink Sand Poems, poetry inspired by the author's
experiences growing up in Bermuda.
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Writing Out of Limbo: The International Childhood Experience of Global Nomads and Third Culture Kids
Edited by Gene H. Bell-Villada and Nina Sichel with Faith Eidse and Elaine Neil Orr.
A groundbreaking collection of memoirs, interviews, theory, and
poetry exploring TCK experiences in military, diplomatic corps,
international business, education, and missionary families... and
their ever-present search for belonging. Included in
this collection is Writer-Director Donna Musil's first written account
of her struggle to produce and distribute the BRATS film.
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Sarah Bird
Author of The Yokota Officer's Club and many other wonderful
books.
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David Burgess
Author of a number of very funny books, including
He's Not a Doorman, a field guide for
civilians who interact with military members on an infrequent basis.
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Allen Clark
Author of Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior, a personal story of
a Vietnam Veteran (and Military Brat) who lost his legs but found his soul.
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Faith Eidse and Nina Sichel, Editors
Author of Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up
Global.
A beautiful book of deeply personal memoirs from authors like Pat Conroy, Isabele Allende,
and Carlos Fuentes, about moving around the world as a child from South America to
Africa.
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Morten G. Ender
Editor of Military Brats and Other Global Nomads:
Growing Up in Organization Families, a Sociology Professor at West Point, and
an expert on military children. After World War II, American political, military, corporate, and humanitarian responsibilities abroad expanded greatly. With families in tow, government officials, military service personnel, business executives, and missionaries began to travel and live, in increasing numbers, outside of their home country. Other nations followed suit. Ender examines this legacy of the late 20th century and analyzes the social, psychological, and historical imprints on people who came of age in these service organization families.
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Books for Brats
Michelle Ferguson-Cohen, Author of Mommy, You're My Hero! and Daddy, You're My Hero!,
called the "Dr. Seuss" for military brats by The Washington Times.
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Lucinda Franks
Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of My Father's Secret War: A Memoir,
in which a daughter discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in
fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II.
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Jean Walters Gayle
Author of The Colonel's Daughter, a true story of
Occupied Germany 1946-1949.
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Gail Hosking Gilberg
Author of Snake's Daughter: The Roads In and Out of War.
An Army daughter's autobiography about her father, who was a soldier in Vietnam.
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Scott Hawley
Author of Hot Times During the Cold War: An American Comes of Age in
West Germany.
A wonderfully introspective and thought-provoking book of poetry about growing up brat in
Germany in the 80s.
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Christine Kriha Kastner
Author of Soldiering On - Finding My Homes.
A military brat returns to Okinawa 40 years after attending Kubasaki High School and has the
adventure of a lifetime - just not quite the karaoke, sake, and pachinko experience she expected!
Click here for the Kindle version!
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The Hero In My Pocket
A unique book for children whose lives have been affected by the loss of a member of the
U.S. Armed Forces, by Marlene Lee.
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Brats Press
Sandi Lorenzana publishes products that encourage conversations about feelings
and teach coping skills for military families, including - Coming Home Series:
Navy Dad
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Samia Mounts
Author of Frunk the Skunk, about a spunky 11-year-old who moves
to Seoul, Korea. Her debut novel captures the vulnerability of adolescents and conveys the
nuances of everyday life on an American army base.
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Robin Pascoe
Author of Raising Global Nomads: Parenting Abroad in an On-Demand
World. Any parent considering moving children abroad should read this book.
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Michael Ritter
Author of The Brat Chronicles.
"The Brat Chronicles had me laughing out loud from the first chapter. The Griswold
Family has nothing on the Ritters. From falling in French toilets to feeding
seven on a Master Sergeant's salary, 'it's all just part of the adventure.'
Michael Ritter may well be the Jeff Foxworthy of brats!" --
Donna Musil, Writer-Director, Brats: Our Journey Home.
Click here for the Kindle version!
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Tony Savageau & Walter Chalkley
Authors of Train of Thought, about two old friends reliving a
post-high school train trip through Europe 15 years after the fact.
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Constance Squires
Author of Along the Watchtower, the debut novel of a
wonderful new "brat" writer! Set against the closing years of the Cold War, Ms.
Squires introduces the family of Army Major Collins, as told through the eyes of
Lucinda Collins, his eldest daughter.
"I loved this book. It made me laugh. It made me cry. I wanted to throw my arms
around that little hard-headed military brat searching for roots in her rootless world.
In the end, she realizes what every survivor eventually does – no one is going to
save you, you have to do it yourself." --
Donna Musil, Writer-Director, Brats: Our Journey Home.
Click here for the Kindle version!
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Patricia Y. Stallard
Author of Glittering Misery: Dependents of the Indian
Fighting Army. The standard work on nineteenth-century military dependents,
the women and children who followed the Indian fighting army west after the
Civil War. In 200 years, some things never change!
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Mary Truscott
Author of one of the first books about growing up military,
Brats: Children of the American Military Speak Out.
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William Wiseman
Author of Flyby, a novel about an Air Force brat who is mysteriously
catapulted back in time to 1943 as the reincarnation
of a bomber squadron commander to lead the most disastrous raid flown in the history of the 8th Air Force.
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Music by Brats
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Brett Mikels
Beautiful music. Brats will definitely relate. A blend of Soul,
R&B, and good old Rock-N-Roll. This guy is good.
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Christa Wells
2006 Gospel Music Association Award for Songwriter of the Year.
Wrote the touching song "Before the Tree Comes Down" to the troops in Iraq.
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Art by or about Brats
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Lora Beldon
Thought-provoking art about growing up "brat" during the Vietnam War
from a Richmond, VA educator/visual storyteller/conceptual artist.
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Tim Gifford
Breathtaking sculptures from a United Nations brat and fireman
living in Colorado.
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Jerry Gryniewicz
Beautiful photographs from a military brat and USAF veteran in
Vermont.
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Frank D. Kelley
Lakenheath brat whose Multiple Sclerosis, wheelchair, and prostate cancer doesn't stop him
from creating wonderful electronic crayon art and performing stand up comedy!
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Theatre by or about Brats
Other Brats Doing Good Work
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Marty McCarty
Executive Director and Board Member, Military
Community Youth Ministries. A "brat" himself, Marty has spent many years
giving back to his community and helping make life better for current-day military
children around the world, particularly teenagers, who need as much
attention as we can give them. Marty has also been an ardent supporter of
Brats Without Borders and the work we do to help military brats and TCKs.
For more information, see
Military Community Youth Ministries.
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Tim Heinemann and Worldwide Impact Now (WIN)
Founder, Worldwide Impact Now.
Since retiring from the Army after 30 years, Retired Colonel Tim Heinemann has
dedicated his life to providing humanitarian assistance through his nonprofit
organization, WIN. Tim is currently focusing on three initiatives in Burma,
Kenya, and Mexico. In Burma, ethnic minorities struggle for survival against
a repressive military dictatorship. In Kenya and Mexico, WIN is partnering
with tribal leaders on school-orphanage projects. To find out more, visit
Tim's websites at www.worldwide-impact-now.org. |
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