Dear Eva: A WWII Story, Told in Letters November 8

Your emotions will be stirred when you hear a reading of highlights from “Dear Eva,” a captivating non-fiction play based on World War II letters that were written by ordinary men and women in an extraordinary time. The 50-minute reading on November 8 at 1pm will be by the play’s co-authors, Catherine Ladnier of Greenwich and Paul Janensch of Bridgeport. They will welcome your questions and comments immediately afterwards.

The letters were saved by Eva Lee Brown of Easley, S.C. The men are in uniform. Some see action. The women are lonely and dealing with shortages. The letters are candid, sad and funny. The common theme is a longing for a return to normal life. The letters were discovered by Eva’s daughter, Catherine, who is a theater buff and compliance consultant in the securities industry.   She invited Paul, a former newspaper editor and professor emeritus of journalism at Quinnipiac University, to collaborate with her. Together, they selected the most dramatic letters, arranged them into story lines and edited them down to their essentials. The letters tell several compelling inter-twined stories. Something terrible happens to the battalion in which Eva’s brother Bill is serving, but it’s a military secret. Cousin Clifton flies against his mother’s wishes and is shot down over France. Eva is pursued by servicemen who write her ardent letters; one correspondent is Harry Ladnier, who receives love letters from other women. At the end, we learn what happened to Bill’s battalion and who won Eva’s heart.

The time seems right for hearing the highlights from “Dear Eva.” Interest in World War II is high. During the discussion period that follows a reading, audience members of all ages are eager to talk about World War II. Maybe they were involved in the war. Or they heard about it from parents or grandparents. Many draw comparisons between World War II and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They note that back then all Americans made sacrifices, not just members of the armed forces and their families.