Barnett Singer, Author, Teacher, Historian

You never know who you might meet at the grocery store… Just prior to COVID, while shopping at a local grocery store for the week’s supplies, a gentleman approached me asking how to prepare Plantain, a sort of banana-look-a-like fruit, that I was putting into my grocery basket. Being the chatty sort, I began detailed instructions for sauteeing Plantain and how my husband and I had grown fond of having this instead of home-fried potatoes for breakfast at times.

During the conversation, one thing led to another, and by chance, we found we were both writers. Albeit, I was somewhat taken aback when I found out he was the famous author Barnett Singer and Professor Emeritus of History at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. 

Amazing, I had just met Barnett Singer, who also writes under B.B. Singer, and Beldon Baxter as his other nom de plume or pen names. I felt somewhat awed by his reputation. I mentioned I had written a cookbook and was working on a children’s book. We exchanged emails and corresponded several times before returning to writing mode. Most writers will understand that is when we submerge ourselves in a book we are working on and don’t come up for air until it is finished.

While working on my blog articles about Creative People, I realized this section would not be complete without mentioning this amazing writer. The first book on my reading list was Esther’s Odyssey: Adventures of a Jewish Girl in Europe of the Late 1930s.

Esther’s Odyssey by B.B. Singer is a poignant tale about the adventures of a young Jewish girl in Europe during the 1930s tense Nazi-dominated period.

The novel follows her adventures through adverse situations and a number of trials that turn out to be fascinating twists immersing the reader in her life story.

She meets a series of interesting characters from all walks of life and classes. In reading it, you feel like you are there; the dialogue and detail of the era, it is a book you won’t be able to put down.

If you ask me, it should be made into a movie, but would that even do it justice?

Esther’s Odyssey – Merriam Press Historical Fiction

Poetry is often a personal look through an author’s eyes.

The poems in “Of Seasons and Moods – Poetry I Left Behind the Times” by Beldon Baxter are a collection of such moments.

They center on the soothing effects of Nature or “Letting Nature Soothe,” “Life’s Paradox,” taking “Refuge” and reaching out to old friends, “Reaching Out To An Old Friend In La-La Land” or “Striving in Vermont” and the mundane thoughts elicited by “Torn Curtains.”

Written in freestyle, the book will take you on a journey through myriad paths, some thought-provoking, some relaxing, some quaint and considerate.

Research and History

Maxime Weygand, a Biography of the French General in Two World Wars, by Barnett Singer

“During the armistice proceedings and at the Peace Conference after World War I, French General Maxime Weygand served as chief aid to Marshal Foch. Called out of retirement in the late 1930s, Weygand again served his country during World War II, becoming commander in chief of the French Army. His call for enhanced French unity, military preparedness, and adaptation to a new kind of war dominated by tank mobility might have saved France the humiliating defeat in 1940 at the hand of the Nazis had it been heeded. Weygand’s recognition of the Nazi threat earned him the respect of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. Weygand’s Vichy Resistance led to his imprisonment from late 1942 through the end of the war. French archival sources, available oral testimony, and Weygand’s private papers contribute to a fascinating biography of one of World War II’s unsung heroes.” Review.

You can imagine the amount of research that has gone into any one of Barnett Singer’s Books. As a case in point, the above-mentioned book “Maxime Weygand, a Biography of the French General in Two World Wars” by Barnett Singer -must have taken months, if not years, of research.

Barnett Singer has also co-authored several books with other writers. Barnett Singer’s books are available in bookstores, on Google Play, Amazon, and Bookshop.org

So next time someone asks you for a recipe while shopping, think of who they might be. I believe the universe puts us together with others that will inspire us from time to time. I didn’t find out from this unassuming man that he was so famous until I did some research; I hope you will enjoy this introduction to the works of Barnett Singer.

Enjoy reading!

In case you would also like to know how to cook Plantain, here is a link to the recipe and all about Plantains and their health benefits.