Old Man Trouble often lurks where we
least expect him — like yesterday. My friends were all set for a barbeque, when
a sudden gust carried everything except the meat to their neighbors—Old Man
Trouble! Nonetheless, with everyone pitching in we had a delightful meal
and much laughter.
The phrase, Outwitting Old Man Trouble, was coined by my
son-in-law’s grandfather, Charlie Stuart, a spirited and wise old man with a
great deal of wit. I’m better at forestalling troubles deliberately, which I
did for 25 years as a Risk Management consultant with Warren/McVeigh, writing
also their worldwide handbook, Practical Risk Management that deals with
all sorts of mundane troubles—warehouses burning down, employees suing for
sexual harassment, underwater pipes spouting oil… The handbook was subscribed to in 34 countries.
When I didn’t have to write for bread and butter anymore, I wrote
books. The first one, Live, Laugh & Learn, illustrates my
adventures coming to this glorious country thanks to a scholarship from
thoughtful Senator Fulbright. In The Madman and His Mistress I
wrote about my childhood; I grew up under Hitler, who used to promote
himself as sent by God to lead the world. Thank heaven he never
succeeded!
He proclaimed a 1,000-year Reich, but it lasted only
twelve, which, if you ask me, was by far too many!
I barely began writing my memoirs when I discovered that I knew next to
nothing about Hitler, the man who controlled everything we did or couldn’t do,
what we said or couldn’t say, even what we were to think or not to think.
So I spent two years researching his life that was painfully pieced
together after the war, a most bizarre story, much of it still little known
today; Hitler was a master at spinning tales! The Madman and His
Mistress (The Madman being Hitler, and his Mistress the
German people) rose to 4th place among amazon.com’s historical novels.
America has changed much since I arrived on its shores.
Still, I wouldn’t
want to live anywhere else!
More soon,
Rosi McIntosh
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