By Iuliana Petre
Killeen Daily Herald

Texas author Ray Grasshoff may not be a man of two worlds, but his great-great-grandfather, Wilhelm F. Kempe, a German immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1854, certainly was.

Grasshoff published his first book last month, the nonfiction novel "Man of Two Worlds," which tells the story of Kempe's struggle to balance and reconcile the lives of his relatives in America, with those of the family he left in Germany.

According to the description of "Man of Two Worlds" on lulu.com, the book is "based on letters written to Kempe by his family and friends in Germany over the course of 40 years. The book documents the tremendous disruption that emigration from Europe brought to family and friends who remained behind."

An Austin resident, a former newspaper editor in Schulenburg and a retired public information officer who worked at four state agencies for more than 25 years, 53-year-old Grasshoff inherited photocopies of letters written to Kempe by his family members.

The photocopied letters were translated in the 1960s and remained in Grasshoff's family for years only because they were preserved and passed down through generations.

"As a kid I happened to get copies of (these letters). I've had them for a few years, photocopies of the translations and photocopies of the original letters. They're so faded you can't hardly see them," Grasshoff said. "I tried to look at those letters and figure out what they were about. After I did, I realized it's bigger than just a family thing."

The letters offered Grasshoff a new perspective about how immigration disrupted the lives of the families left behind and unlike anything he'd ever read in a history book.

"We hear about the troubles that the immigrants had here, but not too much about how the people in Germany had to deal with those sorts of things," Grasshoff said, adding that Kempe left behind an aging and widowed father who single-handedly raised two more children – Kempe's 10-year-old sister and 8-year-old brother – while running the family farm.

"Immigration really disrupted the social fabric back in Germany when the younger people left. We only know about this because someone saved these letters back in the 1800s and without them we have no clue as to what happened and what people had to deal with back then," Grasshoff said.

"Man of Two Worlds" includes the letters received by Kempe as transcribed by Grasshoff with additional narrative and explanation by Grasshoff about the historical events and other things taking place when the letters were written.

"Looking at family history you open doors to historical events. You find out what people had to go through in the past. I really think this is more than a family history," Grasshoff said. "This is an aspect that is not talked about very much."

To purchase a copy of "Man of Two Worlds," go to

http://stores.lulu.com/Grasshoff.

A preview of selected pages is accessible there as well.

A paperback copy costs $14.99 or may be downloaded for $6.25.

Contact Iuliana Petre at ipetre@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7469.

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