Book Interview

I was interviewed on “Shelf Talk with Tara and Tina” to talk about my book, “The Accidental Hero.” Time flew by as we discussed my grandfather’s amazing story, the Czech translation of my book, the Czech tradition of having godparents for a book launch, and the joy of writing. The delightful interviewers are author Tina Prigge, and publisher Tara Huck. We also talked about my ongoing collaboration with my favorite band, Copper Box, and its two leaders, Danny and Michelle Jerabek. I hope you enjoy!

To order the book, click on the graphic of the book to the right. To listen to the interview, click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK6Xi6ol_lI

Michelle and Danny Jerabek with me in front of City Hall in Domažlice, Czech Republic on May 5, 2026, the anniversary of the city’s liberation from the Nazis. The authentic American jeep is named “Little Kay,” the same moniker my grandfather gave his WWII jeep, after my mother, his youngest child during the war. The jeep is owned by Amar Ibrahim, the leader of Domažlice’s extensive WWII commemorative camp, and resident of the Hruska Building on the main square, the very spot my grandfather parked his jeep the day he entered Domažlice in 1945. Amar is also a character in my book, as well as a dear friend. His obsession with the WWII liberation predated his knowledge of my grandfather’s story. We later discovered that my grandfather and his great grandfather and great great grandmother spent an afternoon together after the end of the war, one of the many delicious ongoing coincidences swirling around my grandfather’s story.

My mom, Kay Dewane, with Amar Ibrahim and his jeep, “Little Kay.” The photo was taken in May, 2015 in Pilsen, Czech Republic at the end of the city’s Convoy of Liberty, an annual parade of authentic WWII vehicles to honor the US Army’s liberation of Southwestern Czechoslovakia in the final days of WWII. The parade that year featured a dozen WWII US Army veterans, “our liberators,” as the Czechs call them. Over 100,000 people lined Pilsen’s main boulevard for the parade, which is broadcast on Czech television. WWII vehicle collectors from the Czech Republic and across Europe participate in the event, which annually draws over 200 authentic jeeps, transport trucks, half-tracks, greyhounds, a tank tow truck, and a Sherman tank. The jeep Little Kay was dedicated on May 5, 2015 by my mom, the namesake of the jeep. Amar surprised her, my brother, Jim Dewane, and me with the naming.