A Most Improbable Union The DAR and the Coal Dealer

A Most Improbable Union is the story of two people at the dawn of the 20th century, opposite in class and culture, one from western New York and the other Germany, one a Daughter of the American Revolution (Carolyn) the other (Conrad) a 'coal dealer.' Carolyn, the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, marinated in a world of conservative economic theory and practice, and matching politics. Conrad, the second son of a shoemaker with little or no interest in politics. His ancestors, ground up by endless cycles of poverty, the pawns of endless European wars and resultant migrations, were never the 'sons' or 'daughters' of anything so grand as a revolution. Those who knew the pair scratched their heads in amazement at their merger. All agreed it was most improbable ... FROM THE BOOK: Anna Maria Bauer held out her arms to the boy. In one hand she clutched a bowl from which a spoon threatened to tumble as the S.S. Belgenland corkscrewed through the swells, its steel-plated sides groaning in protest. Those moans became a chorus when echoed by the steerage passengers, as though the two, flesh and steel, were one. Occasionally, the trough was steep enough to lift the propellers clear of the water, vibrating the vessel as though God himself had reached down and given it a good shake.