The Somerset Daily Record
Somerset, PA - April 2001
Young Heart Books,
located in The Glades Court Building and owned by Reba Kreger, will sponsor two
events this week.
On
Tuesday, Ron Madison will hold a young writer’s workshop form 1:30 to 3:30
p.m., open to area homeschoolers.
On
Friday, John Snyder, author of “The Golden Ring,” set in 1918 in Meyersdale,
will speak at the bookstore form 5 to 8 p.m..
The
store is located at 101 West Main Street in Somerset.
Snyder,
a resident of Maryland, will be discussing his book and the true story behind
it. The book is based on tale told
to him by his grandmother about one of her most precious childhood Christmas
memories, which took place in Meyersdale, where she grew up.
After
his presentation, copies of the book will be on sale and Snyder will sign
copies.
A
few years ago at Christmastime, while visiting his grandmother, Anna Snyder, in
LaVale, Md., Snyder began asking her about her childhood, about what it was like
growing up in the early 1900’s in Meyersdale. The elder Snyder told her grandson about one Christmas, in
particular, that was her most memorable.,
Snyder
was intrigued by the tale his grandmother told him. So, after their visit, he drove from LaVale to
Meyersdale with his wife and two daughters to visit the small western
Pennsylvania town where his grandmother grew up, and where his father was born.
The
town remained much as Snyder remembered it from his childhood visits there to
see his great-grandmother, Elda Beal. When he arrived at the address of his
grandmother’s memories, Snyder discovered that the house was gone and the lot
vacant. As he stood there in the
snow, he tried to visualize his grandmother’s childhood home as he replayed
her story in his head.
On
the 3 ½ hour drive back to his home near Annapolis, Md., Snyder couldn’t stop
thinking about the story. As he
tapped his finger on the steering wheel in time to a Christmas tune playing on
the car stereo, the idea occurred to him that he should write down the story his
grandmother told him so his children would always have her Christmas memory.
Hopefully, they would pass it along to their children and the story would
live within his family forever.
Over
the next few years, Snyder wrote and re-wrote different versions of the story,
adding to it and elaborating on the tale. “What
started out as a short story for my daughters, ended up as this 164-page
hardcover Christmas gift book entitled The Golden Ring,” said Snyder.
“Some of the story is true, some of it is fiction…but the message is
for real.” He revealed.
The
advancing age of Snyder’s grandmother served as strong motivation for him to
complete the book. “I wanted to
get the book finished and into her hands so that she would have the joy of
seeing her childhood Christmas memories in print,” Snyder said. “Although she was in remarkably good health for
someone-ninety years old. I knew
that soon, time would take her from us…and it did.”
Ironically,
Snyder’s grandmother passed away just days after receiving a copy of the
finished book.
Snyder
originally self-published the book in November 1999, releasing it into a handful
of bookstores in the Washington, D.C. area and in Western Maryland.
The book, and the story behind it, quickly became the subject of numerous
newspaper articles and radio interviews.
Snyder
released The Golden Ring nationally in September 2000 and again, the book was a
favorite among readers. To date, he
has sold more than 26,000 copies of his self-published book.
The book received national recognition last year on ABC network radio and
Family Circle Magazine featured it in its December 2000 issue in a 9 –page
article.
The
success of “The Golden Ring” was noticed by Warner Books, one of America’s
leading book publishers, which is owned by media conglomerate Time-Life-Warner
America On Line, Warner Books recently offered Snyder a book contract to
purchase the publishing rights to the book.
They plan to release the book for this up-coming Christmas holiday season
and support it with a national advertising campaign.
Snyder has also received calls from a number of movies producers who have
expressed interest in making his book into a movie.
For
those unable to attend the Friday appearance, Snyder will be discussing and
signing his book at The Meyersdale Public Library located at 210 Center Street
in Meyersdale on Thursday.