Madame W

About the Book

“Madame W” is Leila Israel Weisberg’s collection of family stories spanning more than a century. Early in the 20th Century her parents came to America as children from Eastern Europe. This book of memories begins with the story of their courageous journey across a continent and an ocean to a new beginning. It then takes us through her childhood, growing up in Brooklyn, New York during the depression and the impact of World War II. Graduation from Brooklyn College was an important milestone. Then marriage and raising a family of six children. The final sections concern retirement, her life in Atlanta, and adventures with all the grandchildren. Leila has been collecting stories for seventy-nine years but it wasn’t until she retired that she started writing them down. This collection began as an annual letter of stories and reminiscences sent to her children and grandchildren. It soon became apparent that the stories needed to be collected and published. What she considered her ‘ordinary’ life is perhaps more extraordinary than she thought. This work has been a labor of love and there are many stories yet to be written. Volume two must be on the way because we still don’t know the logic behind David’s request for Spanish Pie for his birthday cake, or about the day Ilene played hooky from school, or when Wendy was left behind in the Capitol in Washington, DC, or the story of how Quanky, Marcie’s toy duck, went flying out the car window…………..

About the Author

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926 of immigrant parents, Leila Israel Weisberg made the improbable journey south to Decatur, Georgia with stops along the way in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. Leila has been collecting stories for seventy-nine years but it wasn’t until she retired that she started writing them down. Married in 1951 and widowed in 1973, her six children, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild have provided much of the material and incentive for her writing. It is for them that she has compiled this book.