My Father's Secret War

Title: My Father's Secret War
Author: Lucinda Franks 
Publisher: Hyperion

Careening down the hill, bike gaining speed, eight-year-old Lucinda Franks lifts her hands from the handlebars and soars, going too fast, into the waiting arms of her father, Tom Franks.  Thus begins a fascinating and well-written biography of Lucinda’s father, Thomas Edward Franks.

Psychologically wounded during World War II, Tom Franks drew within himself, withdrawing even from his wife and two daughters.  Finding solace in the arms of another woman, Tom has no idea the psychological damage he is doing to his family.

Late in Tom's life, his daughter, Lucinda, courageously tries to penetrate her father’s wounds and recapture the tender man she knew as a child.  She knows something happened during the war, but her father won’t talk about it.  Lucinda discovered that her father was sent to investigate the first-discovered Nazi extermination camp.  A friend remembers that Tom, already shocked, looked down into an extermination pit and saw the naked corpse of a very young girl, eyes fixedly open, staring up at him, a sight that would un-nerve any of us.

Through great patience, interrogative sleuthing, and consulting many friends and public records, Lucinda gradually pieces together her father’s story.  Her skill at characterization brings Tom to life: Tom, his wife Lorraine, their younger daughter Barbara, and the other woman Pat.  Lucinda brings them alive in vivid detail.

So well written is this book you won’t want to skim, don’t want to set it down.  In his last years, Tom mind gives way to dementia, and his memory begins to fail.  He forgets that he does not want to talk about the war until Lucinda already brings him back into it.

World War II has affected all of us; it changed the course of history.  There’s a relevancy in Tom’s story that touches all of us.  He might as well be a dearly loved friend of ours.  The reader will identify with this father-daughter drama.  Just when you begin to wonder:  “How’s this story going to end?” (You know Tom is going to die; his daughters somehow carry on).  Lucinda puts meaning to her father’s life.  He didn’t just disappear into the nothingness from which he came.  He’s more than a mere memory: he’s a person.  There was a purpose to his life just as there is a purpose for all of our lives.

A to Z Marketing

A TO Z OF MARKETING

A.    Align your marketing strategy with corporate or organizational strategy.

B.     Buyer behavior at individual as well as collective level should be considered seriously.

C.     Communicate your marketing objectives externally as well as internally.

D.    Differentiate your products and services to win and maintain competitive advantage.

E.     Environment scanning should be undertaken to identify your opportunities and challenges.

F.      Focus on monitoring, measuring and adjusting your marketing objectives.

G.    Globalize, if necessary, but keep local needs in perspective.

H.    Have the courage of your convictions.

I.       Information on your competitors and customers should be converted into organizational knowledge.

J.       Juggle with various marketing mix components to consolidate your segmentation strategy.

K.    Knowledge of your customers and competitors, if used effectively, gives you a competitive edge.

L.     Listen to your customers and partner.

M.   Measure your performance, manage your marketing activities and motivate your staff.

N.    Non-financial measures are just as important as financial measures.

O.    Operational marketing planning should be part of your strategy marketing planning.

P.      People (staff and customers), processes and products should be motivated continuously to maintain your marketing performance.

Q.    Quality should be the primary consideration affecting all aspects of your business.

R.     Relationship marketing should be actively encouraged.

S.      Service excellence should be the core message of your organization.

T.      Transform your organization into a market-driven one.

U.    Understand the true nature of marketing.

V.    Value chain should help you create value for your customers.

W.   Winning competitive advantage is not enough; you have to sustain it

X.    X tempo your services and make customers happy

Y.    Your conviction, commitment and communication in relation to marketing will bring you  success.

Z.     Zeal and zest of your staff should be nurtured to create marketing mindset.