The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 14

0 Page 2B Sunday, March 27, 201 1 ALMANAC stun tar What these two need now is a cheap divorce 5 DEAR ABBY: My wife of 1 6 years, "Barb," and I argue constantly. We can't seem to agree on anything, have few com I i'v IN mon interests and don't enjoy our time together. Our love life is nonexistent. We hav gone to three marriage counselors and it hasn't helped. We now "get along" by avoiding each other.

Abigail A'an Buren Al.hv bSl I III rK c. VrM If III Bernie Delinski TimesDaily Associated Press Carolyn Tomlin talks about the book 'The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister which she co-wrote with Denise George, during a presentation to the Friends of the Helen Keller Public Library, in Tuscumbia last weekend. Holocaust book tells of survival HHjc JVmttstim tar A home-owned newspaper wwwannistonstar.com Got News? call 256-235-3594 Local news: Ben Cunningham, Editor, 256-235-3542, bcunninghamannistonstar.com; Features: Lisa Davis, Editor 256-235-3555, ldavisannistonstar.com Entertainment: Deirdre Long, Editor, 256-235-3580, dlongannistonstar.com Community news: Debbie Reaves, Editor, 256-235-3556, dreavesannistonstar.com Sports: Bran Strickland, Editor, 256-235-3570 bstricklandannistonstar.com AnnistonStar.com Chris Pittman, Online Producer 256-235-3543, cpittmanannistonstar.com Photography: Trent Penny, Chief photographer, 256-235-3565, tpennyannistonstar.com EditorialsLetters to the editor Phillip Tutor, Commentary editor, 256-235-3592, ptutorannistonstar.com Advertising: Classified Ads: 1-866-989-0873 classifiedsannistonstar.com Retail Ads: 256-235-9222, dhardyannistonstar.com Main switchboard: 256-236-1551 General policy; Bob Davis, Editor, 256-235-3540 bdavisannistonstar.com Robert Jackson, VP for'sales, 256-235-9206, rjacksonannistonstar.com Ed Fowler, VP for operations, 256-235-9203, efowlerannistonstar.com H. Brandt Ayers, Chairman and Publisher, 256-235-9201 bayersannistonstar.com P.A. Sanguinetti, President, 256-235-9202, psanguinettiannistonstar.com Story corrections: 256-235-3557 The Anniston Star always tries to get the facts straight.

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Mail and foreign subscription rates quoted upon request. HISTORY ON MARCH 27 IN 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted present-day Florida. 1911 Fort Lauderdale, was incorporated. 1 964 Alaska was hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunamis that killed about 130 people. 7525 YEARS AGO March 27, 1936, in The Star: Despite inclement weather, the Ritz Theater was crowded almost to capacity today for the final day of The Anniston Star Cooking School.

Quick nut bread, fried pineapple and sunshine cake with homemade marmalade were among the recipes prepared on the final day. Also this date: The Anniston City Council last night passed an ordinance for the employment of a city dog inspector, in accordance with a dog inocula tion bill passed by the Alabama Legislature last September. Although the county health officer pointed out that it would be impossible for him to enforce the state law due to lack of money, councilmen seemed satisfied that they had done what they needed to do under the terms of that law. Additionally: In the classifieds is advertised "BABY CHICKS and custom hatching at Perkins Hatchery, 1901 Quintard Avenue, Phone 1391." Whatever service Mr. Perkins' business provided, it was evidently a backyard operation, as that was a residential area at the time.

March 27, 1986, in The Star: NewChannels Satellite TV, a division of NewChannels Cable Television (which serves the Anniston area) is advertising satellite dish descram-blers for $375 apiece, plus installation for a fee, if desired. Also this date: President Reagan's authorized attacks on the defenses of Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy, in an effort to define international waters in the Gulf of Sidra, have only served to boost Khadafy 's image in the Arab world, observers say. This comes despite the fact that many leaders regard Khadafy as an eccentric thug, and those who put themselves in that camp are having to maintain uwe for the sale of Arab unity. The train instead was bound for a Nazi-run prison camp, Tomlin said. "They left on a train and realized they were prisoners," she said.

That's when Nonna Bannister started writing notes about what was happening. She hid them inside a small ticking pillow that was tied around her waist, so the Nazi soldiers never knew about them. Nonna Bannister knew many languages, and used six languages when writing the notes, so the soldiers wouldn't be able to read them if they found them. Every line she wrote was a different language than the previous line. "She described the food as dirty water with a couple of cabbage leaves floating on top," Tomlin said.

"They got one cup of tea per day" Nonna Bannister's mother was killed in the camp. Finally, the prisoners were rescued and the war ended. Two years after the war, Nonna Bannister received a visa to come to the United States. In 1951, she married Henry Bannister and they had three children. She lived a happy life in America, but refused to tell her story.

Tomlin said people knew Nonna Bannister was a Holocaust survivor, but never heard her stories. "Steven Spielberg wanted to do this story," she said. "He went to Nonna's house and talked to her about it, but she said she didn't want to do it, so he did Schindler's List." Her explanation for that refusal was that she didn't want her family to be bitter about the horrors she endured. But, in her later years she knew it was important that her story be told, so she unlocked the small, green trunk where she kept the notes. "She said, 'Henry, I want you to meet my family," Tomlin said.

She said the book, like Nonna Bannister's notesisn't only about the Holocaust and war years. It's also about her happy childhood years'and wonderful life in the United States. "It's about faith, forgiveness, courage, finding joy, love, overcoming evil and trusting others to help you," she said. BY BERNIE DELINSKI (Florence) TimesDaily TUSCUMBIA For decades, Nonna Lisowskaja Bannister wouldn't discuss the unspeakable horrors she encountered during the Holocaust. She wouldn't even talk about it to her husband.

Even a visit from director Steven Spielberg couldn't coax the stories out of the native Russian. Finally, in her elder years, Bannister transcribed the notes she had made during the Holocaust and told her husband, Henry Bannister, he could tell her story but only after her death. Nonna Bannister died in 2004, and her husband of 53 years dutifully started typing her memoir. In 2007, Henry Bannister approached Carolyn Tomlin during a neighborhood cookout in Jackson, Tenn. He knew Tomlin was a writer, and told her about the memoir, "All that time, just four houses down from me was a book," Tomlin said.

"It had never been published." Tomlin discussed the book, The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister, during a presentation Sunday to the Friends of the Helen Keller Public Library. She co-wrote it with Denise George, based on the notes Nonna Bannister had kept. She said Nonna Bannister grew up in a very wealthy family and even baby sat future Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev when he was a child. But she lost everything duf ing the Holocaust and World War II including her family. Nonna Bannister was the only one of 35 relatives to survive the Holocaust and war.

"Imagine having everything and then having everything taken away from you," Tomlin said. "Later in life, if she had a turnip, she would consider herself very lucky" Her family tried to escape Russia, but their train was bombed. With their lives shattered, she and her mother later learned about an opportunity to work in a German factory. So, they boarded a train to head that way, but the offer was a sham. I think it's time we faced the fact that we're never going to be happy together.

When I bring this up with Barb, she gets angry and launches into the same old tirade, saying if I want a divorce I'll have to get a lawyer. Divorce will be difficult and costly enough without having to drag lawyers into it. I'd like us to agree that it's time to split and use a mediator to work out the details. It will save us a lot of money and, hopefully, make the divorce less acrimonious. I don't understand why Barb wants to stay together when she's so unhappy and we're unable to make things better.

How can I make her see that separating in as kind a way as possible will be best for usandthekids included? "FORMER" HUSBAND IN LONGMONT, COLO. DEAR "FORMER" HUSBAND: Your wife may prefer the evils she's living with to the unknown of being a divorcee with children. However, when a marriage is over it's over. And when it reaches the stage that yours has, what both parties need to be most concerned about is preservation of assets, so they aren't dissipated in attorney's fees. I have seen both kinds of divorces one in which the warring spouses spent so much money in litigation there was little left for each of them when it was over; and the other, in which the couple agreed their marriage was broken beyond repair and arranged their divorce with as little cost as possible.

I don't have to tell you which people are doing well now. So clip this and share it with your wife. DEAR ABBY: If no one answers the phone when my mother calls, she shouts on the answering machine for my children (ages 18 and 12) to "pickup!" Then she'll try my cell phone once or twice in quick succession before calling back on the house phone and leaving a cranky message. It's never an emergency; she just wants to chat. I understand that Mom is frustrated, but sometimes we are resting, eating dinner or are otherwise indisposed.

And yes, there are times when we're not in the mood to talk. She lectures me constantly about how my husband and I are teaching our children to be disrespectful by ignoring her calls. (Their teachers and other adults regularly comment about how polite they are.) I see nothing wrong with letting a call go to voicemail if I can't or don't want to talk at that moment, and I always return Mom's call. I also encourage my kids to call her, but she doesn't make it easy when she begins a conversation with, "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude not to answer the phone?" Do I owe her an apology, or does she need to be more patient? "PLEASE LEAVE A DEAR PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE Your mother apparently feels that her needs and wishes automatically take precedence over whatever else may be happening in your lives. You do not owe her any apologies, and yes, she does need to be more patient But she won't get that message until you are able to communicate it clearly and directly to her.

You are no longer a child, and you should not be expected to drop everything anytime your mother wants to "chat." Good advice for everyone teens to seniors is in "Hie Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money orderfor $6 (U.S. funds only) to: Dear Abby Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in the price.) LOTTERY These Georgia lotteries were drawn Saturday: Cash 3: 0-4-3 Georgia FIVE Evening: 3-0-9-2-1 Georgia FIVE Midday: 4-2-9-1-6 Midday 3: 4-4-2 Midday 4: 7-6-5-3 Powerball: 04-10-11-19-33, Powerball: 27, Power Play: 4 Win For Life: 11-21-25-29-33-32. Free Ball 4 Alabama debates limits on breakaway school districts pull out from larger school districts.

Chickasaw Mayor Byron Pittman calls the islation a "complete injustice," while a city councilor said it could destroy the city's dream of having its own school system. One bill by Rep. Becky Nordgren would require that cities have at least Associated Press MOBILE Local leaders in Alabama are protesting legislation that would limit the ability of small communities to form their own school districts. The bills come as authorities in Chickasaw and Sat-suma consider whether to 20,000 residents before creating their own school systems. She said split-ups of school districts seem to be getting out of hand.

A separate bill by Rep. Jeremy Oden would set the threshold at 7,500 people. Chickasaw and Satsuma have populations of roughly 6,000 people. TODAY'S CALENDAR 8 p.m., 2236 U.S. 78 (1 mile from Fred's).

Miscellaneous: Free show, sponsored by "The Big Game 6 p.m., Mountain View Church, 3922 McClellan the audience-participation show will feature television-style games such as "Are You Smarter Than a Gamecock," and more. The host is to be Oan Roberts, a graduate of Jacksonville High School and JSU, who co-founded The Big Game in Atlanta 2C07. Visit www.the-b'ggsmeshow com for more information. Support Group: Alcoholics Anonymous, 5 p.m., Alexandria United Methodist Church, 2065 Alexandria-Wellington Road, 256-820-2331. Courage to Change Group of Narcotics Anonymous, sponsorship book study, open, non-smoking, 3 p.m.; discussion, open, smoking, 7 Atlanta Avenue, off Noble Street between 10th and 11th streets.

Alcoholics Anonymous Piedmont group, 2 30 p.m., 601 Hughes Piedmont He'p in Progress Narcotics Anonymous, 7-.