About 35 years ago, in a PW interview (Sept. 19, 1972), our foreign correspondent Herbert Lottman wrote a statement that he believed he had "better write only once in his career." He called Martin Gray's memoir, For Those I Loved, "the most remarkable life story he has ever read." Remarkable, yes. But Lottman might also have added harrowing, heartbreaking and courageous, for in his book, Gray vividly describes his life as a teenager in the Warsaw ghetto, in Treblinka and as an officer in the Soviet Army. He fought in the ghetto uprising, escaped from several concentration camps and was the only member of his family—110 immediate and extended—to survive the Holocaust. And life brought still more tragedy: in October 1970, Gray's wife, Dina, and their four children perished in a forest fire in Cöte d'Azur, on the French Riviera.
Now his book, first published in 1971 by Laffont in France and in the U.S. by Little, Brown in 1972, and out of print here for the past decade, is being reissued by Hampton Roads. And Gray, now 84, is helping promote it.The book's route to the Charlottesville, Va., publisher began with a purchase of the book for $1.50. Karen Schuback, who dabbled in producing movies, found it in a pile of used books and, as she writes in her foreword, "was physically drained from Martin Gray's words and the lifetime I had just lived through." She contacted Gray, and they became friends. She was interested in making a movie based on his story and realized that it would be easier if there was a book in print. (The idea of the feature film is still being pursued, although the book was made into a very successful eight-part TV miniseries in France in 1983.) Gray gave her permission to try to revive it, and Schuback spoke to a friend who knew Jack Jennings, CEO of Hampton Roads.
Coincidentally, Jack Jennings was among the readers of the book when it was first published. Despite several household moves, some coast to coast, Gray's book was still on his home bookshelves. "While I did lots of book weeding over the years, I held on to this book, thinking that I might someday like to reread it," he told PW. Gray said that he began writing his book shortly after the fire and says that's what kept him alive. The book also chronicles his good years—between 1947 and 1970—when he built a very successful antiques wholesaling business, making enough money to retire at 35 and leave the day-to-day business affairs to a partner. The chapter headings at this juncture capture it all in a few simple words: "I Had Always Known Her" talks about meeting and falling in love with his wife. "At Last, at Last—Peace and Joy" and "So I Took a New Life in My Hands" are about building a home in France and his growing family.
When the book was first published in the U.S., it met with modest success—a BOMC main selection, a Reader's Digest Condensed Book. It was a different story abroad. His French publisher, Laffont, sold rights in 26 languages and it ranks 23rd among the 100 most read books in France.
The new 35th-anniversary edition includes many new photos and 80 pages of new material about Gray's life and humanitarian efforts since he wrote the original. Gray looks back at his life, shares his sorrows and triumphs, and finds hope for our future. In particular he shares his father's advice—"It's life that is sacred.... Survive, Martin, survive"—which helped him not only fight for his own life, but also find joy despite the loss of everything he valued.
Hampton Roads' marketing plans include trade advertising; promotions with Amazon and B&N; and author events. For Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 15, Gray will be the keynote speaker for an event at the 92nd St. Y in New York. The publisher is organizing more publicity to coincide with the author's return to New York. Jennings has received queries from the Holocaust Memorial Committee/Holocaust Memorial Park in Brooklyn, and from national and regional radio.
