Quiet Hero Book Is Troubling Tale of Terror with Proceeds to Injured Veterans

Polish Tale of Terror Told by Resistance Fighter's Daughter in Book to Speak at Orchard Lake Sept. 20

By Lawrence M. Ventline
Special to the Oakland Press

We're as sick as our secrets. And, knowing one's story and family tree is liberating and reconciling, even redemptive for those on the quest for closure.

I believe that. And, so does journalist Rita Cosby who is coming to the Polinica Americana Research Institute at the Orchard Lake Schools' Polish Mission, September 20th. She is a correspondent for the CBS program, Inside Edition, formerly of Fox News and MSNBC. Telling her own tale, she records inspiring lessons in her book, Quiet Hero: Secrets From My Father's Past, available at Amazon.com, among local booksellers (www.ritacosby.evenbrite.com).

It is the true and troubling tale of her father, a native of Poland and former prisoner of war.

"Upon the death of her mother, Cosby found a suitcase belonging to her estranged father," noted Cecile Wendt-Jensen, director of PARI, and, a distinguished genealogist who is completing sessions this week in the Polish Mission at the Orchard Lake Schools at Commerce and Orchard Lake Roads in Oakland County. With grants, it assists families in discovering their roots, and, even, one's original family name. I did just that with her professional help in July when Donna Mesyn of Clinton Township, among others, made the trek to Orchard Lake, and, an on line visit to Poland.

"Rita's story is one that will touch every family...a loving, poignant tribute to her POW father and freedom," Senator John McCain noted.

Part of the proceeds of the best-selling book go to Operation Enduring Care to help injured verterans.

"It was while camping that I first consciously comprehended that a scar was an indication that something bad had happened, something we weren't supposed to talk about," Cosby wrote in her, Quiet Hero, soon to be a movie that documents "forgiveness" and the wartime experience of Catholic Pole Ryszard Kossobudzki, Cosy's father.

Wendt said: "As Rita drew these stories from her father and uncovered secrets and emotions that long were hidden, this daughter and father forged a fresh precious bond, deeper than either could have ever imagined."

Cosby was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a Danish mother and a Polish father who came to the U.S. after World War II. She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Her memoir uncovered a story of heroism and courage detailing her father's youth as a Polish Resistance fighter who battled the Nazis during Warsaw Uprising.

For more information about Cosby's appearance, contact cjensen@mipolonia.net, or visit www.mipolonia.net, http://grandparents.evenbrite.com/, or http://polishmission.com. Call PARI at 248 683 0323.

(Reach the Rev. Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min., a pastor and a board certified professional counselor for 35 years, and, a 1971 graduate of St. Mary's College, Orchard Lake, MI., at http://religionrootsrelationships.blogspot.com, 586 777 9116).

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