An Evening with Nelson DeMille | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Kathy Manos Penn is a native of the “Big Apple,” who settled in the “Peach City” – Atlanta. A former English teacher now happily retired from a corporate career in communications, she writes a weekly column for the Dunwoody Crier and the Highlands Newspaper. Read her blogs and columns and purchase her books, “The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday” and “Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch,” on her website theinkpenn.com or Amazon.

    Down here in Atlanta, I attended an author event that was a prologue to the Marcus Jewish Community Center (MJCCA) Book Festival coming up in November. That evening, I heard Nelson DeMille and Alan P. Gross.

    As a mystery and thriller lover, I've long been a Nelson DeMille fan. You may recall "The General's Daughter" which became a movie starring John Travolta. If not that one, perhaps you've read one of the seven books that describe the exploits of John Corey.

    If you're new to Nelson DeMille, you're just in time to read "The Cuban Affair" featuring a new character. I had to smile as Mr. DeMille described Simon & Schuster suggesting he create a new and younger character, a thirty-five-year-old. Since John Corey first appeared in 1997, he's aged and likely not as much into derring-do as he once was. Time for new blood.

    "The Cuban Affair" introduces Mac McCormick-a thirty-five-year-old, of course-a college graduate and US Army combat veteran. DeMille hinted that there could be a second book about Mac.

    I found it interesting that DeMille writes his books longhand with a #1 pencil and a legal pad. In his humorous style, he told us he took typing in high school because there were more girls in the class than guys, but he never was good at it. These days, he has two assistants who type up his longhand.

    DeMille extensively researches his books and visited Cuba in 2015 to gather background for this one, his twentieth. Both he and Alan Gross describe the Cuban people in glowing terms.

    And, you may ask, "Who is Alan Gross and why did he partner with DeMille in this presentation?" Alan Gross is a humanitarian who was arrested by Cuban authorities in 2009, accused of working for American intelligence services, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He lost 114 pounds, five teeth, and some vision during his five-year imprisonment. On December 17, 2014, the first day of Hannukah, he was released in a humanitarian prisoner exchange.

    Despite his ordeal, he too describes the Cuban people in positive terms: kind, warm, generous and innovative. Gross explained that it's uncanny how DeMille captures the essence of Cuba. Both men are easily able to separate the Cuban people from the Cuban government, and Gross describes the people as having been enslaved by their government for sixty years.

    In an interesting twist, the connection between these two men goes further than how they see Cuba. Upon Gross's release, he gave a nod to DeMille's character John Corey by quoting his words: "It's good to be home." DeMille says he got numerous emails and letters letting him know and wanted to reach out. As you'd expect, Mr. Gross was not immediately available.

    There's yet another interesting twist: When MJCCA members Bea and Bob Grossman attended DeMille's last book signing for "Radiant Angel," they spoke with DeMille and mentioned that their friend Alan Gross had used the "Good to be home" line. Together they thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to connect Gross and DeMille." Fast forward a few years, and there the two were, sitting on a stage at the MJCCA telling their stories.

    Look for Kathy's new book "Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch" due out in late August and find her collection of columns, "The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday," on