On the evening of February 13th last year I announced a fundraiser for my grandfather’s memoir. When I awoke the next money I had all the financial aid I needed to make it possible to edit and publish his book. Now — a year later — the book is finished.
It’s a book about my grandfather’s family. He was one of thirteen kids born to a traveling evangelical preacher and an adoring mother. They refused to take government jobs or receive social security numbers. This book is about their life and travels and how God protected and guided them through many trials.
I included an introduction I wrote at the beginning of my grandfather’s memoir to demonstrate how the decisions of my great-grandfather, grandfather, and then father would impact my own life and set me up for a sort of unique success all our own.
Back Cover Blurb:
The first Social Security numbers were issued in mid-November 1936 near the end of the Great Depression to hundreds of thousands of American citizens. They were assured that the welfare system was a drastic but temporary measure to end the economic crisis, and that the numbers would not be used for identification purposes. Truman Lamb, father of thirteen, would have benefitted from the extra financial help. But he knew better than to believe in government promises. Instead he entrusted his family’s well-being to God. He packed his family into a bus, began homeschooling them years before it would be legalized, and preached the gospel to any church that would receive his family. This collection of stories is about his children, renegades and outlaws, who endured through doubt and disbelief. While some thought them to be in a niche bubble, they felt as if they were in the hand of God and witnessed miracles. They were gifted with courage and creativity, and found that anything is possible if you sincerely believe and walk in faith. And so began the legacy of the family that doesn’t exist even to this day.
The book is not a manual for how to live without a social security number. It’s the everyday stories of a family who chose to live out their beliefs. Because my own children will be fifth generation without social security numbers, and because I have since figured out how to co-exist in 21st century modernity while remaining true to my family’s faith, I feel like my life, too, is a testimony of my great-grandfather’s and grandfather’s work.
Not only am I thrilled to have this book for my own shelves, I am excited to be able to share it with some of you. I haven’t decided yet if I want it to be published in any mass markets, so for now there are a limited amount of copies available.
If you’d like to order The Family That Doesn’t Exist, the books are $20 each plus $3.50 shipping. I have Venmo and Paypal, or you can Buy Me enough Coffee to cover it the costs. Send me a message or an email to purchase the book. My email is keturahskorner(at)gmail(dot)com
The Family That Doesn't Exist
A few days later during recess I fell down and skinned the palm of my hand. Bits of blood sprouted around the embedded fragments of gravel.
I know many families like this :)