"The Ivy Hero" Author Talk with Dan Burstein

Author Talk with Dan Burstein on "The Ivy Hero"

The Weston History & Culture Center will host an author talk with Dan Burstein, author of the children’s book, The Ivy Hero: The Brave Life of Sergeant William Shemin, on Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 3:00pm at 104 Weston Road in Weston, CT.

The event is free and open to the public. Walk-ins welcome. Registration recommended at: www.westoncthistory.org. The Ivy Hero: The Brave Life of Sergeant William Shemin will be available for purchase at the event. Cash or check preferred.

The Ivy Hero: The Brave Life of Sergeant William Shemin, a children’s book co-authored by Sara Shemin Cass and Dan Burstein, is the true story of Sergeant William Shemin, child of immigrants and a semi-pro baseball player, who decided to volunteer as an American soldier during World War I. The Ivy Hero also shares the story of Henry Johnson, an African-American man, who also fought during World War I. Both men fought bravely, saving fellow soldiers, however both were denied a Medal of Honor at the time due to discrimination. William was Jewish and Henry was Black.

Dan Burstein will share about his family’s connection to Sergeant William Shemin, writing the book with his cousin Sara Shemin Cass, and the story of the eventual Medal of Honor posthumously awarded to Sergeant William Shemin and Henry Johnson by Barack Obama in 2015. The Ivy Hero is geared towards 3rd - 8th grade readers. Curriculum and lesson plans are available to teachers and parents at: www.theivyhero.com. This story is not just a war story, but a story that speaks of immigration and the American Dream; racism and anti-Semitism and the fight to overcome them; and of bravery, patriotism, and a history every child and adult should know.

Dan Burstein is the author of 14 prior nonfiction books, including several New York Times bestsellers, and is managing partner of Millennium Technology Value Partners, a venture capital firm. He is a father and a grandfather. He traveled with his wife, Julie O’Connor, and son, David Burstein, on a 2018 family trip to the battlefields of France to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the battles in which both William Shemin and Henry Johnson fought. For more information about “The Ivy Hero”, visit  www.theivyhero.com.

The Weston History & Culture Center is located at 104 Weston Road Weston, CT. Parking and entrance is on High Acre Road. The Weston Historical Society D/B/A The Weston History and Culture Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Center would like to thank its annual sponsors: Fairfield County Bank and KMS Team at Compass as well as the Daniel E. Offutt, III Charitable Trust.