Sing A Song For Me

About the Book

Hunger, poverty, foreclosures, drought, horrific storms, hard work (if it could be found), and disappointment were routine during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Tom Kostas, a greek immigrant, his wife, Agnes, and their four small children endured this together on their small farm in Kansas. Many people in these difficult circumstances gave up and left for California or elsewhere, searching for better lives as they escaped the hardships of the dust bowl. This is a history of those who did not, or could not, escape to supposedly better circumstances. This is a story of how the Kostas family, and others, dealt with adversity, each in their own way. Some showed great strength and kindness, while others showed selfishness and even cruelty. It is an insightful and entertaining study of human nature, of struggle, coping, endurance, and survival. The events in this book did occur; however, they were compressed into a few days for the sake of the story. People's names have been changed, but geographical information is accurate.

About the Author

Beverly Stapaules Kaplan grew up on a Kansas farm during the great depression. This story is her recollection of her childhood. She was the daughter known as "Bub" in the book. The picture above was taken when she was 9 years old, the age of Bub in Sing a Song For Me. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1952, married David Kaplan and raised four children of her own. She taught college english and previously published a book, "Daniel and Agnes Freeman Homesteaders", about the first homesteaders in the United States, who were also her great grandparents. She spent her adult life in Kansas and Nebraska, and currently resides in Hickman, Nebraska. Beverly began drawing in her later years, even as she became blind from macular degeneration. Her pictures, some included in this book, are from her memories of her childhood on the farm.