Max and I are honored to be asked to present Churchill’s Secret Agent for the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel & Pomona Valleys. We were among those selected from the over 100 authors who presented their works in New York City in May, 2011, at the Jewish Book Council’s “Network” event. Though certainly not only a “Jewish” book, Max recounts his missions during World War II which literally saved thousands of Jewish lives–and many more thousands of their progeny are still alive today thanks to his single-minded efforts working as a spy for Winston Churchill.

Our National Bestseller is now in its 5th printing. We have been interviewed by radio and TV stations from Ashland, OR to Vero Beach, FL to Idaho Falls, ID and just yesterday, The Brent Holland Show in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Through Skype and radio we have been able to talk to people all over the U.S. and Canada. It has been extremely rewarding for both of us.

If you’re in the area, come see us live Sunday, December 4 at 10:00 am: Beth Shalom Temple of Whittier at 14564 Hawes Street, Whittier, CA. Our presentation is open to all! See http://www.churchillssecretagent.com/mciampoli-news.htm for in-depth information.

If you can’t make it on Sunday, Max and I will be at Barnes & Noble for a farewell talk followed by a book signing at the Westside Pavillion Mall in west L.A. December 6, 2011, from 6:00-8:00 pm, 10850 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles.  We are so sad you are closing this store and wish all the loyal and helpful employees the very best of good fortune.

Wishing Happy Holidays to all and praying for Peace throughout the world.

Linda and Max Ciampoli

The famous “Stan, the Man” Musial, St. Louis Cardinals (1941–1963 with exception of 1945 when he served in U.S. Navy), celebrates his birthday today as does my husband, Max Ciampoli. I honor both for their lifetime achievements, Stan in baseball and Max in World War II as evidenced in our book, “Churchill’s Secret Agent” (Berkley/Penguin).

Max was reminiscing about life in Hampton Village where both men lived before Max bought his horse property in Chesterfield, MO. Max was Executive Chef at the Chase and Park Plaza in St. Louis as well as owner of the French Room, an exclusive beauty salon where one of Max’s clients was Lillian Musial along with the famous Sylvia Sorkin, international singer Suzy Solidor and Mrs. Red Shanding. He had a lovely clientele.

Now, Max has become famous in his own right through our recent National Bestseller that I translated from his memoirs and co-authored. We just returned from a terrific speaking engagement at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls where Max spoke of his personal experiences as a spy for Winston Churchill honoring their current exhibit:  “A Grateful Nation: A Look Back at World War II” that commemorates the United States entrance into WWII 70 years ago on December 7th. Coincidentally, that is exactly when our book, now in its 5th printing, was released in 2010.

What a welcome we were given by the Idaho Falls community. Approximately 200 people attended our presentation, coming out in the pouring–and I mean pouring–rain, some traveling as far as 2 1/2 hours to see us in Idaho Falls. It was an unforgettable experience. The TV (Channel 3 and 8 news), radio (KBYU) and newspaper (Post Register) interviewers were all so kind, so professional. We give thanks for the personal attention and excellent coordination provided by museum Director of Marketing, Britni Storer and museum staff member, Tilly Smith whose father served in the same unit as Max, the elite Alpine Ski Troop division of the French army during World War II. Further, our personal private tour of the exhibit by the well-versed Shalene Summers was impressive and memorable. Thank you for all you did to help organize this exhibit and your enthusiasm in sharing your knowledge, Shalene.

In closing, I wish Stan and my husband Max the very happiest of birthdays and many more healthy, happy birthday celebrations in the future. I thank you both for your remarkable contributions to the world. -Linda Ciampoli

“Long Live Palestine!” a UNESCO member shouted in French, reports AP, when vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions was announced. The non-state Palestine is now an official member of UNESCO. Long considered a bastion of anti-Israel sentiment, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has approved a state that is not a state whose primary goal is to destroy another one of its members, ISRAEL. Heartbreaking!

I lived in Israel for almost two years, first on a kibbutz, then in Beersheva, Ramat Gan and finally Jerusalem. It personally hurts me that there exists in the world so much anti-Israel sentiment as well as anti-Semetic feelings in general. I have never understood it. Neither has my husband, Max, who was baptized at the Vatican and raised Catholic. I am Jewish.

Really and truly, the goal of Israel IS peace while the goal of many of their Arab neighbors, especially the Palestinians, is the destruction of Israel. So, what now?

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said UNESCO’s decision was “regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” between Israelis and Palestinians. She added that the U.S. would not make November’s scheduled $60 million payment to the organization.

Palestinian officials are asking the United Nations for recognition as a state that includes the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, making it almost impossible for Israel to survive–take a look at a map to understand better what the Palestinians are asking.

Will the United Nations actually vote to approve the non-state Palestine for membership? I pray not. There must first be a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinian officials, don’t you think?
–Linda Ciampoli

According to the article in The Daily Beast, it was lucky for the world that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi chose to stay in Libya and fight. Through numerous examples, the author shows that “…it is very rare for dictators to meet their end bravely, still inside the country they are fighting to recapture.” Had he fled, the influence he would have exerted from abroad could have kept the country’s allegiance split for years.

Andrew Roberts writes, “When on Monday, April 30, 1945, Winston Churchill learned from Radio Hamburg that Adolf Hitler had died fighting against the Russians in Berlin, he told his private secretary Jock Colville, “Well, I think he was perfectly right to die like that.” It was only later that he discovered that the Fuhrer had in fact committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery bunker, taking his wife of one day, Eva Braun, with him, and thus denying the world of the 20th century”s most justified execution at Nuremberg.”

My husband Max was in a hospital for officers at the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc in Cap d’Antibes when Adolf Hitler committed suicide. He was recovering from a bullet wound following his ski troop’s assault on the fortress at l’Authion on the French-Italian border. It took several days, but the French were finally victorious. Unfortunately, Max, a lieutenant in the Chasseurs Alpins, the elite ski unit of the French army, spent the end of the war plus more than a year in the hospital, almost losing his leg to gangrene.

Thanks to the doctors on an English hospital ship off the coast of southern France, Max kept the leg though he has no feeling in it from above the knee to his foot. He is still grateful to the English, especially to Winston Churchill, who gave him the opportunity to fight the enemy on so many fronts, in so many ingenious ways. -Linda Ciampoli

Clare Hollingworth’s 100th birthday was celebrated in an article appearing in the BBC News, Hong Kong, video from Telgraph and in ABC News Online. Ms. Hollingworth was responsible for the biggest scoop of the 20th century.

Having worked for London’s Daily Telegraph for less than a week, she was asked to go to Poland. She reported at the end of August, 1939: “I saw the tanks lined up ready to invade Poland.” She was just ahead of them.

She was sent by the newspaper to cover the story and chose to travel to the south of Poland, a part of the country she knew quite well. There she was when the Germans invaded. She called the British Embassy in Warsaw to tell them. They doubted the veracity of what she had to say, so she held the telephone out the window capturing the din created by Nazi aircraft and tanks to prove that the Germans were indeed invading Poland.

And so was to begin the German takeover of much of Europe, and Clare Hollingworth was right in the thick of things. Max and I both wish you the happiest of birthdays.

Around the same time in France, my husband Max quit the university in Aix-en-Provence where he was studying to be a dentist. Rumors of impending war had already spread to his country. Though underage, he was able to join the elite Alpine Ski Troop division of the French army. Due to a military course he had taken while attending Jesuit school in Nice, he entered the army as an officer.

As a lieutenant, he trained his troop, and his men were eager to fight the enemy. But before they could, his commander announced to him that the war was over. France had lost. “How could we lose when we didn’t even fire a shot?” Max exclaimed in anger and frustration. He vowed he would not give up the fight until he saw France free again.

This was a terrible defeat and yet a new beginning for Max. He escaped to the south of France where he went to visit his godfather who suggested they get in touch with Winston Churchill, an occasional neighbor in Cap d’Antibes. His godfather called London and told Churchill of Max’s fluency in German and Italian, his extraordinary upbringing by a retired Colonel of the Austrian Cavalry and excellent education by the Jesuits as well as his experience in leadership as a lieutenant in the French Chasseurs Alpins. He asked if Churchill could use him, and Churchill told Max’s godfather to send him to England.

In this way, Max began his new life as Churchill’s Secret Agent. His memories written in French in the 1990s, were intended to help get rid of his awful nightmares. But when I read some of his writings, I saw what the world has since embraced by making our book a National Bestseller: an extraordinary personal story of single-minded battle against the forces of evil.–Linda Ciampoli

…and one day it really will be. But we don’t know when. So, we’d better be fulfilling our heart’s desire today. Don’t know what that is? Look for it today. No time for people-pleasing, walking on eggshells, doing what others want us to do in life. If we are to make mistakes, let them be our own!

Steve Jobs’ death affected me more than I ever expected. I’ve watched his Stanford University Commencement speech several times. He was a man who did not compromise. His company was never run by committee. Want to water down a dream? Put the control of it in committee. Let others tell you what to do and how to do it. You’ll never recognize your dream when it comes out the other side. And you probably won’t recognize yourself.

You remember the words of Polonius from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night
the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Knowing our “self” takes time and daily commitment. If we’re always busy because “we just have so much to do,” we’ll come to that day–that final day of our lives–living someone else’s dream or even their nightmare. And then what will this gift of life have been for?

In the words of the great Jewish leader, Hillel (30 B.C. -10 C.E): “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”

As we discover “self,” we discover “Self.” Is there a better time to discover who we really are and what we really can do when directed from that most divine place of beingness within ourselves?

I admired my husband Max before I ever knew that he was Churchill’s Secret Agent during World War II. Max always just did what was in front of him to do. No hesitating or questioning–he just did it. He was his own man, never bending to the will of others. That is not always a popular position to take.

Winston Churchill was that kind of man. He was true to himself. He knew what needed to be done to save the world and didn’t mince words. Often personal spies like Max did what Parliament would never have approved. In Churchill’s own words, let us all ”never, never, never quit.”–Linda Ciampoli

Is President Obama trying to win the Jewish vote back by talking about  Rosh Hashanah as if it were universally  celebrated in the United States like Thanksgiving? Michael Medved’s commentary in The Daily Beast suggests exactly that. The wool can’t be pulled over our eyes quite so easily although you are a wonderful orator, Mr. President. I certainly can’t imagine Winston Churchill (whose bust you had removed from the White House) ever moving with such chameleon-like ease through his political and religious positions. It is what Medved calls “spiritual shape-shifting. He instinctively assumes different religious colorations depending on the occasion.”

This is the holiest time of the year for Jews. It is the time to drop all pretense, to get totally honest with ourselves, with others and with God. It is a time for authenticity, and for me personally, to continue to seek to be authentic each day, every day. It is the  time to make amends to family and friends for any wrongdoing, to admit sins of commission and sins of omission, to totally clean house spiritually and make right and pure our relationship with God. The intent is to not to make the same errors again next year. “I’m sorry” is not enough. It is by changing our actions that “I’m sorry” is demonstrated. That is true amends.

By the end of Yom Kippur, we are to have finished a full inventory of our own faults, both sins of commission and sins of omission against God and our fellow human beings. Over and over, we read lists of possible wrongful acts we have committed. We search our memories to admit anything we have done. We cannot repent without admitting our wrongs.

In the speech, Obama reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel. Well, I certainly hope this is not just words. What about his suggesting that Israel go back to 1967 borders, i.e., commit suicide? Have you taken a look at what going back to those borders would actually mean? I just do not understand what he was thinking when he said that. Does he truly want Israel to survive? Politics, politics.
–Linda Ciampoli

On 9/11/01, Rudy Giuliani said to himself: “The English went through something worse than this. They went through being bombarded every day, bombed every night, not knowing who was going to be alive the next day. And they got through it. If they could get through it, we should be able to get through it.”

It has been an emotional day of remembrance for all of us in the United States. Read Forbes’ priceless interview with an extraordinary man, the former mayor of New York City, who used all of his previous life experience to rise to the unprecedented demands of the moment when New York City’s Twin Towers fell to foreign attack. And what a coincidence that Giuliani was reading a biography about Winston Churchill at the time.

There are no coincidences.

Mixed feelings are expressed in CNN article about Glenn Beck’s visit to Israel. Personally, it is music to my ears to hear someone speaking on the side of Israel and the Jewish people. But it’s a little scary when it’s Beck, given some of the things he says and some of his ultra-conservative supporters. I hear you, Abraham Foxman: “There’s an uneasiness in the community with evangelical support. But as long as the support is not conditioned on American Jewish support for the conservative Christian political agenda, or on us converting, they can be my guest.”

Many American evangelical leaders are traveling with Beck and were present at the ”Restoring Honor” rally that took place in the Old City of Jerusalem not far from the Western Wall. Supporters, such as actor Jon Voight, are with him, too. Just how many supporters did Beck bring with him?

Also apparent at the rally were the many protestors in the large audience. Thank G-d, Israel has free speech and people are encouraged to express their opinions. There are always many sides to an issue. Most often the Truth is hidden somewhere within. Please let us know what your opinions are on our website www.ChurchillsSecretAgent.com or by email at maxandlindaciampoli@gmail.com. Look forward to hearing from you.–Linda

I just read Dovid Efune’s informative Huffington Post blog about Glenn Beck’s visit to Israel. Beck has recently been quoting Ruth from the Old Testament: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. … Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.”

Beck has proven to be a great champion of Israel and the Jewish people. “Go know.” With the U.S. government  waffling in it’s support, given President Obama’s suggestion that Israel should go back to 1967 borders, it is refreshing to hear of Beck’s friendship. Looking forward to hearing about the rally on August 24th in Jerusalem.

I personally know many Christians who are great friends of Israel and who are, in fact, quite Zionistic in belief and action. Words are one thing, but actions such as those that Glenn Beck is taking, are quite impressive. My husband, Max Ciampoli, is one such Christian, actually Catholic by birth. He risked his life many times over during World War II to free the world from the Nazi threat. In many of his missions as a spy for Winston Churchill, recounted in our book “Churchill’s Secret Agent,” Max directly saved Jews from the death camps.

When I lived in Jerusalem in 1971, I made a friend in the Old City who was an Christian Arab. I just loved to wander around the Old City. It was magical to me. The man was older and an independent Jerusalem tour guide. I don’t remember much about him–only that he was exceptionally kind to me.  And he introduced me to a great cocktail–half fresh carrot juice and half grapefruit juice. He invited me to his family home in the Old City. That is the only Arab home I have ever visited.

Max and I both wish Glenn Beck well during his stay in Israel. May his many friends and the world at large hear his message.