Gail Lukasik – författare

As seen on The Today Show! “Important in helping us understand America’s complex racial history.”—Kenyatta D. Berry, Host of PBS’s Genealogy RoadshowWhite Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing is the story of Gail Lukasik’s mother’s “passing,” Gail’s struggle with the shame of her mother’s choice, and her subsequent journey of self-discovery and redemption.In the historical context of the Jim Crow South, Gail explores her African-American mother’s decision to pass, how she hid her secret even from her own husband, and the price she paid for choosing whiteness.Haunted by her mother’s fear and shame, Gail embarks on a quest to uncover her mother’s racial lineage, tracing her family back to eighteenth-century colonial Louisiana. In coming to terms with her decision to publicly out her mother, Gail changed how she looks at race and heritage.With a foreword written by Kenyatta Berry, host of PBS's Genealogy Roadshow, this unique and fascinating story of coming to terms with oneself breaks down barriers.

White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing is the story of Gail Lukasik’s mother’s “passing,” Gail’s struggle with the shame of her mother’s choice, and her subsequent journey of self-discovery and redemption. In the historical context of the Jim Crow South, Gail explores her mother’s decision to pass, how she hid her secret even from her own husband, and the price she paid for choosing whiteness. Haunted by her mother’s fear and shame, Gail embarks on a quest to uncover her mother’s racial lineage, tracing her family back to eighteenth-century colonial Louisiana. In coming to terms with her decision to publicly out her mother, Gail changed how she looks at race and heritage. With a foreword written by Kenyatta Berry, host of PBS''s Genealogy Roadshow, this unique and fascinating story of coming to terms with oneself breaks down barriers.

From acclaimed bestselling author of White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing, comes a brand new collection of stories of people uncovering their past.“A riveting page turner . . . This book will appeal to anyone interested in tales of family secrets.” —Severance Magazine"Masterful, inspiring, and fearless." —Kenyatta D. Berry, author of Family Tree Toolkit and host of PBS’s Genealogy RoadshowWhat They Never Told Us tells the stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary, life-changing discoveries about their parentage and/or race and ethnicity that fractured their identities. The book asks the big questions: Who are we? And what is family? Blending social history and personal narratives, each story delves into the devastating psychological trauma of uncovering a hidden family secret with all the twists and turns of a mystery novel from how the discovery was made; to why it was kept secret; to the arduous, sometimes disappointing, quest to find the biological parent or parents. To fully understand the secrecy surrounding these family secrets, the book examines pre-WWII and post-WWII attitudes toward infertility, adoption, donor conception, race and racial passing, and unmarried pregnant women. Prefacing these harrowing narratives is the author's own confusing and sometimes painful journey to redefine her racial identity under the spotlight of public opinion. Searingly raw and honest, What They Never Told Us tells the stories that were never meant to be heard.

From acclaimed bestselling author of White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing, comes a brand new collection of stories of people uncovering their past. “A riveting page turner . . . This book will appeal to anyone interested in tales of family secrets.” —Severance Magazine "Masterful, inspiring, and fearless." —Kenyatta D. Berry, author of Family Tree Toolkit and host of PBS’s Genealogy RoadshowWhat They Never Told Us tells the stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary, life-changing discoveries about their parentage and/or race and ethnicity that fractured their identities. The book asks the big questions: Who are we? And what is family? Blending social history and personal narratives, each story delves into the devastating psychological trauma of uncovering a hidden family secret with all the twists and turns of a mystery novel from how the discovery was made; to why it was kept secret; to the arduous, sometimes disappointing, quest to find the biological parent or parents. To fully understand the secrecy surrounding these family secrets, the book examines pre-WWII and post-WWII attitudes toward infertility, adoption, donor conception, race and racial passing, and unmarried pregnant women. Prefacing these harrowing narratives is the author's own confusing and sometimes painful journey to redefine her racial identity under the spotlight of public opinion. Searingly raw and honest, What They Never Told Us tells the stories that were never meant to be heard.

An amateur naturalist dies of mushroom poisoning, a day later the local librarian kills herself, then the buried bones of an infant are discovered. Chicago native Leigh Girard is finding life in a small town can be fatal.

On the eve of tourist season in the resort community of Doo County, Wisconsin, a killer is targeting young blond women, leaving their strangled bodies along the desolate Mink River.

Chicago performance artist Rose Caffrey is desperate to sell her sister's nineteenth-century farmhouse in southern Illinois. She's haunted by her sister's death from a fall inside the house. But when Rose discovers three murals in an upstairs bedroom depicting strange images of Native Americans and bizarre nineteenth-century landscapes, she becomes obsessed with knowing the artist's identity and the meaning of the murals. Buried for over one hundred and seventy-five years under wallpaper and paint, the murals hint at secrets tied to the old house, the artist, and the nearby 1836 Trail of Tears Camp Ground Cemetery. Only one mural remains to be uncovered. And Rose is convinced the hidden mural holds the key to deciphering the other three. As art restorer Alex Hague peels away the layers of wallpaper from the last mural, Rose searches for the artist's identity. But all her discoveries only add to the murals' mysteries. What the last mural reveals launches Rose and Alex on a quest for one of the greatest lost art treasures of sixteenth century America. Pursued by an unknown adversary who seems to know their every move, they race across the country hunting for the treasure. What Rose never expects to find are crimes going back over four hundred years with the potential to transform American history--if she can escape the fate of the other lost artists before her. The Lost Artist is a fast-paced mystery thriller that shatters the very foundation of American history. Beneath the layers of time lurks a truth worth killing for.

A Ghostly Window Into The Past Nurse Nellie Lester thinks she can escape death. Fleeing Chicago at the height of the 1918 Spanish flu, she takes a nursing job at a decrepit manor on a desolate Michigan island. She's convinced the island holds the secret to her family's murky past.Soon after her arrival, the frozen body of the prior nurse is unearthed. Haunted nightly by a ghostly presence, Nellie is convinced the nurse's murder and her father's fate are connected and dives into the mystery.As winter closes in, the past and present seem to converge as a vengeful killer emerges. Will Nellie survive the killer's final act of revenge against her family?