A Bookseller's Father Inspires Story of Love & War

For some writers, the search for the right idea for a book can be hit-and-miss, requiring a great deal of work, diligence, and luck to find just the right theme. But for bookseller Clyde Holloway of So Many Books, in Vancouver, Washington, the inspiration to pen his recently self-published nonfiction book, Pacific War Marine, about his father's experiences in the Marine Corps during World War II, fell into his lap. Literally.

About 11 years ago, Holloway -- who was then working as a customer care supervisor at a medical supply company in Portland, Oregon -- was eating lunch in the company's break room when he picked up a copy of Smithsonian magazine featuring an article commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Tarawa. Renowned as one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, the Battle of Tarawa took place on November 20, 1943, on a series of barren islets east of Indonesia.

"I knew my Dad had been there, and that there had been lots of casualties," Holloway told BTW in a recent interview. "I turned the page, and here was a picture of my Dad trying to make it to the beach at Tarawa! There were a lot of screw-ups [in the landing], and the Marines had to wade in chest-deep water 600 yards out from the beach. The Japanese had machine guns lined up at the beach."

While Holloway knew his father had been in the Marines during World War II, he knew almost nothing about his father's war experiences.

"My Dad had not said anything for 50 years," Holloway said. "It is common with a lot of vets, especially the ones who went through a lot of combat. When they got back, they wanted to get on with their lives.... And no one asked him about it."

That all changed, however, after Holloway called The Oregonian columnist Marge Boule. "[She] interviewed me over the phone and wrote a column in the paper about my discovery," he wrote in the opening of his book. "The response to the column was overwhelming. People had been touched by the story, and many called or came by to tell me about their memories of that time."

The chance discovery and the attention that followed inspired Holloway to write Pacific War Marine. But, most importantly, his father, after 50 years of silence, was ready to tell his son about fighting in the South Pacific during World War II. "He said, 'After 50 years, I can tell you what happened,'" Holloway said. "I decided to take it down, at least for the family."

Stanley Holloway's story as detailed in Pacific War Machine is the stuff of Hollywood movies -- harrowing, bloody battles juxtaposed against an intense love affair between Stanley Holloway and a New Zealand woman, Margaret, who would later become Stanley's wife and Clyde Holloway's mother. The book even includes letters between the two, penned while Holloway's father was in combat in various locales across the South Pacific.

With war as the backdrop, the chronicle of Stanley and Margaret's story is all the more intense and poignant, since it is a love story between two people who could not allow themselves any visions of a future and a family. "The war made it much more meaningful," Holloway said. "The whole time, they couldn't make any plans. They were in limbo for years and not able to look toward the future. That was true of everyone involved."

As for becoming an author, Holloway said his bookselling experience came in handy. "It helped me set up a publishing company," he said. "As far as writing, what really helped out was being a reader. It helped me know how to put things on a page." --David Grogan