Keep Smiling: A Life on Three Continents by Liane von W. Lunny (publ. 2008)

How do you keep afloat with all of the horrible news and events around the world? I don’t know, but I often recall the irony of this title, Keep Smiling, and reflect upon the dark times the author, Liane Lunny, witnessed during World War II. Born in 1923 in Berlin, she studied in France during the war and worked for the German–French Armistice Commission. After the war ended, she was employed by the U.S. Military Government, U.S. Air Force, and the Bipartite Control Office, which the Allies set up to assume economic control of Germany. She would eventually move to Uruguay and then to the U.S., becoming a U.S. citizen in 1954.

In 2007 Modern Memoirs’ founder, Kitty Axelson-Berry, visited Lunny at her home and interviewed her for this commissioned memoir, creating a first-person narrative directly from the interview transcripts. Lunny spoke at length about her life on three continents—Europe, South America, and North America. She described growing up in Germany in the years leading up to and during WWII, and even recounts a story of a distant relative who was apparently involved in the “July 20 plot,” a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler.

A few excerpts that caught my eye:

I'll never forget that when World War II broke out, my mother and I were on the Baltic Sea at the seaside resort.... over the loudspeaker (Nazis were very fond of loudspeakers, it was like “Big Brother” from George Orwell's 1984), there was an announcement that England and then France had declared war because we [Germany] were invading Poland. My father, always suffering from problems after World War I, was also there, in a rehabilitation home for officers who had been sick. My mother and I were sitting on a bench outside. It was as if somebody had hit us over the head. We were numb. It was especially shocking to my parents because it was their generation that had gone through World War I. “Not again…we can't live through another war…” They knew what war entailed, though they didn't have any idea what this war would turn into. World War I was nothing compared to World War II. My mother was horrified—speechless and horrified.

Many of us were close to starvation and freezing after World War II. We had nothing to eat. Many windows were boarded over because they'd been blown out from the bombs. If the water was running at all, it was cold; there was no hot water. When I was not working for the Americans, I was so hungry in the little furnished room I was living in that I would put salt in the palm of my hand to lick, to at least get some saliva going.

It's a great mistake to go back to a place where you've had a good time, especially if it was with a beloved husband who isn't alive anymore. Don't go back alone, and don't go back if the weather isn't good, and don't go back if a lot of things have changed! I went alone [to Germany] after my parents had died, my husband had died… and it was in the fall, kind of dreary. All of a sudden I was surrounded by memories of people who were dead. I found that I was accomplishing the opposite of what I'd been hoping for.

In contrast, the final page of the book includes a list of Lunny’s “Favorite Sayings,” excerpted below:

• Immer lächeln. (Keep smiling.)
• Je suis partout chez moi. (I am everywhere at home.)
• A good belly laugh a day keeps the doctor away.
• On n’est pas mort tant qu’on vit dans la memoire des autres. —Jean-Claude Brialy (You are not dead as long as you live in the memories of others.)

August Question: What are a few words that evoke “home” for you?



Staff responses:

Megan St. Marie: Safety, comfort, stability, family.

Sean St. Marie: Love, peace, comfort, safety, dreams, serenity, and Megan, of course.

Ali de Groot: Cats in the house and cars in the driveway.

Liz Sonnenberg: Warm fire, soft lamplight, good food, interesting books, true love.

Nicole Miller: Where the heart is.

Emma Solis: Movie night, greenbelt, pets, laughter

Modern Memoirs Events: Sunday Block Parties

Looking for a relaxed outdoor event in Western Massachusetts? Sunday Block Parties are dynamic, family-friendly outdoor markets which feature a wide variety of local artists, musicians, farmers, and craftspeople. Modern Memoirs will be offering books by our authors as well as gifts for readers and writers from our online shop, Memory Lane Books & Gifts. You can visit us at the next Sunday Block Party on:

Sunday, September 8

11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Main St., Northampton, MA



We hope to see you there!