ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY TIMES; A MEMOIR OF ONE CITIZEN ACTIVIST

CHAPTER 1: RETURNING HOME TO NEW JERSEY --

THIS IS MY OPENING STORY OF TRANSITION FROM A 26-YEAR MARRIAGE IN INDIANA THAT CAME TO AN ABRUPT END WITH MY HUSBANDS UNEXPECTED DEATH THAT LED TO MY MOVE BACK HOME TO NEW JERSEY AND THREE YEARS OF SOUL SEARCHING THAT LED TO ME MOVING TO PRINCETON TO BECOME AN ACTIVIST AT 50 YEARS OLD.


CHAPTER 2: MY FIRST CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE --

THE FIRST PRINCETON BASED ORGANIZATION I JOINED WAS THE COALITION FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, WHERE I BEGAN TO LEARN ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS. FROM AGES 20-46 YEARS OLD I LIVED IN THE CORNFIELDS OF INDIANA AND KNEW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF NUCLEAR ISSUES. I ACCOMPANIED A GROUP OF TEN FROM PRINCETON TO DO CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN NEVADA, WHICH OPENED MY EYES TO THE NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE MOST OF THE CITIZENS OF THE USA DID NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND OR KNOW EXISTED.


CHAPTER 3: MEETING OLZHAS SULEIMENOV

BY 1990 I HAD BECOME ACTIVE WITH PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR GLOBAL ACTION IN NYC AND VOLUNTEERED TO HELP WITH THE TRIPARTITE DELEGATION OF PARLIAMENT MEMBERS WORKING TO END NUCLEAR TESTING WORLDWIDE. THIS IS WHEN I MET HONORABLE OLZHAS SULEIMENOV FROM KAZAKHSTAN, WHO WAS A PEOPLES DEPUTY IN THE KREMLIN IN MOSCOW.


CHAPTER 4: KICK-OFF FOR UN PARTIAL TEST BAN TREATY

I HELPED PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR GLOBAL ACTION PLAN AND PREPARE THE CELEBRATION OF THE OPENING OF THE TEST BAN TREATY CONFERENCE, HELD AT THE TIME & LIFE BUILDING IN NYC WHERE THE GUESTS OF HONOR WERE SENATOR TOM HARKIN, MP ALLAN ROGERS OF THE UK, AND PEOPLES DEPUTY OLZHAS SULEIMENOV OF THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.


CHAPTER 5: CLOSING A SOVIET NUCLEAR TEST SITE

RESPONDING TO THE OFFICIAL INVITATION OF OLZHAS SULEIMENOV, I LED A DELEGATION OF SEVEN AMERICAN ACTIVISTS TO ATTEND THE CELEBRATION OF THE CLOSING OF THE SOVIET NUCLEAR TEST SITE IN SEMIPALATINSK, KAZAKHSTAN. THIS IS WHERE AND WHEN I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND THE HORRENDOUS CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR RADIATION.


CHAPTER 6: EDUCATING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ON "THE HORRORS OF THE MUSHROOM" -- PART 1

CHAPTER 7: EDUCATING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ON "THE HORRORS OF THE MUSHROOM" -- PART 2

CHAPTER 8: EDUCATING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ON "THE HORRORS OF THE MUSHROOM" -- PART 3

OLZHAS SULEIMENOV'S TRANSLATOR, VLADIMIR IAKIMETS, CALLED ME FROM THE KREMLIN IN MOSCOW AND ASKED ME TO TRANSPORT SEVEN KAZAKH CITIZENS, INCLUDING KARIMBEK KUYUKOV, ACROSS THE USA FROM PRINCETON TO NEVADA TO PARTICIPATE IN A 3-DAY RALLY TO STOP NUCLEAR TESTING AT OUR AMERICAN TEST SITE. I AGREED, RENTED A TEN-PASSENGER VAN AND DROVE TEN OF US ON A 30-DAY SPEAKING TOUR FROM NEW JERSEY TO SAN FRANCISCO AND BACK, EDUCATING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THE DANGERS OF NUCLEAR RADIATION. THE DAY WE RETURNED WE MET IN NYC WITH THE FILMING CREW AND NEWS COMMENTATOR FOR THE MCNEIL/LEHRER NEWSHOUR TV SHOW AND THEY INTERVIEWED MY KAZAKH FRIENDS. A MONTH LATER THE SEGMENT WAS AIRED INTERNATIONALLY AND SOON PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCED THE NEVADA NUCLEAR TEST SITE WOULD BE PERMANENTLY CLOSED. UNDERGROUND TESTING IN THE USA FINALLY ENDED IN SEPTEMBER 1992.



CHAPTER 9: AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION FROM A VERY FAMOUS LADY -- PART 1

CHAPTER 10: AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION FROM A VERY FAMOUS LADY -- PART 2

CHAPTER 11: AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION FROM A VERY FAMOUS LADY -- PART 3

FOUR MONTHS AFTER OUR TOUR OF THE USA, I RECEIVED A FAX FROM THE FIRST LADY OF KAZAKHSTAN, INVITING ME TO BRING A DELEGATION OF AMERICANS TO ATTEND HER FIRST TV-MARATHON-AUCTION TO RAISE MONEY TO BUILD A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN ALMATY, THE CAPITAL OF KAZAKHSTAN. THE HOSPITAL WAS FOR THE CHILDREN SUFFERING RADIATION DISEASE FROM THE NUCLEAR TESTING IN SEMIPALATINSK. I WENT TO THE BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB PHARMACEUTICAL OFFICE IN PRINCETON AND REQUESTED THEY SEND A GIFT TO PRESENT AT THIS EVENT. THEY AGREED AND SENT ME WITH A GIFT OF $60,000 IN LIFE-SAVING MEDICINE FOR THE CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM RADIATION. i WAS ABLE TO PRESENT THIS TO PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV AND FIRST LADY SARAH NAZARBAYEVA AT THIS FUNDRAISER.


CHAPTER 12: ESSAYS FROM PROFESSIONALS

MY NAME IS LOIS NICOLAI AND I WAS BORN & RAISED IN CHATHAM TOWNSHIP, NJ, BACK IN THE 40'S AND 50'S WHEN THE TOWNSHIP WAS "COUNTRY FARMLAND" AND THE ERA WAS SAFE ENOUGH TO PLAY WITH MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITHOUT MY PARENTS WORRYING ABOUT OUR SAFETY. I GREW UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD TOMBOY AND ENJOYED THE FREEDOM OF PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS ON MY STREET, FISHING IN THE LILY-PAD POND IN OUR BACKYARD, RIDING MY HORSE IN THE COW PASTURES, AND HELPING MY NEIGHBORS, MR & MRS PICKLE, MILK THEIR COW AND CHURN FRESH BUTTER WHILE SIPPING ON WARM BUTTERMILK IN THEIR ANTIQUE KITCHEN RISING FROM THE LAST CENTURY. COULD LIFE BE ANY BETTER THAN THAT? MY CHORES CONSISTED OF MOWING THE GRASS, FEEDING THE CHICKENS, WEEDING AND HOEING OUR GARDEN, CLEANING THE HORSE STALL IN OUR BARN, AND PITCHING HAY IN OUR HAY FIELD. TEN YEARS AS A GIRL SCOUT, FOUR YEARS OF 4-H AND EVERY SPORT OPEN TO GIRLS WERE MY SOCIAL LIFE, AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THEM ALL. I WAS EVEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO RAISE A SEEING EYE GERMAN SHEPHERD, KAREN, AS A 4-H PROJECT BEFORE SHE WENT INTO TRAINING AT THE NEW SEEING EYE DOG TRAINING CENTER IN MORRISTOWN. I GRADUATED FROM CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL AND ATTENDED A SEMESTER AT MONMOUTH JUNIOR COLLEGE BEFORE MEETING MY FUTURE HUSBAND, JIM, AND SETTLING IN HIS HOMETOWN OF ST. PAUL, INDIANA, WHERE I SPENT 26 YEARS RAISING MY SIX CHILDREN. BY THE TIME I WAS 30 I WAS FULLY CONVINCED THAT MY MISSION IN LIFE WAS TO RAISE MY SIX CHILDREN AND TOGETHER SURVIVE THE INDIANA CORNFIELDS WHERE WE SPENT ELEVEN SUMMERS DETASSELING PIONEER SEED CORN. BUT THE LORD MOVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS AND TWO WEEKS BEFORE FIVE OF MY CHILDREN WERE TO RETURN TO INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY IN TERRE HAUTE, MY HUSBAND DIED UNEXPECTEDLY, LEAVING ME, AT 46 YEARS OLD, TOTALLY DEVASTATED! ONCE MY CHILDREN RETURNED TO INDIANA STATE I MADE THE DECISION TO MOVE BACK HOME TO NJ. I HAD COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT MY WHOLE LIFE WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE. I SETTLED ON THE JERSEY SHORE AND EVENTUALLY BROUGHT ALL MY CHILDREN HERE AT THE END OF THEIR SCHOOL YEAR. I SPENT THE NEXT THREE YEARS WALKING THE BOARDWALK AND BEACH EVERY MORNING BEFORE WORK. MY VISION OF A NEW LIFE SOON BECAME A WORK IN PROGRESS, EVER-CHANGING AS THE SANDY SHORELINE, WHERE I MADE THE MAGICAL, DIFFICULT TRANSFORMATION OF SELF-DISCOVERY, LEADING ME TO EXTRAORDINARY CHANGES. AT MY 50TH BIRTHDAY DINNER I INFORMED MY CHILDREN THAT I WAS MOVING TO PRINCETON TO BECOME ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND PEACE-MAKING, TO MAKE MY CONTRIBUTION TOWARD BUILDING A SAFER AND BETTER WORLD FOR THEM AND MY FUTURE GRANDCHILDREN. I MOVED TO PRINCETON IN DECEMBER, 1987, AND SPENT THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS TRAVELING WORLDWIDE INTO 33 COUNTRIES. . THOSE TWENTY YEARS WERE HISTORICAL YEARS, AND I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THE CHANGES. I MET AND WORKED SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH FORMER AND SITTING PRESIDENTS, FIRST LADIES, SENATORS, CONGRESSMEN AND PEOPLES DEPUTIES FROM THE KREMLIN IN MOSCOW. I BECAME ACTIVE WITH THE OSCE/PAE ORGANIZATIONS AS AN ELECTION REGISTRATION OFFICER AND ORGANIZER/SUPERVISOR OF THE FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN TEN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SUCH AS KOSOVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, MOLDOVA, SOVIET GEORGIA, SYBERIA, KAZAKHSTAN, ETC. IN 2007 I RETURNED HOME AND WORKED ELEVEN YEARS FOR THE MIDDLETOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT BEFORE RETIRING IN 2018 AT 81 YEARS OLD. TODAY I AM LIVING MY DREAM YEARS RESIDING ON THE BOARDWALK OF MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BEACH AND WRITING MY TRILOGY MEMOIR. BY THE WAY, AS A TOMBOY I ALWAYS SAID I WOULD NEVER MARRY OR HAVE CHILDREN, BUT I MARRIED AT 20 YEARS OLD AND TODAY I HAVE SIX CHILDREN, 18 GRANDCHILDREN, 10 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN WITH SPOUSES AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS TO ENJOY. SO "NEVER SAY NEVER"! I HAVE COMPLETED MY FIRST MEMOIR, AND AM WRITING MY SECOND NOW. i NOW KNOW MY FIRST MISSION WAS TO RAISE MY CHILDREN, AND ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE I ACQUIRED GROWING UP IN CHATHAM TWP. AND RAISING A LITTLE ARMY TAUGHT ME SO MUCH THAT I USED WHEN I STARTED MY PEACE-WORK.

Find out more about Lois at loisnicolaiauthor.com