Dutch Minister Leers teams with American Author Schaefer

Yin, Yang & Snoepje please the people

On Sunday, November 21, 2010 "The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box" was formally debuted at the Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore in Maastricht the Netherlands. Guido Wevers, Director of Vrijthof Theatre and Maastricht Cultural Capital 2018 initiative made the introductions, Dutch Immigration Minister and former Mayor of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, read the Dutch text. Susan was accompanied on guitar by Piet Bongaarts for the poetry introduction and the audience loved the story and illustrations. There were about 100 people in attendance.

Piet Bongaarts and Susan listen to Guido Wevers introduction with the young ones lined up cozy in the front of the audience

Dutch Immigration Minister, Gerd Leers, reads the Dutch text while Susan follows

Susan reads the English while the children listen attentively

A warm and welcoming response for all

A Ministerial Kiss!

Book Presentation Promotion

The Kitties assuming center stage at the world's fairest bookstore

Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht

"The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box" premieres tomorrow. The stage is set, I'm excited, a bit nervous, but thrilled. And Martijn's wings are spread over and around this event. I dedicate this book, again, to him and the love and light he created for our family, a family that included these four-footed heroes who will emerge for the first time for a 'public' tomorrow. "A cat becomes the soul of home."

The Adventures of Yin & Yang is PurrFectly on its way

Wow. The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box, is live and ready to be ordered, so please consider it for you holiday gift giving. You can buy it directly from our publishers, Dog Ear Publishing, online.

Dutch Minister Gerd Leers

And here's some really big news: My friend, Dutch Cabinet Minister Gerd Leers,

is teaming with me with to debut the book in Maastricht!

Here's the News Release we've posted:

From America’s Cradle of Liberty to Europe’s: The Maastricht Dutch Connection

What do the Liberty Bell, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, the Treaty of Maastricht and three, four-footed furry felines have in common? The answer: former Philadelphia and Twin Cities business and community leader, and self-proclaimed global citizen, Susan Hermse Schaefer, whose just released bilingual illustrated book, The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box, has won the hearts of her third home, Maastricht, the Netherlands, bringing her from one cradle of liberty to another.

The book, a venture with collaborator, long-time friend, and Minnesotan-based illustrator, Michael Bower Putman, is set in Minnesota, populated with a Dutch husband, two charming middle aged cats, one quirky kitten, and a wife who, let’s say... resembles its author. Translation newcomer, Juliëtte van der Aa, a resident of Amsterdam, charmingly rendered the English to Dutch.

In mid-November the book, which is the first of an intended twelve small volumes, will be introduced to the Dutch public in her third home, Maastricht, host of the Treaty of Maastricht.

The Treaty of Maastricht, non-European audiences might ask? Yes, Maastricht is the southernmost major Dutch city, sharing borders with Belgium and Germany, where in 1991 perhaps the best known and most controversial of the European treaties was signed, officially known as the Treaty of the European Union. With this treaty the European Union, or EU, came into existence, which might qualify Maastricht as modern Europe’s “Cradle of Liberty”.

And, it was in Maastricht that Schaefer met and came to admire, Gerd Leers, who was then the city’s mayor.

Mayor Leers stepped down from that post due to a political conflict of interest, but Schaefer, along with the majority of Maastricht’s citizens, continued to support and respect this political leader. “I watched with great admiration how Mr. Leers ran the city, and then handled himself during a time of crisis. I offered my respect and support throughout,” admits Schaefer.

In October 2010 a new cabinet position was created in the Dutch government, and Mr. Leers was appointed as Minister of Immigration, a position with significant weight and profile, not to mention difficulty. “I am delighted that Mr. Leers will return to his beloved city to jointly read with me a marvelously illustrated children’s book dedicated to my late husband, Martijn Hermse, a Maastricht citizen. This book, written in English and Dutch and presented at the Dutch holiday season of Sinterklaas is my gift to my second country, the Netherlands and Maastricht, the city I adore,” says Schaefer.

A debut and reading in a bookstore ‘made in heaven’

Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore Maastricht

Thus, on November 21, 2010, the Maastricht branch of the prestigious Dutch national book chain, Selexyz, (comparable to Barnes & Noble) has invited Schaefer to present The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box to Dutch audiences for its debut, and Minister Leers will read the Dutch text.

Selexyz Dominicanen, as this Maastricht branch of the book chain is known, has been named “the fairest bookstore in the world,” by the UK’s esteemed The Guardian. This ‘store’ must be seen to be believed, housed as it is in a 13th century former friary, which has been restored with breathtaking care and creativity.

“Having Selexyz choose this book is an tribute in itself,” states Schaefer. “Furthermore, being asked to present the book for its Dutch debut, with all images beamed on a large screen for the children to see, is a dream. Most meaningful, is that I have been honored to do so in Maastricht, the hometown of my late husband, Martijn, who inspired this book and my life.”

The book presentation will consist of a reading in both languages and a book signing. Guido Wevers, head of Maastricht’s Cultural Capital initiative and the city’s prestigious Vrijthof Theatre, will introduce the presentation.

Book back story: Lake Minnetonka, Minneapolis, Minnesota to Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands

Schaefer wrote and self-illustrated The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box in 1999 in one night, as a father’s day gift for her beloved Dutch husband. Using handmade paper and primitive illustrations, Schaefer explains that she awoke during the night with the story fully developed, and while her husband slept, she wrote and drew it for him. They were then living on Minnesota’s famed Lake Minnetonka in the western suburbs of Minneapolis.

Martijn, the model for Antoine, and his Yin

“Martijn considered this life in Minnesota’s undeniable natural beauty as near to heaven as possible,” Schaefer quietly muses. “And he was so contemplative a soul; our cats were perfect companions for a true philosopher, they seemed to posses the wisdom of the ages, like most cats.”

It was Schaefer who suggested that the couple take an extended sabbatical – a few years to live, study and relax in Martijn’s native Limburg Province, also noted for its astounding beauty and quality of life. In 2004, the University of Maastricht accepted Schaefer for a mid-career Master’s Program in European Public Affairs; she graduated with honors in 2005 and began working in diverse capacities for various departments at the university. Martijn had begun exploring options to complete his doctoral dissertation at Maastricht’s Jan van Eyck Academy. Soon the pair settled into the gentle flow of the “Burgundian lifestyle”. Enjoying their Maastricht experience, the two decided to extend their stay. Then tragedy struck. In early 2007 Martijn was diagnosed with cancer and within 18 months he had passed away. Schaefer was devastated, but she promised her soul mate that she would tell their love story – a story that included their much-adored cats.

“Bringing this tale to life in Martijn’s own city, surrounded by his family and friends, is truly the realization of a dream,” she admits. “And doing this in a store that has been named ‘a bookstore made in heaven’, one that he adored, has a moving symmetry.”