The Tomato Smuggler: How One Man Stood Up to Communism

by Mark Lee Myers

Overview

A son's tribute.

His father waged war without bullets, triumphing over communist oppression during Dictator Ceauşescu's final decade in rural Romania.

Communism robbed freedom, so Nicolae's father led the family to subtle and overt resistance to retain their dignity. The Cismigiu family built a thriving tomato business and smuggled tomatoes to market to survive. Creatively defying tyranny brought harassment and intimidation directed at what was most valued: family, a prized workhorse, and their tomato farm.

Zeal to keep the spirit of freedom alive came at a cost many could not pay, even the death of a friend during one of their harrowing, midnight tomato smugglings. Joy and sorrow were interwoven into the fabric of the family's life story, but they focused on happiness and contentment. Grandpa always believed the Americans would come and liberate Romania after WWII but never lived to see the day. Ironically, his dream did come true. It skipped a generation and impacted Nicolae.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773740645
Publisher:	Mark Myers Books, LLC
Publication date:	04/22/2021
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Mark and his wife, Jeanette, were childhood sweethearts and have shared a great life together. Mark loves the realism of life stories. It is his honor to capture and preserve them. He is an explorer at heart, receiving immense satisfaction from meeting people and sharing their love of life, song of spirit, and struggles of endurance-the things that make them uniquely different and yet so similar. Mark writes to give others the gift he gives to himself: a deepened curiosity and broadened perspective. I'm at home with a poor man, At ease with a king, And I fit right in with all those in-between. - Mark Lee Myers, 1981

Table of Contents

Preface . . . xi

Prologue . . . xv

1 Tortured . . . 1

2 Simi . . . 11

3 More Land Than Allowed . . . 17

4 Take My Hand . . . 21

5 Hunted . . . 27

6 Green Thumb . . . 33

7 Springtime Start . . . 37

8 Harassment & Intimidation . . . 41

9 Second Chance . . . 47

10 A Kid's Life . . . 55

11 First Harvest . . . 63

12 Midnight Wagon . . .71

13 White Ghost . . . 83

14 Beating the Bureaucrats . . . 87

15 Beating the Train . . . 91

16 Long Ride . . . 97

17 Morning Market . . . 101

18 Seeding the Future . . . 111

19 Chewing Gum & Cap Guns . . . 115

20 Bonding . . . 119

21 Winter White . . . 123

22 Slaughter . . . 129

23 Perfect Christmas Tree . . . 133

24 Holiday Happiness . . . 137

25 Tested . . . 143

26 Warning Signs . . . 147

27 Heavier Load . . . 157

28 Home Away From Home . . . 163

29 Forgery . . .167

30 House Wine . . . 169

31 Unwelcome Visit . . . 175

32 Ice Cream Overdose . . .179

33 Faster Pace . . . 183

34 Checkpoint Savvy . . . 191

35 Wreck On the Road . . . 199

36 Avoidance . . . 207

37 Sweetening the Pot . . . 217

38 Double or Nothing . . . 221

39 Easy Does It . . . 225

40 Sinking Feeling . . . 229

41 Convicted Felon . . . 235

42 Saving Simi . . . 239

43 Radical Removed . . . 245

44 Liberty Lottery . . .249

45 Winds of Change . . . 257

Epilogue . . . 261

About the Author . . . 275

Editorial Reviews

"A remarkable, tensely exciting, moving true account. The energy of the narrative will stimulate any reader." - Dr. Mark Stock, former Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming

"A natural storyteller. Mark draws the reader into the storyline, exposing the forces of an oppressive regime that many in the free world have never known nor lived under its heavy hand. There is much to learn that will inspire readers currently at a crossroads politically." - Paul Lentz, author of "The Stuff of Life" trilogy

"I loved reading about the creative ways Nicolae's father coped with communist oppression. Mark Lee Myers does an excellent job of portraying life under a communist dictatorship, where many freedoms we take for granted are denied." - Sharon Marchisello, author of Going Home and Secrets of the Galapagos

From the Publisher