Out of My Hands The Stories of Harold Hunsaker Chapman

<p>A poignant personal memoir, <i>Out of My Hands</i> presents the story of Harold Chapman, a midwestern boy whose difficult life begins in the grip of one of the worst influenza outbreaks in history.</p> <p>With his mother dead, seven-year-old Harold must take on the care of his siblings-who soon increase in number when his father and the nanny he hired to help them produce a seventh, then an eighth, child. But tuberculosis and a disastrous move out west weaken Harold's father, leaving Harold responsible for getting the farming and ranching work done.</p> <p>Extended family, friends, and community always come to the aid of Harold's struggling family, and Harold's maternal grandparents play a significant role in their lives, instilling values and imparting the skills the children will need to survive during the Great Depression.</p> <p>Harold becomes a breadwinner early in life and as a teenager works at a gas station, a repair shop, and a dairy farm as well as in the cornfields and hayfields of Illinois doing menial labor.</p> <p>An often-humorous tale of hope and perseverance, <i>Out of My Hands</i> was written by Harold's son, Gary Chapman, based on Harold's first-person stories about growing up, helping his family, and overcoming life's inevitable obstacles.</p>