99-year-old WWII veteran launches career as children’s book author: ‘Reading is a foundation’

A 99-year-old World Conflict II veteran has made a brand new profession for himself by writing kids’s books. 

Sam Baker, 99, from Scottsdale, Arizona, joined the Marine Corps in 1942, simply 4 months after the assault on Pearl Harbor. 

When he returned to civilian life within the fall of 1947, Baker joined the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, which is now the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Baker labored for NOAA for 30 years earlier than he retired.

On the age of 95, Baker determined to take up writing.

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Baker advised Fox Information Digital that his son inspired him to write down his first kids’s ebook, “The Foolish Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm,” which was revealed in 2018.

The ebook relies on tales Baker used to inform his kids a few worm named Herman once they have been rising up. 

In 2020, Baker revealed his second ebook, “Oscar the Mouse,” primarily based on Baker’s personal childhood. 

“After I was a teenager, anyone gave me a white rat as a pet,” Baker mentioned. 

Baker added that regardless that folks at all times “cringe” when he tells them he had a pet rat, his rat “was the cleanest factor you ever noticed.”

“She and I used to have a superb rapport,” Baker mentioned. “However my mom wouldn’t let me take her in the home, so I needed to construct a cage for her exterior.”

Sam Baker joined the Marine Corps in 1942 and served throughout World Conflict II. He’s pictured in 1944.
(Courtesy of Sam Baker Books)

After he wrote “The Foolish Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm,” Baker mentioned he was reminded of his beloved pet rat and determined to write down a ebook about her, too. 

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As an alternative of a rat, although, he selected to alter the character to a mouse, “as a result of folks settle for mice over rats,” Baker mentioned.

Baker mentioned his third ebook will observe Oscar the mouse by way of extra adventures. Baker advised Army Households Journal that the ebook is anticipated to be revealed later this yr.

Baker advised Fox Information Digital that he needed to write down kids’s books to assist encourage younger folks to learn, as a result of “studying is a basis for all different studying.”
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Baker’s personal journey with studying had its challenges. He advised Fox that his academics taught him to learn utilizing the sight say methodology, which made it tough for him to learn. He mentioned he didn’t be taught phonics till he was an grownup. 

Nonetheless, he mentioned he developed a love for studying within the ninth grade when he needed to write a dozen ebook experiences in a single yr.

One other important second in Baker’s journey to turning into a kids’s ebook writer was a few years later, when his eldest daughter, Sally, was simply 3 years outdated. 

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On the time, Baker mentioned, his spouse used to learn to Sally day by day, and in the future, Sally determined to learn to Baker. 

“She had me sit on the sofa, she obtained her favourite kids’s ebook, climbed into my lap, confronted away from me, learn me the entire ebook, closed it with authority, circled and gave me the most important smile,” Baker mentioned.

Sam Baker’s first ebook, “The Foolish Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm,” relies on the tales Baker used to inform his kids once they have been rising up. The ebook got here out in 2018. 
(Courtesy of Sam Baker Books)

Nonetheless, the ebook had been the other way up, Baker mentioned. Regardless, he hugged her and gave her a kiss for her achievement. 

Seeing his daughter so happy with herself “demonstrated to me her will to be taught to learn,” Baker mentioned. “And it stayed with me.”

Apart from his son’s encouragement, Baker mentioned he was impressed to write down kids’s books to encourage children to learn. 

“Studying is a basis for all different studying,” Baker mentioned. “If you happen to don’t know the best way to learn, you’re going to have a tough time studying.”

“If I might simply get one little one to be taught to learn, that might be price all the issues and the prices,” Baker added. “I’m not making any cash. I don’t wish to generate profits. I need kids to be taught to learn.”