Autobiography of a Man Who Overcame a Lifetime of Adversity

Newark, NJ, April 10, 2008 --(PR.com)-- As a child in Norway, author Olof A. Eriksen lived through the atrocities of World War II, then suffered a brutal upbringing. As an adult, he was a victim of numerous unscrupulous business dealings in America, and eleven times in his life he came face-to-face with death. Memoirs of an Immigrant is a true story that takes readers from the Land of the Midnight Sun to America and from World War II to today, as it shows one man’s ability to rise above impossible circumstances to build a victorious life.

Some men live lives of ease; others face physical, emotional and mental suffering almost from the moment they are born. For the latter, each difficult circumstance can increase the determination to persevere, and each obstacle can forge a man’s character. Such a one is Olof A. Eriksen. Eriksen was born in 1936 to a family divided by ill will and alcoholism. Very early he came to know the sorrow of abandonment as he was separated from his mother and three of his siblings. As a child he faced the occupation of his town by the German Army and the cruelty of the Gestapo. After World War II he was taken away from his loving but hapless father and placed in a home for boys, which would prove to be a life-scarring experience. For the next seven years he was subjected to humiliation, beatings, and sexual abuse.

To escape from the horrors of his daily life, Eriksen took refuge in books, creating dreams of himself as Robinson Crusoe or the Count of Monte Cristo, in which he saw himself exacting revenge on his tormentors. Finally freed from the home at the age of sixteen, his circumstances barely improved as he was now living with his estranged mother and alcoholic stepfather in Sweden. The possibility for a better life opened up for him when one of his brothers, who owned a construction company in America, urged Olof to immigrate. To receive permission though from the Swedish government, he had to first serve in the Swedish army.

In 1956, Eriksen arrived in America with only $5 in his pocket and began a working journey that served to uncover his remarkable talents as a craftsman and inventor, problem solver, carpenter, draftsman, designer, estimator, salesman, engineer, manager and, finally, president of his own successful company, Unique Systems Inc. Each step of the way, however, Eriksen was faced with those who would take advantage of him, try to steal from him, and even ruin him. Yet through it all, he managed not only to survive but prosper.

Praise for Memoirs of an Immigrant
“Olof’s life is riveting and inspiring. It is hard to imagine that one person could have gone through so much and still come out a ‘winner’!” – Nina M. Sherwood, professional writer

ISBN(s): 1432710149 Format(s): 6.14 x 9.21 Hardback w/Jacket SRP: US $29.95/CAN $29.95
Genre: Journal Writing

Olof A. Eriksen is a family man with two grown children as well as a hardworking businessman with many diverse talents. He is a musician, painter, and expert technical artist. To date he has fashioned a full-sized guitar made from 20,000 kitchen matches and built a working a 1/8 scale model of a Hammond Organ that can be played only with a toothpick. He is also the only person in the world today who can and has created museum-quality ship models by welding, using only steel.

For more information or to contact the author or illustrator, visit www.outskirtspress.com/Eriksen_MemoirsofanImmigrant

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