Val Karnowski, Boy Revolutionary
by Gerald R. Schmidt
Set against the backdrop of a Poland struggling under Prussian oppression, Val Karnowski, Boy Revolutionary is a sweeping historical diary that chronicles the life of a gifted orphan amid the turbulent events of 1848. Told in vivid detail through daily entries, this deeply Catholic and emotionally charged novel explores the spiritual, cultural, and political forces shaping a nation-and a boy-on the brink of transformation.
Born with a genius-level intellect, young Val Karnowski is thrust into a world of sorrow, resistance, and unexpected kinship after a tragic childhood at the Rog�źno Zamek palace. As plague, betrayal, and political upheaval swirl around him, Val finds solace and guidance in the Church, in the memory of his mother, and in the unlikely friendships that shape his worldview.
Woven into the narrative are authentic newspaper clippings, Polish folk customs, and historical commentary. Real figures-like Bismarck, Marx, and Mieroslawski-intersect with fictional lives, culminating in the revolutions of 1848. As Europe erupts in calls for freedom, young Val witnesses history in the making, from the barricades of Paris to the bloodied streets of Berlin.
A powerful meditation on faith, patriotism, and perseverance, this novel is also a poignant reminder of Poland's indomitable spirit-and the courage of even its smallest sons.
Schmidt, Gerald R.: -
Gerald was born in 1937 in Chicago. As a child he was an avid reader of How to Draw books. One day at age 11 he wandered over to the Grown-up Books section of the public library and pulled down a picture-book of gothic cathedrals. He fell in love with their beauty. His mother used to give him the white paper in which the butcher had wrapped meat. Finding a large piece of plywood, he became "the only kid on his block" who used to sketch up gothic cathedral façades. He began studying Architecture in 1955 and worked his way thru college, earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois in 1966. He is proud to say that he never took a penny of student loans. He received an Illinois license in 1972. Sometime after that he began conducting genealogical research on his ancestors. He speaks Polish, German, and Spanish to some extent. He has a gift for language.
Gerald has undergone three intensifications of faith in his life: one at age fourteen, when, as a child prodigy he became the object of three years of abuse by his classmates. He endured and graduated. The second was at age twenty-two, when it appeared he was about to die. He told himself, "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna go out in a blaze of glory", and joined volunteer groups that kept him active every night of the week. The third was in 1982, when a concurrence of events, including the loss of a job, left him "down and out", and God gave him a new image of Himself as a very loving Father.
After this last intensification in 1982 began to feel the call to do something more directly to promote Jesus' kingdom on earth. He began to explore religious life. It saddened him to see the majority of adult Catholics coasting thru life on a few simplistic ideas that they picked up in early life. In 1992 he sold a condo in Chicago and used the money from the sale for education. He entered Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio in September, 1992. Once there he responded to a call by Fr. Michael Scanlon TOR and entered Holy Apostles Seminary for older men in Cromwell, CT. in fall, 1993. He spent 3 1/2 months doing door-to-door evangelization in Ceres and Modesto, CA in summer, 1994 while on assignment at St. Jude's parish, Ceres. He concluded that religious life was not for him and returned to Franciscan U. and earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology and Christian Ministry in 1996.
Unable to find work with his degree, and running out of money, he found a job as an archit...
