Out of My Hands

A poignant personal memoir, Out of My Hands 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.

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.

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.

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.

An often-humorous tale of hope and perseverance, Out of My Hands 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.