I’m David Austin (on the right) and I am a retired public school history and English teacher. I graduated from Temple University in 1980 and earned a Masters in English/Creative Writing from Rutgers University in 1999. I used to publish a lot of poetry in very small literary magazines, most of which no longer exist. Over the last twenty years or so, when I wasn’t teaching, I was writing book reviews for Friends Journal, a monthly magazine published by and for members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

I currently reside in Marlton, New Jersey.

Small Miracle is my first book. But it will not be my last.

When I’m not working on my next project, I’m reading (mostly history and non-fiction); playing guitar, bass guitar, and ukulele; following the Philadelphia Phillies; traveling; doing Quaker stuff; and hanging out with Tosh, the mini-goldendoodle.

Charles Middleberg, whose story I tell in Small Miracle, was a hidden child in France during World War Two. After the war, he and the surviving members of his family emigrated to the United States where he began his new life. Charles spent many years sharing his story with young people and adults throughout the South Jersey/Delaware Valley area, which is how I got to know him. He visited with my seventh grade students and inspired them with his story of hope, love, and perseverance. It was his message of tolerance and determination that moved me to want to share his story with the wider world. I am so very grateful that he allowed me to do so.

Charles passed away on December 22, 2023. I feel a responsibility to continue to share his story with you.

I am very proud to have been his friend.

Small Miracle: A Holocaust Story from France, was published by Fernwood Press in May, 2020.