Midway University to host author of bestseller that is first-year students' common-read book 7 p.m. Nov. 7

Jennifer Teege, author of My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me, Midway University’s "common read" book for the year, will give a lecture to all first-year students and the public at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 in the Duthie Auditorium of the Anne Hart Raymond Building, followed by a book signing.

The general public is welcome, but priority seating is for enrolled Midway University students. First-year students in their first semester use the book for class discussions, projects, and writing assignments in the MWY 101 Pathways and Perspectives course. "The culminating experience is for students to be able to meet the author in person and have their books signed," said Ellen Gregory, vice president for marketing and communications.

Teege’s memoir was hailed as “haunting” by The Washington Post, “unforgettable” by Publishers Weekly and “stunning” by Booklist. Subtitled A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past, the book tells how Teege responded to the discovery that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant so chillingly depicted by Ralph Fiennes in the movie Schindler’s List. The film was shown in MWY 101 classes recently.

"When Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, randomly picked up a library book from the shelf, her whole life—her whole sense of self—changed forever," a Midway University press release said. "Recognizing photos of her mother and grandmother in the book, she discovered a horrifying fact they had kept from her."