Ruth Broek was a modest but extremely capable writer. She wrote several books, articles, poetry and many fascinating short stories (the Thursday’s Child books). She could burst out in funny rhymes or song at any moment. Ruth grew up on the Coville Indian Reservation, taught herself the piano, rode her horse to teach in a one room school house, and married a Dutch professor. They moved to the Netherlands and back again, and had three children. Ruth went around the world alone on a Norwegian cargo liner. She kept lively diaries of places and people everywhere and loved every one she met. Sadly, despite her promise to Mal, she could not complete the publication of “Malachi” before her death in 1984. Thirty Five years later “Julie” discovered the manuscript in her mother’s papers. She remembered how earnestly Mal had asked Ruth to publish his story. “If I thought I could help just one poor soul, I’d be oh, so happy” He wanted the world to know that life has meaning. Julie remembered Mal saying, “Do what you please with my story. It’s yours.....” Offered with love by her daughter, Juliana Broek.
A Boy Named Malachi
by Ruth Broek
A Boy Named Malachi
by Ruth Broek
Published Mar 21, 2022
234 Pages
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General
Book Details
He gave up paradise
Mal was only six when he found that he was not welcome to join his friends in their white school. He was shocked. No school meant that he could not read the books he felt held answers for him. The rustic Shenandoah valley where he grew up had been a quiet paradise with friendly, helpful neighbors and black and white children playing together. Sad and confused, Malachi looked for answers and questioned his grandfather about the meaning in his name. Life had become hostile and he needed to understand why. He found there can be power and magic in a name. Malachi became a leader in his Oakland community. He encouraged others to plant flowers, clean up trash, and teach their children how to be good citizens. As Malachi’s story unfolds, we come to know the honest, loving family who had given him his strength, his confidence, energy, good humor, and his thirst for knowledge. Through the years flowers were Malachi’s passion. He loved to recreate the gardens of his charmed childhood. On one Saturday, while planting pansies, he looked up to see Julie, a very serious little blonde six year old. They both agreed that the flowers looked like kitten faces. And there began his friendship of many years with her whole family….. the one which gave birth to this book.