David A. Hecker - Memoir, Immigration, Historical Fiction, Poetry
David Hecker, a Bainbridge Island resident and former faculty member at Olympic
College, is the author of several books. His memoir Full
Circle: A Journey in Search of Roots (2012) traces his family's multiple
forced migrations from Germany to Russia (because of Napoleon), from Russia to
the United States (because of the Russian Revolution), and from Texas to North
Dakota (because of better prospects in farming in the Upper Plains).
Along his journey of discovery Hecker meets previously unknown relatives and
learns much about immigration practices in both Europe and the United
States. Hecker puts his knowledge about immigration to good use in his novel Strangers Before the Bench (2014). The book's
protagonist, George Schwartz, relishes his job as an INS hearing judge in
Seattle. But he soon learns that his distant relatives in Central Europe
suffered horrifically under immigration officials such as himself. This
discovery, along with a budding romance with an outspoken reporter, prompts
Schwartz to reconsider the lives he holds in his hands. Hecker has also
published a collection of his poems in the chapbook Natural Affinities (2017).
