"The Scent of Violets" Author Joe Regenbogen on the Sunbury Press Books Show Artwork

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"The Scent of Violets" Author Joe Regenbogen on the Sunbury Press Books Show

October 03, 2025

A bomb rips apart the home of an older couple in Bloomington, Illinois during an otherwise peaceful summer evening. The target: a Jewish couple who found love in the Sobibor concentration camp during World War II. Motivated by antisemitism at a time when the American Nazi Party challenged the US Supreme Court, the perpetrator, Michael undergoes an experience and possibly, a transformation.

In "The Scent of Violets," Joe Regenbogen raises questions about redemption and forgiveness. Speaking with Lawrence Knorr on this edition of The Sunbury Press Books Show," Regenbogen examines a time in the 1970's when the Nazi Party began to again make inroads in the US, and also his own career as an educator.

Joe Regenbogen taught history in the public schools for four decades, first in his native New Orleans, Louisiana, then later in St. Louis, where he now lives. He has written several books, including "Questioning History," and "Relearning History," as a means to deepen students' historical understanding. He is also the author of "Longs Peak," and "Dying of the Light," as well as interview-derived works, "The Boys of Brookdale" and "Making a Difference."