Pilgrimage to Nowhere: Coming of Age (1956-59)

Pilgrimage to Nowhere: Coming of Age (1956-59) is the story of Nick Pappas, born an American citizen in Greece on the eve of World War II. From the cradle, he knew the horrors and deprivation of war. He saw heroism and treachery, survival and death. Then, in 1946, he arrived, a repatriated citizen, at Ellis Island with his aging father, shell-shocked mother, and older brother, Paul. Raised in Chicago's Greek ghetto, Nick is the eternal immigrant with one foot in Greece and the other in America. He becomes a moral rebel, unwilling to join his brother's academic crowd or the wayward, delinquent crowd, seeking a security of his own, without conformity, the usual price for security. In 1956, now a drop-out from high school, Nick is talked into joining the Air Force and the rebel becomes an Air Policeman, the symbol of authority in the occupied lands of the Philippines. He meets and eventually falls in love with a native Filipino, Helena. When his actions impact on others, the rebel learns that there is always some price to pay. The adventures of this young man, coming of age in a foreign land, become a moral pilgrimage. AUTHOR BIO: Pete was born an American citizen in war-torn Greece and came to America in 1946. He was an airman, restaurateur, even candidate for Congress, but always a rebel. He wrote with the logic of his Greek homeland and the rebellion of his transplanted soul. Pete died 11/2/99.