Linda Reid

Researching fiction

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I’m not sure that readers of novels appreciate how much research often goes into creating a story that, while fiction, includes elements that are accurate. For example, when Linda Reid and I wrote Deep Waters, the third in our Sammy Greene thriller series, we imagined a shipwreck dated from  415 CE. Salvaged in Greek waters in 2003, among the artifacts discovered was an ancient device that is critical in our story to locate the true statue of Athena.

The device we “created” was similar to  the Antikythera Mechanism  which is currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Scientists believe that the tool was one of, if not the first computer, built by Ancient Greeks during the Roman Empire.  The latest theory is that the “computer” calculated the lunar calendar, critical for safe and effective navigation. 

It’s always fun to find validation for your “creations”. Just recently Darren Orf took a look at our current understanding of this ancient mechanism in his article in Popular Mechanics.  You can read the updates here

If you have not read our award winning Deep Waters, join Sammy and Gus Pappajohn  in sunny Greece for a virtual vacation and exciting thriller.

And of course, we hope you’re enjoying Dirty Deeds, Sammy Greene’s latest adventure set in New York City.  

Radio talk-show host Sammy Greene is back in Book #4: DIRTY DEEDS! Great reviews!!

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The official release is February 14th for the Print version, but you can pre-order the Kindle version from Amazon now. After the 14th, the eBook version will be available from these sources:

Here are some of the pre-release reviews:

KIRKUS REVIEW:

New York’s premier crime-solving radio host teams up with an ER nurse to solve a case in Shlian and Reid’s mystery, one in a series.

Outspoken radio host Sammy Greene is back in New York and back on the air, this time for the progressive Radio USA network in Astoria, Queens. There she runs into Ana Pappajohn, the daughter of her friend and former sleuthing partner Gus. Once a drug addict and sex worker, Ana is now a nurse practitioner–in-training at a hospital in nearby Jackson Heights. When a Tibetan immigrant mother brings her 6-month-old baby Jampa in with a mysterious illness, Ana discovers the infant has arsenic levels 20 times the typical amount. 

Of course, Jampa’s mother, Tenzin Dolma, is immediately suspected, but Ana—a mother herself—has her doubts. “There are other ways the children could be poisoned,” she insists to Gus, an ex-cop. “If Dolma wasn’t an immigrant, maybe she’d only be a person of interest at this stage, not in jail with no bail.” Ana enlists Gus and Sammy—who have some experience solving tough cases—in her investigation to prove Tenzin’s innocence. Along the way, they discover connections to another dead child, as well as the murder of a prominent Queens real estate developer. When they cross some powerful people, Ana and Sammy learn just how dirty New York City can get. 

Shlian and Reid excel at capturing the wry cynicism of the New Yorkers who inhabit the intersecting worlds of medicine, real estate, and the law. “You never know whose pants are getting dropped in a corruption scandal,” the police chief quips. Ana, with her checkered past and her son with cerebral palsy, makes for a strong and sympathetic protagonist.

There are some idiosyncratic flourishes—the authors’ reflexive need to explain every reference, a nearly distracting enthusiasm for Greek food—but overall this is a fun, fast read with plenty of Queens-specific color. Fans of the previous books in the series will be more than satisfied.

A gleefully gritty crime novel set in the world of a New York hospital.

5 STARS:

Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite

Dirty Deeds by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid is a continuation of a series involving investigative radio journalist Sammy Greene. Sammy is currently hosting a talk radio show in New York City for Radio USA. In the period leading up to the 2008 elections, the focus was on the primary candidates from both parties but when Sammy’s best friend, nursing student Ana Pappajohn, revealed some disturbing information about possible arsenic contamination in New York’s water supply, Sammy became caught up in investigation corruption and malfeasance amongst New York’s elite politicians. A seemingly unrelated murder of a New York building contractor, the arrival of Ana’s father, a former Boston detective, Gus Pappajohn, and a series of babies at Ana’s hospital all suffering from arsenic poisoning creates a multi-layered mystery for Sammy, Ana, and Gus to unravel, all while facing danger from powerful men determined to hide the truth. 

Dirty Deeds is my first introduction to authors Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid, as well as their principal characters Sammy Greene, and Ana and Gus Pappajohn. I am impressed by the depth of their plotting, the twists and turns of the mystery as it unrolls under their investigation, as well as the likability, relatability, and variety of characters introduced. I particularly appreciated that it was often poor, immigrant families that were being exploited by the elite’s corruption and I loved the authors’ focus on Tibetan culture in particular. The empathy the authors evoke in readers is to be admired, especially for the plight of Tibetans forced from their homeland, seeking relief in the promises of the USA, only to be sadly let down and disappointed by those who were elected into power to protect them. I was impressed by the level of knowledge regarding hospitals, police, governmental offices, and de-encryption procedures. This novel has been deeply researched and intelligently written. By incorporating current events of the time, the story has the ring of authenticity and believability, which is always crucial. This may have been the first work I’ve read in this series but I suspect it will not be the last time I encounter these two authors and these characters. I highly recommend this read.

Bella Wright
Editor
BestThrillers.com 

The Bottom Line: A cleverly-constructed murder mystery with a one-of-a-kind heroine at its core. 

The fourth book in the Sammy Greene series opens in New York City, as smug real estate tycoon Vince Garibaldi is lured into a midnight hour meeting. After handing over a thumb drive and denying accusations of being a snitch, he’s summarily bludgeoned to death, belted into his Porsche, and sunk into the East River. It’s the first of two significant – and seemingly unrelated – murders in the novel.

But as you might suspect, things are not quite what they seem in Dirty Deeds. 

Elsewhere in the Big Apple, doctors can see that six-month-old Jampa Dorjee is clearly far too small for his age. After the child’s mother, Tibetan immigrant Tenzin Dolma, brings the baby to the ER, tests find that the child’s blood arsenic levels are 20 times higher than normal. As the baby clings to life in the hospital, Child Protective Services and NYPD arrive at the family’s apartment and arrest Dolma for attempted murder. 

Nursing student Ana Pappajohn, whose father Gus is a retired cop, believes Dolma has been unjustly accused. As part of her efforts to free Dolma from jail, Ana makes an introduction to series heroine Sammy Greene. Set in 2007 during the waning years of peak terrestrial radio, Sammy hosts a talk show on the liberal Radio USA network, serving as a platform for social advocacy. But it seems that Sammy has a history of pushing things a bit too far. Will the show’s new direction be a fit with her program director, to say nothing of city officials?

Authors Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid have created a sophisticated narrative in which tragic worlds collide. Shlian and Reid hold back just enough information in the early going to sustain mysteries in both stories, resulting in a series of huge payoffs once Anna and others finally stitch them together. While Dolma’s plight is far more evocative and stirring than its counterpart, the way in which the connective tissue between the two is constructed is worth the price of admission. 

Dirty Deeds is also a fascinating lens through which the social and political dynamics of 2007 are revisited. As you might guess, the plight of Tibetan immigrants are explored in a way that’s downright moving. In addition, get ready to relive the 2007-era political landscape, including Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama. Even Donald Trump, who declares “They couldn’t pay me enough to be a politician,” makes an appearance. While we learn a lot about Sammy through well-placed snippets of backstory, readers are advised to begin with Book 1, Dead Air, to experience this unique heroine’s origin story.

EARLY GOODREADS REVIEWS:

“Deep Waters” WINS 2 MEDALS!

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FAPA PRESIDENT’S AWARDS

“Deep Waters“, the third in the Sammy Greene series won 2 Silver Medals for the Florida Authors and Publishers Association’s President Award – one for Mystery/Suspense and one for Thriller.

Each year the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) sponsors the FAPA President’s Book Awards, which recognizes book publishing excellence and creativity in design, content, and production for authors and publishers. This year we have opened the competition from North America only to the English-speaking world. We hope to encourage entries from all who share our complex and wonderful language.

Finalists are chosen by publishing professionals and librarians from both within and outside of Florida and are announced at the President’s Book Awards Banquet the last weekend of July.”

CEO of Pfizer and Deep Waters

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Sammy Greene, investigative reporter and radio host visits Thessaloniki, Greece in Deep Waters.  Thessaloniki was the home of thousands of Sephardic Jews who left Spain in the 15thcentury.  They were the majority in the city until World War II, and their social and cultural influence was captured in the city’s nickname, “la madre de Israel”, mother of Israel.

Tragically, after the Nazis invaded and occupied Greece in 1941, they rounded up 54,000 Jews and sent them north to concentration and labor camps, from which only ~5000 survived.   A few escaped by hiding among the Gentile community, and some were protected by Greek Orthodox clergy.  Two survivors of the Nazi genocide, Mois and Sara Bourla in Northern Greece became the parents of Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, oin 1961.  Known as “Akis”, Bourla shared his family’s story with Sephardic Heritage International on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

“Remembrance. It’s this word, perhaps more than any other, that inspired me to share my parents’ story. That’s because I recognize how fortunate I am that my parents shared their stories with me and the rest of our family.

Many Holocaust survivors never spoke to their children of the horrors they endured because it was too painful. But we talked about it a great deal in my family. Growing up in Thessaloniki, Greece, we would get together with our cousins on the weekends, and my parents, aunts and uncles would often share their stories.

They did this because they wanted us to remember. To remember all the lives that were lost. To remember what can happen when the virus of evil is allowed to spread unchecked. But, most important, to remember the value of a human life.”

The story of Bourla’s harrowing tales of his family’s tragedy and survival are quoted in Kathimerini, Greece’s premier newspaper: 

Bourla and his sister grew up in Thessaloniki.  An animal lover, the bright young man entered the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and graduated with a PhD in veterinary medicine.  After working as a veterinarian, Bourla joined Pfizer, the mega-pharmaceutical company, in 1993, serving as a doctor of veterinary medicine and then as technical director for the company’s animal health division in Greece. Bourla went on to embrace many roles at Pfizer, including serving as Group President of Pfizer’s Global Vaccines, Oncology, and Consumer Healthcare business, helping to launch the anticoagulant Eliquis, and the breast cancer treatment drug Ibrance.

In 2020, Bourla pushed Pfizer employees for the fast development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with BioNTech of Germany. He was quoted that “financial returns should not drive any decisions” with regards to the vaccine. To have vaccine ready for shipping immediately, he launched production of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine before the Emergency Use Authorization was approved by the FDA.   

Today, Bourla and his family share homes in New York and Northern Greece.  In April of 2019, Bourla was honored as the “Preeminent Greek Leader” of the global pharmaceutical industry by United States Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt, at the Prix Galien Greece Awards ceremony.

 In 2020, Institutional Investor ranked Bourla as America’s top CEO in the pharmaceutical industry. His company’s Pfizer vaccine is one of the three vaccines available in the US and is helping millions stay safe and healthy around the world during this horrible pandemic.

Efharisto, Dr. Bourla!  And, if you’re interested, you can read more about Greek Jewry and Thessaloniki as you follow Sammy Greene into Deep Waters!

–by Linda Reid

Deep Waters gave MacGyver a plot idea two decades later

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Imagine my big surprise when I caught up with MacGyver this weekend! 

It seems as if Rogue CIA Agent Albert Miller from our award-winning novel Devil Wind, published in 2011 and set in the anxious era of Y2K managed to spread the word about his lethal weapon “The Resonator” to the villains of the global terror group Codex fighting the Phoenix Foundation “good guys”. 

Yes, the very machine that uses the earthquake damage prevention system that includes base isolation to dampen earthquake waves for tall buildings/skyscrapers; made its debut on the CBS show today.  Just like Agent Miller had done to LA University’s gleaming new hospital, the Codex villains manipulated the system to magnify the waves, making the building weave and shake more and more, and endangering the young heroes for 44 minutes.   

Nice to know that Sammy, Gus, and their friends raced to keep hundreds of people in LA safe; and kept the resonator out of the hands of dramatic malefactors and LA TV scriptwriters for 20 years!

-by Linda Reid, co-author of the award-winning thriller Devil Wind

With Jewish Holidays near, learn about the Romaniote who hail from Greece

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Deep Waters, the third in the Sammy Greene series, was set in Greece. In researching the setting, Linda Reid (my co-author) and I learned about the Romaniote Jews who are among the oldest (dating back 2000 years) and least-known of all the Jewish communities of the diaspora. Then in my travels, I met someone- now a good friend- who is a descendent of this group. 

According to oral tradition, following the destruction of the 2ndtemple in 70 AD, the Jews of Palestine were sent on a slave ship to Rome. Instead, a storm forced them to land in Greece where they developed unique ethnic and religious customs.

Neither Sephardim (from Spain) or Ashkenazim (from Eastern Europe), this group traces its roots back to the Roman Empire. They are considered “Hellenizied” or Greek Jews, Their distinct language was actually Judaeo-Greek, a Greek dialect which contained Hebrew along with some Aramaic and Turkish words known as Yevanic.

Historians believe that those Romaniotes who were able to remain intact for so many centuries did so because the people adopted the language and customs of the Greek civilization as their own while maintaining their distinct Jewish identity, i.e. acculturating, but not assimilating. 

That was especially true of Ioannia (Janina), a small city in NW Greece. Many other Romaniotes in Greece were absorbed into the much larger Sephardic community, adopting its Ladino language. 

The Jews of Janina made their living as merchants, tradesmen and craftsmen. Theirs was a patriarchal society of arranged marriages, large families and strict Jewish orthodoxy.

While strict in their faith, the Romaniote were not isolated from the larger community. For example, during the High Holidays  Christian townspeople of Janina often used to attend celebrations of Jewish New Year. Sometimes local officials also came to watch and share the joy of their Jewish fellow citizens.

On March 25, 1944 1860 men, women and children were rounded up, loaded into trucks and deported to Auschwitz. Only 200 survived.

Pre- World Qard II, large Romaniote communities were located in Thessaloniki, Janinia, Arta, Preveza, Volos, Chalkis, Thebes, Corinth, Patras and the islands of Corfu, Zakynthos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, Cyprus among others. Eight-five percent of all Greek Jews perished and the historic Romaniote communities in Greece were largely destroyed during the Holocaust. 

After the war,  a majority of the survivors emigrated to Israel, the US, and Western Europe. Today there are still functioning Romaniote synagogues in Chalkis, a town on the Greek island of Eubie, Janina, Athens, NewYork and Israel.

Interesting, second and third generation Romaniote immigrants in New York city have good knowledge of Greek. In the beginning of the 21st century 90% asserted that they understand Greek while 40% could speak Greek comfortably. Over a third could read Greek fairly well.

The Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue in Manhattan has struggled to maintain its millennium-old traditions. Designated a historic landmark by the city of New York in 2004, it still operates in its original form.

Today between 4500 and 6000 Jews remain in Greece, only a small percentage are Romaniotes who live mainly in Thessaloniki, Chalkis, Janina and Athens.

Devil Wind Featured in Notorious Minds Boxed Set

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Notorious Minds?  A rogue secret agent stealing a weapon to kill thousands of innocent victims? Has to be fiction—a heart-stopping thrill ride in a hellish Hollywood, battered by Devil Winds, fiery-hot Santa Ana’s that spark an inferno in the lush hills hiding the garish mansions of the rich and famous. Devil Wind, by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid, is one of TWENTY exciting thrillers and mysteries included in the Notorious Minds Boxset, transporting your imagination to worlds beyond your door.

Venturing into a world of danger is best left to the imagination in today’s pandemic era.  The COVID-19 virus has devastated our world, locking us into silos of isolation and loneliness, even as it claims the lives of family, friends, and neighbors as its victims.  As physicians as well as authors, Dr. Shlian and I had hoped that the antibiotic and anti-viral era would prevent a feared pandemic such as the one that decimated WWI survivors in 1918.  Yet, even with 21stcentury medical knowledge and expertise, we have met a viral enemy that we are struggling to conquer.  Many of us are seeking answers as to how we can remain healthy and safe, and others are searching for reasons to explain why this virus took hold—transferring from the realm of fiction to a dangerous reality.

Theories abound, and it may take us years to understand the complete story.  Meanwhile, everyone hopes and wishes that the damage and death from COVID-19 can be limited, and that we can soon return to our lives, work, and personal social connections.  Reading and writing can be solace for many whose path to recovery, whether from the virus, or its social and economic damage are difficult to surmount.  Devil Wind’s protagonists, investigative reporter and talk-radio host Sammy Greene and her grizzled friend Gus Pappajohn pair up for a journey that begins from despair, and aims for the light of new hope, in a gritty Los Angeles universe familiar to fans of Michael Connelly and Lee Child.

The promise of hope, of a brighter future, inspires many writers to pen novels to delight readers; however, many other authors turn to imagining dystopias that serve as a warning for our societies about where we are headed and “what not to do”.  Faced with choices in an unknown scenario, we may revisit the projections and ideas of renowned futurists, such as Orwell and Huxley, and even Michael Crichton, for answers and fears about “what’s next”. Truth be told, though elements of authors’ works may resonate with today’s crises, we have tools at our disposal that we can use to opt for better outcomes than they predicted, such as scientific research, critical and strategic thinking, innovation, and free will. Let us hope and pray that our future guides us toward progress and not purgatory.

And let us enjoy adventures that exist in our imaginations, and from the imaginative fiction writers who are included in the Notorious Mind boxset, now available for pre-order from Amazon:  

Be healthy and well, and enjoy our books!

Linda Reid

Co-author of the award-winning Sammy Greene Thriller series, Dead Air, Devil Wind, and Deep Waters

www.akesopress.com

Author (as Y S Pascal) of the award-winning Zygan Emprise Trilogy

www.amphitritepublishing.com

Greeks who saved Jews from Hitler are honored in Israel

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Thousands of Holocaust survivors were able to escape the genocide due to the efforts of the “Righteous Among the Nations”, so honored by Israel for risking their lives to protect and hide Jews in Europe during World War II.

355 non-Jewish Greeks have been recognized as saviors. Among them is  92 year old Melpomeni Dina, who,  as a teenager, sheltered 5 Jewish siblings in the village of Veria, outside of thessaloniki. The Nazis continued their brutal executions of Jews in Northern Greece during the Occupation, and began deporting Jews in 1943.  Most deportees were never heard from again.  Dina and her two older sisters took the Mordechai family into their single room home, fed and clothed them for years, and helped them to flee safely to avoid deportation and death.  After liberation, the Mordechai family was able to settle to Israel, and embrace a future of hope.

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The Mordechais now have a large extended family, which welcomed Dina to Jerusalem to a reunion and celebration of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.

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Dina was able to reconnect with survivors Yossi Mor and Sarah Yanais, and meet their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in a moving ceremony of joy and love.

-This blog was written by Linda Reid, co-author of Deep Waters, a Sammy Greene thriller that takes place in Greece. Photos from an article in Israeli Times.

Best Laid Plans?

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More than 200 years ago, Lord Elgin insisted that he took the “Parthenon marbles”, the sculptures from the Parthenon friezes, as well as other antiquities, from Greece “for safekeeping”.  Unfortunately, as his double-masted ship, the Mentor, made its way from Athens to Malta and then the UK in 1802, it crashed into rocks near the Greek island of Kythera. Way to go, Tommy.

 

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Fortunately, his crew and passengers all survived, and helped the larcenous Lord recover the marbles and some of the other treasures.  But, most of the “loot” remained in Poseidon’s lair until this decade, when several Greek expeditions have recovered caches of ancient coins, jewels, statues, porcelain, tools, and even a leg splint.

Apparently, the currents between the islands of Kythera and Antikythera were not the friendliest waters; the Greek Ministry of Culture is announcing new discoveries from the downed vessel which held the famous Antikythera mechanism:

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(the world’s first analogical computer, used by ancient Greeks to chart the movement of the sun, moon and planets, predict lunar and solar eclipses and even signal the next Olympic Games).

Ancient vases, bronze tools, and even some surviving bones  have been brought to the surface for analysis—and eventual museum display.

Sammy Greene’s latest adventure in the thriller Deep Waters was a deep dive into the dangerous hunt for artifacts and treasure from shipwrecks in and around the Mediterranean.  Sent to cover a weather-challenged recovery effort, Sammy witnesses the tragic death of an experienced diver, and the murder of an archaeology professor attending the opening of an exhibit featuring a machine like the Antikythera device and the remains of a giant bronze statue of mysterious origins. Sammy’s own life is in danger as she and her ex-cop buddy Gus Pappajohn investigate the modern deaths and uncover an ancient mystery.

Check out this link to ArtNet article  and another to the Greek Reporter describing the latest salvage of some of the wreckage of Lord Elgin’s sunken ship.

Now check out Deep Waters for an exciting thriller that finds Sammy Greene and Gus Pappajohn solving an ancient and modern mystery.

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This blog was written by Linda Reid, co-author of Deep Waters

 

 

 

 

Exile Island, the Ghosts of Civil War

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Travelers to Greece often visit the local islands:  Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Corfu, Crete.  But, one island remains a mystery, inaccessible to most tourists as a result of its checkered history.  Just across from the Poseidon Temple at Cape Sounion, Makronissos, “Long Island”, remains relatively uninhabited, a testament to its role as a site of exile for political prisoners from the 1930s to the 1970s.

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Makronissos, called Helena in ancient times, was reputed to be the island on which Helen, the wife of Menelaus, landed after the capture of Troy; or a site to which Paris fled with Helen.  The island unfortunately became a military prison during the Greek Civil War from 1946-1949 through the Greek Colonels’ Junta of 1967-1974. Mikis Theodorakis, composer of the Zorba the Greek movie starring Anthony Quinn, was a prisoner at Makronissos as a result of his political views.

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Greeks united to resist the Nazi Occupation of their country in World War II. After the war, Europe was “divided” among the “victors”, with many countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans “ceded” to the Soviet umbrella.  As the cradle of democracy and the font of classics, however, Greece was to remain under the influence of Western Europe.  Allied support for left-of-center governments was withdrawn, and the Marshall Plan endeavored to establish right-of center governance. Greeks who had fought side by side against the Nazis turned against each other, left vs. right; those labeled communist or left-wing sympathizers were killed, imprisoned, or exiled in camps for years on the long deserted island, facing harsh conditions and torture.  It was only after the overthrow of the Colonel’s junta in 1974 that a left-of center government under Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou returned to Greece, and the process of healing the decades-long schisms between right and left began.

Based on the real-life experiences of a close family member who survived imprisonment in the camps, our third Sammy Greene thriller, Deep Waters, describes the horror and heroism of the Makronissos political prisoners through the eyes of  ex-Boston cop Gus Pappajohn’s Greek brother-in-law, Georgios Kapsis.

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In July 2019, Exile Island was declared an archaeological site to be preserved in the memory of those who suffered and lost their lives in a tragic chapter of modern Greek history.

-this post was written by Dr. Linda Reid, co-author of Deep Waters

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