{"id":28527,"date":"2015-08-09T13:56:45","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T17:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/08\/former-bank-official-authors-book-on-his-namesake-a-world-war-ii-b-17-fighter-pilot.html"},"modified":"2015-08-09T13:56:45","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T17:56:45","slug":"former-bank-official-authors-book-on-his-namesake-a-world-war-ii-b-17-fighter-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/08\/former-bank-official-authors-book-on-his-namesake-a-world-war-ii-b-17-fighter-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Bank Official Authors Book On His Namesake, A World War II B-17 Fighter Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"ray\n<\/div>\n
Raymond O’Connor discusses the book he authored inspired by his namesake.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY JILL NAGY<\/p>\n

Inspired by a letter received by his mother
\nwhen she was a teenager and a young bride,
\nRaymond O’Connor spent five years tracking down
\ninformation about the man who wrote the letter,
\nhis namesake and his mother’s first husband.<\/p>\n

The result is a book he authored, “She Called
\nHim Raymond–A True Story of Love, Loss, Faith
\nand Healing,” published in May.<\/p>\n

The letter writer was Clarence Raymond
\nStephenson, whom his mother, the former Helen
\nGregg, called Raymond. They met in 1942, literally
\nbumping into one another in New York City’s
\nCentral Park. They married in 1943, on her 18th
\nbirthday. A year later she received the letter from
\nhim–on her 19th birthday, their first wedding
\nanniversary–and the day her husband, a B-17
\nfighter pilot, was killed when his airplane crash
\nin Europe.<\/p>\n

O’Connor’s mother re-read that letter every
\nyear until failing eyesight made reading impossible.
\nOn her 80th birthday, in 2005, she asked
\nRaymond to read the letter to her.
\n“It was the sweetest letter you ever read,”
\nO’Connor recalled.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, he resigned from his position as
\npresident and CEO of Saratoga National Bank, to
\nwork full time on the book project. He searched
\nout a surviving military people and two of his
\nsisters. He interviewed his mother at length and
\npored over newspaper clippings.
\n“It is by far the most meaningful thing I have
\never done in my life, and certainly the most difficult,”
\nhe said.<\/p>\n

Nine years after Raymond’s death, Helen married the man who would become the author’s
\nfather. He thought the author was named for a
\nmember of his family and it was only after her
\nsecond husband’s death that Helen began talking
\nto her son about the man he was really named for.
\n“It took her 60 years to start to talk about him,” he said.<\/p>\n

Helen did not live to see the book published.
\nShe died in 2013. But O’Connor bound a set of
\nproofs for her and his sister (Raymond’s daughter,
\nborn six weeks before his death) and read it to her.
\n“At first she wasn’t too crazy about it,” he said.
\n“But then she got excited about it and said, ‘I
\nguess it’s OK.’ ”<\/p>\n

When O’Connor finished the book–five years
\nand 14 manuscripts after he began–he thought
\nhe never want to write another book.
\nNow, however, he is “giving some thought” to
\nwriting a book about Protus Mayunga, the Tanzanian
\nmountain climber who guided O’Connor
\nand some friends on a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro
\nin 2012.
\n“He has an extraordinary personal story,” said
\nO’Connor.<\/p>\n

“She Called Him Raymond” became available
\nas an eBook in July. A paperback version is on
\nthe way. Further information is available at
\nshecalledhimraymond.com<\/p>\n

Photo Courtesy Ray O’Connor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raymond O’Connor discusses the book he authored inspired by his namesake. 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