Finding ‘novel’ inspiration in Forest Hills DC’s history

In 1939, two years before Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized our Depression-sapped, isolationist national will, a group of scientists on a grassy campus in Upper Northwest prepared for war….

This is the opening sentence of Anthony Dobranki’s “Viewpoint” in today’s issue of the Northwest Current, and it’s a don’t-miss. He describes the important and largely invisible work done by the scientists and other workers in Washington during the second World War, particularly at the National Bureau of Standards at what is now Van Ness. This time and place is also the setting for his serial mystery novel, The Scientists and the Spy, now appearing weekly in Forest Hills Connection. The first chapter published yesterday. You can read it here.

Dobranski also invites the community to join him, Forest Hills Connection and special guests for a kickoff event tomorrow evening, April 23rd, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Forest Hills of DC home (4901 Connecticut Avenue). Enjoy refreshments while local historians fill us in on the era and Dobranski does a reading from the novel. You’ll find parking on site, and plenty of street parking.

Please send an email to [email protected] if you plan to come. We hope to see you there!