East Northport Author Nominated for Award

East Northport resident is an attorney by day and an award-winning author by night. He has written four books, three on military subjects inspired by his tour with the U.S. Army in Germany through the late 1960s.

The first book in Farinacci's Cold War Trilogy, "Truman and MacArthur: Adversaries for a Common Cause," an account of the complicated personal and professional relationship between the two political juggernauts, was recently chosen as a finalist for the Korean War Book Award, sponsored by the Military Writers Society of America. If selected, this will be the book's second award.

"It’s a story of how these two men collided head-on and worked together well for a common cause in the beginning and joined together to defeat the enemy," Farinacci explained. "But, in the end, they couldn’t defeat this common enemy, which was the vast difference between their personalities and the conflicting ways in which they saw the relationship between the military and the civilian government."

Farinacci said he is fascinated by the 45-year-long cold war that only turned "hot" twice- during the Korea and Vietnam Wars- but left an enduring mark in global politics.

He focused his research on capturing with painstaking precision the intimate details and nuances of each man's relationship with country, duty, and one another. A large source for his book was David Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter," as well as two books he calls "his bibles, "David McCullough's "Truman" and Margaret Truman's biography of her father, "Harry S. Truman."

The humanity reflected in "Truman and Macarthur" is what makes his book unique, said Farinacci.

“I think the fact that it was very balanced and accurate and did not show partiality toward either one or the other of these two major protagonists was one of the things that people were attracted to. I think they also felt that it had emotional content and had certain value from the standpoint of human nature because I did try to probe as best I could into what made these two historical figures tick.”

Farinacci's "Truman and MacAurthur" received a silver star (second place) from the Military Writers Society of America for best national book in the history genre for 2010. The winners of the 2011 Korean War Book award will be chosen on October 1 at the Society's annual banquet in Pittsburgh. Each finalist receives recognition, but only three books will place.

"Certainly I could do no worse than sixth," laughed Farinacci.

Farinacci is currently working on a historical narrative on the Berlin Crisis. To view his published works visit www.navigator-books.com/donaldjfarinacci/.