Author's Journey

Jan Cress Dondi's journey began in Hillsboro, Illinois, where the inspiration for The Navigator’s Letter took root. With thirty years of experience in legal writing and research, she learned to trace facts with precision, following threads of the past—across time, language, and continents. Her pursuit was personal—a labor of love of family—a desire to connect historical truth with the human experience. The culmination of which has enriched this narrative with depth and authenticity.

Hundreds of letters from two B-24 navigators—John B. and Bob—and a POW diary, together with historical documents, became the backbone of this book. Clues led Dondi on an emotional search for answers, one that carried her across the globe—to her father’s POW camp in Romania, the military archives in Germany, and her uncle’s military base in England—where she pieced together a deeply human story of war, courage, and love—one that had waited decades to be told.

Dondi was born in Hillsboro, IL. Raised in Atlanta, she graduated from the University of Georgia, lived years in Anchorage, AK, where she pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Alaska, and built a career as a litigation paralegal. She has spoken about her father's POW experience at the US Embassy in Bucharest, recounted her uncle's mission experience in Washington, DC, and flown in one of the only B-24 Liberators still operating. The mother of two daughters and grandmother of four, Jan has been married nearly forty years to an aviation enthusiast and hobby pilot whose projects include building a 72% scale all-carbon replica of a P-51 Mustang, the WWII fighter that significantly impacted the war. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

(Photo: SnapBack Films & Photography)

(Video below: Michael Sellers, Frankenbite Productions)