DAY 54: May 14, 2020

Frozen Dinners

by Elaine Ambrose

 After World War II, the United States evolved economically through an explosive combination of opportunities, entrepreneurs, and growing industries. By 1954, families began to enjoy the new pastime of evening television and increased the demand for a new product known as frozen TV dinners. A poor father and farmer from Wendell, Idaho had the audacity and vision to start his own trucking company to haul and deliver frozen food across the country and subsequently built an impressive fortune that included several successful businesses. Elaine Ambrose, a bestselling author, departs from her award-winning humor to show life as this man’s daughter. She chronicles the struggles her family experienced under the strain of an absent father and describes the high tensions and familial rivalries that arose after his untimely death. Using actual courtroom transcripts, she tells of the brutal

courtroom drama that propelled her mother into dementia. She hopes to offer hope and inspiration to others who endured a contaminated family story to prove that anyone may grow beyond painful memories and find

success, happiness, and warmth for themselves.