German freelance writer, editor to speak Sept. 8 Thomas Jeir, one of German's most prolific and successful authors of historical novels and books for young readers about American history, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, in the Community Room, Grand Forks Herald, 375 Second Ave. N. Jeier was born in 1947 and grew up in Frankfurt. Today he lives near Munich and "on the road" in the United States and Canada. Among his bestselling books are novels about a young Cheyenne woman "Die Sehnsucht der Cheyenne"; a Lakota girl with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, "Wo die Feuer der Lakota brenner"; a German immigrant woman in New York during the garment workers strike in 1910, "Emmas Weg in die Freiheit"; a young couple living in Alabama, when Martin Luther King was fighting for freedom, "Sie hatten einen Traum"; and a young nurse in the Vietnam War, "Die Sterne uber Vietnam." His books have been published in more than 15 countries. His newest work is a non-fiction book about Native Americans. Under his pseudonym, Christopher Ross, he publishes romantic adventure novels about women in the Far North of Canada and Alska. He has worn numerous awards for his literary works. For 20 years he had a weekly country music radio show for which he received the International Award of the Country Music Association in Nashville. The public is invited to hear him speak about his work. The visit is sponsored by UND German division of the Department of Languages. -- Dave Nelson, languages.