The journey of the Log Book is completely circumstantial and coincidental. To whom and where it goes next has been fluid from day one. The first intended signatory was a Japanese pilot named Kename Harada who sadly died after the book arrived in Japan, but before he could sign. (Google says St. Lucia – Japan is a distance of 8,763 miles.) That was quite the “Plan B” moment… except there wasn’t one really.
4 years, almost 90 signatures, and a series of Plan B’s later, I could not be more grateful to Mr. Harada for providing the impetus for the project. Last Summer when the book was in France, I was considering its next move and happened to read about Bob De Schutter and his project BRUKEL GAME, I was intrigued, what a brilliant idea! I then read about his inspirational grandmother, Mrs. Gabriel “Bie” Verlinden, on whose experiences Bob constructed the interactive WWII platform.
Mrs Verlinden was a one of 7 siblings whose farmhouse was caught in vicious crossfire during the desperate battle for Geel, Belgium, swapping repeatedly between British and German forces during WWII. She now lives in Belgium, right next to France…instant plan B!
When Bob, through his mother, Mrs. May Vandewyer, informed me that Mrs. Verlinden had agreed to sign the Log Book, I was thrilled and deeply honored.
At the time Bob’s project Brukel was not yet released. It is now and has won 5 awards. May it win many more. Please do visit the remarkable interactive Brukel Game FB page and website!
A very good writeup and review of the game is also published here: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-08-06-immortalising-your-grandmother-in-a-wwii-game
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