Phyllis Mattson's memoir, War Orphan in San Francisco, is a coming of age story told through family letters. Phyllis wrote her parents details of her new life as she grew into adolescence and became an American, while they tried to parent her long-distance. In March of 1940, as a result of Hitler’s plans to eradicate Jews, 10-year-old Lizzi left Vienna by joining a small transport of children seeking refuge in America. Two weeks later she began her new life in San Francisco, getting a new name, Phyllis, and having to learn a new language. Her family is scattered on three continents, but linked by letters. Phyllis is a community college teacher of Anthropology and Health Sciences in Silicon Valley. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, received graduate degrees in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin and Public Health from Harvard. Phyllis started her career in health research, culminating in the book, Holistic Health in Perspective, in 1981, then turned to teaching. In 1989-90 she taught English at Shandong University in China, and in 1994 joined the Peace Corps in Nepal. She has two children and one grandchild.
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