Martha Walandouw Lohn and Brian Kimmel
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters tells the remarkable true story of twin sisters Ath and Kath, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1933, whose family is uprooted and deported to the jungles of Indonesia due to their father’s undocumented status.
Their new life is quickly shattered when, in 1941, Japan invades, and the family is imprisoned as civilian prisoners of war.
The book is a memoir, blending personal narrative with newly uncovered historical records, maps, and photographs, bringing to life a forgotten chapter of history and the enduring spirit of survival.
The book was co-written by Martha Walandouw Lohn (Ath in the story) and her grandson Brian Kimmel. Both live in the Pacific Northwest.
The book is carried at Artisians Books & Coffee
Author Brian Kimmel grew up in Snohomish County and has many ties to Everett. Brian shared the following info with My Everett News:
I graduated from Lakewood High School and participated in the Running Start program at Everett Community College in my junior and senior years. While at EVCC, I studied voice with Kathleen Goff, as well as English Literature, Creative Writing, and Yoga with Marsha Valentine.
After graduating from high school in 1998, I continued my studies at EvCC, focusing on music and writing, and lived in a studio apartment near Everett High School off Colby Avenue. It was during these studies also that I was introduced to the teaching of Vietnamese Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh from a fellow student in a speech class at EvCC. This would become a lifelong commitment as a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and ordained teacher by him.
Everett holds a significant place in my family history. My maternal grandmother’s parents, after immigrating back to the United States in the late 1960s to early 1970s, lived in a house my grandparents rented for them in downtown Everett just off Hoyt Avenue.
This was made possible through the sponsorship of my maternal grandparents by the Snohomish United Methodist Church… During my early childhood, our family would regularly visit Mekong Asian Grocer at 1315 Hewitt Avenue for our Asian groceries. I fondly remember Van, the owner, who would go out of her way to special order Indonesian foods for us.
Between 1991 and 1992, our family was involved in a legal trial where I served as a child witness. Everyday after school for six months I would spend hours in the Snohomish County Courthouse giving testimonies, depositions, and preparing for testifying in court.
This experience, and how we navigated it through our cultural connections and community resources like Mekong Grocer, will be the subject of a forthcoming book. In the years following the trial, I often had the opportunity to play piano and give remarks at events hosted by the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, including retirement celebrations for Prosecuting Attorney Seth Dawson and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Paul Stern.
I was also a mental health first responder with Compass Health out of the Everett office that was off Broadway downtown. This was one of my first jobs outside of graduate school when I was first licensed as a mental health counselor in Washington. I worked on-call and in the community within Snohomish County for thirteen months before starting a private practice in Seattle.
The book is carried locally at Artisians Books & Coffee. More information, including interviews and excerpts, can be found on Brian Kimmel’s site.
June 8, 2025
People of Everett, Everett Schools