Booked for Lunch -- with author Kendrick Kirk

Hear Untold History

During World War II, the French Resistance played a vital role in the Allied victory. Supported by Brittain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) in London, Resistance networks were formed, led and equipped by SOE agents.

Author Kendrick Kirk shares highlights from his book “Messages in Handlebars”, which is a true, previously untold story of undaunted resistance to the Nazis. It recaps the experiences of the Auduc family, who provided
essential support to the network formed around Le Mans, France, by an American OSS agent and a French SOE agent. The Auduc's oldest son, Jean-Jacques, became
the youngest Resistance fighter to be awarded the Croix de Guerre. He was also awarded the U. S. Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honor for heroism as a 12 year old. Other members of this heroic family were similarly
distinguished.

The history of the Auduc family and their fellow resistants teach us how much people will sacrifice to gain freedom from an oppressor. You’ll learn how American, British, Canadian and French worked in cloaked secrecy and harmony to rid the world of the greatest evil in recorded history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kendrick Kirk began his business career with Lockheed Aircraft in Marietta, GA and Sunnyvale, CA, when he almost single-handedly designed a state-of-the-art word processor system. Next, he was an international banker
who conducted business development in Western Europe. This led to a corporate banking position with Credit Suisse where he managed their Atlanta office.

As real estate was a booming industry in Atlanta at this time, the author joined with his two brothers, Adrian and Mark, to develop residential real estate and build houses. To date, their company has developed some 430 building
lots. Concurrently, Mr. Kirk taught finance at Kennesaw State University.

Having purchased Château RiveSarthe near Malicorne, France, in 2005, he lives near the epicenter of the Auduc’s Resistance activities. Jean-Jacques Auduc, the hero of this book at age 12, has become a dear friend and his stories have endeared both Mr. Kirk and his wife, Claire d’Orgeix Kirk. Having had four uncles who served during World War II, one in the 8th Air Force, Mr. Kirk is immersed in the stories of the bombing raid on Le Mans on July 4, 1943. Claire’s father commanded a tank squadron in General Leclerc’s 2nd Armored Division and his tank, named “Paris”, was instrumental in the liberation of Paris. Colonel d’Orgeix, Claire’s father, also contributed to the book and the film “Is Paris Burning?” The d’Orgeix family has carried the titles of Marquis and Count since the 12th century.

Beyond his career, Mr. Kirk is an exceptional, but modest, gentleman. After being a standout scholar/athlete at Georgia Tech, he earned an MBA from Georgia
State University, which offered him a full fellowship to study for a PhD in economics. He declined in order to pursue business and civic interests and has
served on the boards of the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art as Chairman, on the Marietta Board of Education as Vice Chairman, the YMCA, the Marietta Schools
Foundation, the Marietta Rotary Club and the Friends of the Strand.

As a Rotarian, Mr. Kirk conceived and administered the Adopt-A-Polio Lab project in conjunction with the CDC to support the worldwide initiative to eradicate poliomyelitis. He was recognized as the U. S. Rotarian who had
contributed the most to polio eradication for the three year period ending in 1996. He simultaneously served as Rotary District 6900’s chair of World Community Service which was recognized as one of the top ten programs in Rotary
worldwide.

Join us for lunch while you listen to the incredible details of this historical perspective on WWII as told by Kendrick Kirk.