Meet Robert Monsheimer author of Lilly’s Story on Sunday, August 10th at 6:30pm!
About Robert:
Robert “RL” Monsheimer, was born and lived most of his life in various areas of Montgomery County, MD. He spent 4 years at Fairmont State University to obtain his bachelor’s degree in business, while a competitive swimmer for his four years. He was awarded the “Feaster Academic Award” on his four years at Fairmont and qualified for the NAIA Nationals in two events during his swimming at Fairmont.
RL has spent most of his business career in telecommunications and has led some major projects in the field. His keynote project was to bring high speed broadband to the Indian Schools on the reservations, a project that many said was impossible to do. He led other projects that are now included in mainstream telecommunications including cellular service on cruise ships, high bandwidth to rural sites for the Federal Government, and turning the radio room on a cruise ship form an expense to a profit center.
After a time working for a company in Baltimore, he went back to obtain his CPA from the State of Maryland, and an Enrolled Agent license by the IRS.
Swimming was a major part of his life and that is where he met his wife of forty years, Mickie at swim practice at the JCC in Rockville, MD. Bob swam masters with John Feinstein the sportswriter, and it his work that inspired his first novel, “One Last Swim”, and the inspiration of the next novel “Lilly’s Story – Making the Tour.” The second to be available in the 2024, by Memorial Day.
Bob now lives in Millville, Delaware, after leaving his native Maryland in 2020. He has retired from telecommunications but is still consulting periodically for rural telecommunications needs.
Lilly’s Story
Lilly Jarman comes from a small town in rural Virginia not the likely home of a tennis professional. Lilly is Eurasian and overcomes prejudice and isolation in her hometown. Because of her family income and costs of supporting 2 children in different sports, the family can not afford the training facilites that most junior tennis players leaving a difficult road to get recruited to college and the tour. The book takes you though not only the miracle of qualifying for the US Open and then making it to the round of 16, then the journey throughout the next year as she rises int he ranks of tennis. With her coaches who support her from her part-time coach Paul, to her final coach Johan, Lilly takes coaching to succeed where nobody saw it possible. Lilly represents both athleticism and being feminine, as her colors represented and it is actually that saying that is the key to her later success. With the aide of her good friend Anita not only does she share a major title, she also shares the same family as both fall in love with the Wilson brothers and propose to the 2 tennis professionals in a similar manner publicly. In the end Lilly overcomes all the obstacles and succeeds in all areas of her life, and her success that she assumed would only be about tennis ends up be aiding other young girls to be able to play tennis through a foundation that supports junior tennis players needing funding for travels. The Foundation comes from her Grandmothers saying of Athletic and Feminine, that she told Lilly she represented at an early age.