Colonel releases first book
Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin hosted a launch for her first book, titled Stories from The Front Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield, on the university campus April 26.
At the launch she read excerpts from the book, signed purchased copies and mingled with guests. The book release was organized by the College of Arts & Science Dean Dr. Dolores Guerrero in partnership with the Texas A&M University- Kingsville (TAMUK) James E. Conner Museum.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to support her and to be the inaugural launch… she’s our alumnus and it worked out that we could be the first launch for her book,” Guerrero said.
Colonel Firmin is the founder of Carrington Firmin Limited Liability Company (LLC), for which she writes and provides consulting services in Leadership, Veterans, Transitions, Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Diversity and Inclusion. An accomplished poet, “La Coronela” as she was known while away for battle, included two poems in her book that focused on MST. She is also the founder of the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and now serves as UTSA’s Military Liaison.
“The book is 13 different individual stories that I wrote about people who experienced harassment and disparities while serving their country, could be sexual assault, could be sexual harassment, it could be ethnic racial discrimination, it could be LGBTQ discrimination, the book has all that in it,” Colonel Firmin said. “For the record, I’ve written a book that captures their lived experiences and this is it. It spans decades …from the Vietnam era to currently serving and I think that’s important because we’re saying that this has been an issue in our country for a long time in the military.”
During the book launch, attendees got to hear powerful excerpts from different chapters of her book spanning from her own experiences to those of other military members. She then sold copies of her book and personally signed each for the buyer. To close the evening, Firmin spoke with guests and took photos with those who wanted to remember the event.
“I think it’s a momentous occasion really for the topic. I’ve known Lisa for the last two years; she’s a strong person and I think it’s good for someone like her to be able to address a topic that is still a big issue of humanity. Overall, there was a great show out tonight,” John Lawrence, TAMUK alumnus, said.
To purchase Carrington’s book, Stories from the Front, visit Amazon, Lulu or by sending a check for $22.90 payable to Blue Ear Books to 7511 Greenwood Ave. N, Box 400, Seattle, Wash., 98103. Please make sure to include a shipping address with your check.
Firmin hopes in the coming months to have a website up and running with not only her poems but also information to help others who have gone through what she has. TAMUK’s event was the first of 10 book releases across the country.