Literary Las Vegas: Stan and Ronny Rubens

Born in the Netherlands, Stan Rubens picked up the guitar at 14. Later he changed to keyboard and started his music career in Australia. His claim to fame was developing a system of singing three-part harmony on his own with no prerecording or backup singers. Now in Las Vegas, Rubens continues to perform and has taken up writing.

He describes his biography, "A Boy in Hiding: Surviving the Nazis: Amsterdam 1940-1945," written with his daughter Ronny Rubens, as "much like 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' except I am still here to talk about the time I spent in hiding." The story documents the four years Rubens spent hiding in Holland during World War II. For more information, visit stanrubens.com.

Excerpt from "A Boy In Hiding"

The days passed by. We would sneak looks through the thin curtains to see what was happening down on the street. We had an illegal radio and listened to the clandestine BBC. Every word from the BBC was like a lifeline of hope, giving indications of what was happening outside and beyond the Netherlands. My father had a map of Europe and Africa, and we would look for hours to locate a particular city or village. Watching the Allied war efforts gave us a feeling that we had a chance to survive.

We paid close attention to whatever was going on outside the Netherlands, as that was an indication of what might be headed our way.