Esther Dee Walker Leavitt was the granddaughter of Forrest Packard who was a former prisoner of war on Wake Island during WWII. She became interested in Wake Island when learning about her family ancestry and her grandfather's experiences. She met with multiple POWs who shared their stories with her and became inspired by pictures drawn by other former POW Joe Astaria while Wake was under siege and while he was also a prisoner in Shanghai, China. Encouraged by her family to write detailed commentary about the illustrations and how they may have connected to her grandfather, Leavitt began the process of writing her book. "They Never Wavered: Forrest and Esther Packard During War Years" shares the experiences of her grandparents, Forrest and Esther Packard during WWII and contains copies of original documents from the National Archives in Washington D.C. as well as memories from other former POWs.