The alarm woke us up at 4AM and Dave and I sleepily made our way to the Manchester Airport in 23 degree weather. It was colder than expected for an April morning in NH, but not entirely surprising. After a full day of travel we arrived in Austin, TX to a hot and humid 80 … Continue reading IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards 2018
Last Tuesday afternoon the phone rang. It was my publisher, Margie Blumberg. Our conversation went something like this: Margie: Hi. What are you doing? (I noticed an unusual lilt to her voice). Me: Not much. Margie: Is Dave there? Me: Yes. Should I put the phone on speaker? Margie: Yes. I want him to hear … Continue reading Noting what’s Notable
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This past year has been full of the Holocaust for me. Since publishing "Tutti’s Promise" 11 months ago I have been speaking about the Holocaust and sharing what my mother experienced during those dreadful years. I have spoken at high schools and middle schools, public schools and private schools, … Continue reading #WeRemember
On a cold gray day in October I stood alone on Nuremberg's Zeppelin Field and looked up at the high podium where Adolf Hitler spat his words of hate. A short distance away our tour guide told us how Albert Speer designed this area to be built with white stone so it would gleam in … Continue reading Training Ground of Hate
My husband and I planned a vacation which happened to fall over Yom Kippur this year. I realized we would be in Paris over the holiday and looked into the possibility of attending Kol Nidre services. By looking at MavenSearch.com I was able to identify every synagogue in Paris and picked a reformed congregation that … Continue reading An American Jew in Paris
A high school classmate, enthused about Tutti’s Promise, introduced me to a current teacher at our former school, Eric LaForest. Eric is the Director of the Norton Center for the Common Good at Loomis Chaffee School and he invited me to spend a day teaching. We spoke on the phone, exchanged emails, and came up … Continue reading The Student Becomes the Teacher
This is very hard to watch. (I suggest an "R" rating and that it not be shown to children.) But if you want to really understand the face of racism and white supremacy, please watch - to the very end. This is raw and it is real and it is shocking. This is what is … Continue reading Thoughts after Charlottesville
When I arrived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on July 19, 2017 I took a minute to wander. I said ‘hello’ to the Holocaust survivor who was sitting at a desk greeting visitors and I noted the sign on the information kiosk which advertised a book signing that afternoon. Then I headed up … Continue reading The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Last week I presented to a crowd of over 60 people at the The Center at Eastman, in Grantham, NH. The talk was after dinner and I worried a little about keeping the audience’s attention. In public speaking class I was told to always avoid the “after dinner talk” as people tend to be tired … Continue reading If Not Now, When?*
Last Wednesday I spoke with 130 seventh and eighth graders in St. Albans, Vermont. They had recently been studying the Holocaust and had already both read and watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and read The Diary of a Young Girl. I told them my mother’s story, using a PowerPoint presentation with a timeline … Continue reading This Is a Plan I Can Live With
