Camino Island by John Grisham, © 2018, Bantam Books By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — By chance I happened to see an interview with John Grisham on TV, and found myself riveted by this charming and enormously successful writer. His books are not quite my cup of tea, but I found my attention drawn
A lesson in novel writing from John Grisham Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
By Mimi Pollack SAN DIEGO — There is something special about an artist who finds an expressive way to teach both children and adults about a moment in history that should never be forgotten. That artist is Cheryl Rattner-Price who co-founded The Butterfly Project with educator Jan Landau in 2006. The Butterfly Project or Zikaron
Butterfly project is life work for Rattner- Price Read More »
Jewish History, Mimi Pollack, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
By Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — It is a very good thing that North Coast Rep’s Theater School Director, Benjamin Cole, is far more intrepid and persistent than any of his three detectives in this world premiere of The Gorilla. In 1925, a parody was written about a crooked business executive threatened by a
‘The Gorilla’ a comedic mystery at North Coast Rep Read More »
Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If you were a reader of Harper’s Bazaar or Vogue, especially during the 20th century, you might have become very familiar with the fashion photography of Irving Penn, who was born to a Jewish father and Christian mother in 1917. He took up a camera in the 1930’s and
Photographer Irving Penn in retrospect at MOPA Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CalendarBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I’m not quite sure when I started writing. I remember trying to write a story of my own sometime around my tenth birthday and having a great deal of difficulty deciding on my characters’ names. Nothing remains of that attempt, but as I grew up I found myself
How a novelist got her start Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Six Thousand Miles to Home by Kim Dana Kupperman, Legacy Edition Books; © 2018, ISBN 9781732-349704; 236 pages plus afterword, author’s notes, and appendix, $25. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – There are aspects of the story that are hauntingly familiar: A banging on the door and an arrest; people being crammed so tightly
Novel relates a lesser known Holocaust experience Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish HistoryBy Eva Trieger OCEANSIDE, California — What do you get when you combine an aging melodramatic actress, a volatile writer, their two self-absorbed adult children and four unwitting guests? A riotous collection of awkward moments, flaring tempers, emotive displays and loads of fun. Mira Costa College Theater School Director, Eric Bishop, brings us Noel Coward’s delightfully
‘Hay Fever’ has audience squirming Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
One Happy Divorce by Jennifer Hurvitz Weintraub; © 2017 Warren Publishing, ISBN 9781943-258543, 93 pages, $12.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – “One Happy Divorce” sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Author Jennifer Hurvitz Weintraub wouldn’t argue that hers was pain-free, or that she hasn’t experienced periods of loneliness in the five years since
Some tips for a ‘happy’ divorce Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Travel and Food
Hitler’s American friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States by Bradley W. Hart; Thomas Dunne Books; © 2018; ISBN 9781250-148957; 283 pages including extensive notes and bibliography, $28.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Former California Gov. Gray Davis, a liberal Democrat, and the Koch Brothers, billionaire businessmen and Libertarians often
Historian chronicles Hitler’s friends and fellow travelers Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, USABy Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Peter Yarrow, the iconic 80-year old folk singer of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, sat on the Garfield Stage at the Lawrence Family JCC, singing and accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar, while his tall son, Christopher, strummed along on a washbasin bass, with a single clothesline string.
Peter Yarrow inspires at nostalgic concert Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
Struck: A Husband’s Memoir of Trauma and Triumph by Douglas Segal, © 2018, Prospect Park Books, ISBN 9781945-551383; 253 pages plus acknowledgments, $16. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Doug Segal, a contract writer and producer for Hollywood, wrote this compelling memoir after his wife Susan, a sometime actress, was severely injured in
Facing and recovering from near death Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education
What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper; © 2018, Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 9781524-700376; 266 pages including appendices, $19.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Set in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the Holocaust, but with a lengthy flashback to the events that preceded the main story, this novel tells of a teenage girl’s struggle
Holocaust novel probes girl’s dilemma of self-definition Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Facebook bans columnist Barry Shaw for anti-Abbas commentary Columnist Barry Shaw, based in Netanya, was banned by Facebook for 30 days after he posted a commentary critical of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Here is his account: “I reported on Facebook about Mahmoud Abbas’s inflammatory statements at the UN General Assembly in which he praised Palestinian
Editor’s E-Mail Box: September 28, 2018 (5 items) Read More »
Barry Shaw, International, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA
By Itzhak Brook MD, MSc WASHINGTON, D.C. — I am a physician who specializes in pediatrics and infectious diseases, and a head and neck cancer survivor. I was born and raised in Israel, graduated from the Hebrew University School of Medicine in Jerusalem, and completed my pediatric training at Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot, Israel. I was
Israeli doctor authors guide for throat cancer patients Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA