Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the RMS Lusitania by Erik Larson, Crown Publishers, 2015 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — When Cunard liner RMS Lusitania sailed on May 1, 1915, from New York City to Liverpool, she was the largest and fastest steam passenger ship afloat. Many lessons had been learned from the sinking of […]
From the Jewish library: ‘Dead Wake’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short StoriesBy Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — Where to start? So many great shows, so many legendary writers and time-tested directors. I, for one, cannot wait for this new season to open. Unbelievably, David Ellenstein, artistic director of my intimate neighborhood theater, has created a veritable feast for the thespian in all of us. I almost
North Coast Rep plans varied 35th season Read More »
Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Nobel Prize winning author of Fateless BUDAPEST (JNS.org)– Hungarian writer Imre Kertesz, a Holocaust survivor who won the the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature for his fiction work, died on Thursday in Budapest at age 86 after a long battle with illness, the Magveto Kiado publishing firm said. Kertesz was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp
Imre Kertesz, 1929-2016 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Obituaries & memorials
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — If you ring the doorbell at our home, you will not hear the traditional “buzz” or “ding-dong.” Instead, you will hear Paganini’s 24th Caprice for solo violin. This is by far not an obscure tune. I am sure that you have heard it played in various arrangements and transformations.
All Rachmaninoff concert set by TICO Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Nelson Heller and Genine Rainbeau-Heart were the two featured poets at the Jewish Poets-Jewish Voices program Tuesday evening, March 22, at the Astor Judaica Library. With one of the original programmed poets absent due to illness, the open microphone segment was extended. The well-attended audience was rewarded with Rainbeau-Heart’s original
Travel and turpinoid subjects for poets Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, under their California-bred conductor, Kent Nagano, performed a virtuoso program at the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Music Center last Wednesday evening. Because the printed programs of the sponsoring La Jolla Music Society did not include biographical notes on the performers, Kristin Lancino, the new President and
Montreal Symphony program had French connections Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I don’t write about every concert I attend, or even every book I read, for that matter. That would be boring and repetitive. However, there are some concerts (and some books) that I feel I really must share with anyone out there who might be slightly interested in
Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’ stirs Jerusalem audience Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
LOS ANGELES (JNS.org) — Jewish actor and comedian Garry Shandling died Thursday at the age of 66, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said. Shandling is best known for working on the cable television comedy show “The Larry Sanders Show,” which aired from 1992-98. He began his entertainment career by writing for sitcoms such
Gary Shandling, 1949-2016 Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Midnight in Berlin by James MacManus; Thomas Dunne Books/ St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 978-1-250-07949-4; 404 pages; $26.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This is a novel of political intrigue set in Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of World War II. The British military attache in Berlin, Noel Macrae, learns of Adolf Hitler’s
Novel explores Berlin on the eve of World War II Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonAn Improbable Friendship: The Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and Their Forty Year Peace Mission, by Anthony David, Arcade Publishing, 2015 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Ruth Dayan was married to and then divorced from Israel’s General Moshe Dayan. Raymonda Tawil was the mother-in-law of Palestinian Fatah Chairman Yasser
From the Jewish library: ‘An Improbable Friendship’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle EastFrom the Wilderness and Lebanon: An Israeli Soldier’s Story of War and Recovery by Asael Lubotzky, Translated from the Hebrew by Murray Roston,Toby Press, New Milford, Connecticut; ISBN 978-1-59264-417-9 ©2015, $14.95, p. 188 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –The Third Platoon of the Golani Brigade, now working near Gaza for training, but normally operating in Northern Israel,
Gaza, Lebanon–An Israeli soldier’s diary Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Middle EastThe Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness by Elliot Jager; Toby Press, London, England By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I was given Elliot Jager’s book, The Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness, as a gift, and must admit that it is not a book I would have chosen to read in the
Memoir of a childless, fatherless Jew Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
God and Politics in Esther, 2nd Edition, by Yoram Hazony; Cambridge University Press; (2015); ISBN-10: 1107583454; $18.27 on Amazon. Rating ***** out of 5 Stars. By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Yoram Hazony’s exposition of the Book of Esther is priceless. In my Judaism 101 class, everyone read a little bit from God
God needs worthy people as partners for His miracles Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Fascinating black and white film footage of New York City accompanied Gotham, by Michael Gordon, the opening work on the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus’ March 12 concert in Mandeville Hall at UCSD. Gordon, a Miami-born Jewish-American composer, has often teamed up with film-maker Bill Morrison to create
Multi-media ‘Gotham’ well received in La Jolla Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts