Donald H. Harrison

By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON–It seemed as if the entire Pygmalion audience fell in love with actress Hannah Hedgecock as she threw herself into the part of Eliza Doolittle on Thursday night at Grossmont College’s Stagehouse Theatre. The meaner that co-star Derek San Filippo in the role of Henry Higgins behaved toward Eliza, the

By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON –Those who would ban books cite inappropriate language or too much sexuality or violence as their motivation for wanting them removed from library shelves.  However, often their unspoken motivation is to suppress ideas that may disrupt the established societal order. In observance of National Banned Book Week, a faculty-student

Daily Life in Biblical Times by Liora Ravid, Gefen Publishing House, 2013, ISBN 978-965-229-609-2, 461 pages plus bibliography, $24.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — If Liora Ravid’s book receives the attention I believe it deserves, it will transform the Bible for many readers from a vaguely-understood, often misunderstood, set of documents to one

  By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON–Early Thursday evenings, the  Griffin Center on the Grossmont College campus is transformed from a bustling student center to a venue far more mellow.   Linen cloths are whisked onto the tables of a small dining room facing Parking Lot 7.  Plates and cutlery are carefully arranged.  A stand up

Between Friends, a collection of short stories by Amos Oz; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 179 pages, ISBN 978-0-547-98558-9, $24. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — In “Eleanor Rigby,” the Beatles’ songwriting duo of  John Lennon and Paul McCartney asked “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” and if you should happen

By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON – A UCSD emergency room doctor who led a medical team from San Diego to Ground Zero in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and treated rescue workers and volunteers at the site, has offered eleven prescriptions for Americans wanting to commemorate the attacks appropriately. Dr.

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — There was a happy coincidence between the “then” and the “now” at the Harrison household on a recent weekend.  It started after a Shabbat dinner when our 6-year-old grandson, Sky, clambered onto his father Shahar’s lap to read to him a children’s book that had been found on

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Relationships between Roman Catholics and Jews have improved in the past and, with a few possible blips,  may continue to improve under Pope Francis, whereas the relationships between Catholicism and militant Islam has been fast deteriorating. So observes Michael Cool in a “journalistic biography” of the Argentine-born

M. Hirsh Goldberg, It All Started With a Deli: The Attmans of Lombard Street;  Baltimore: Apprentice House, 2003, ISBN 978-1-934074-28-2, 194 pages, $26.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Here is a book that will make Jewish Marylanders (the term almost seems a contradiction) kvell over the potential of a good corned beef sandwich.   Back

Paula L. Freedman, My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, New York: Amulet Books, ISBN 978-1-4197-0806-0, 256 pages, $16.95.  Ages: 10-14. * Avirama Golan, Little Naomi, Little Chick, illustrated by Raaya Karas, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, ISBN 978-0-8028-5427-8, 34 pages, $17.  Ages: Preschooler By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Grandfather that I am,

EL CAJON–Retiring following a 37-year multiple college career as an English and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) faculty member, Prof. Nancy Herzfeld-Pipkin answered unhesitatingly when asked at her Grossmont College retirement party what quality ESL instructors need most. “Compassion,” she declared. A portion of the ESL students at Grossmont College “are immigrants from all over the world, refugees,