Below are the names of writers who are currently active. For others, living and deceased, please type their name into the search box above the masthead on our home page, www.sdjewishworld.com
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Visitors to the Frick Collection in New York City will likely be familiar with the magnificent Self Portrait (1658) of Rembrandt that hangs in the main gallery. The artist presents himself as an imposing father-figure, like some patriarch of old. His dress is formal, and utterly distinctive – a […]
‘Abraham and the Angels’ by Rembrandt at the Frick Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir
Karolina’s Twins by Ronald H. Balson; © 2016 St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 9781250-089045; 306 pages; $15.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Author Balson skillfully weaves three plots together. There’s the story of a Holocaust survivor and the twin girls she hopes are still alive; a court drama prompted by that elderly woman’s son
Three plots make ‘Karolina’s Twins’ exciting reading Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
One of These Things First by Steven Gaines; © 2016 Delphinium Books; ISBN 9781883-285715; 196 pages; $14.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If you like a story well told, with perhaps a smidgen of name-dropping, you’ll be entertained by author/ columnist Steven Gaines’ recollections of his tumultuous adolescence. It was a period when
Author Gaines recalls his mental illness treatment Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Minyan: Ten Interwoven Stories by John J. Clayton; © 2016 Paragon House; ISBN 9781557-789204; 262 pages; $17.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Author John J. Clayton is a masterful story teller, whose universal plots are enriched by his familiarity with the Jewish idiom. Whether he is writing about children acting out in protest
A minyan of Jewish stories Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson LONDON, England — As is our custom, Yigal and I take each grandchild to London as a bar-or bat-mitzva present and in order for them to familiarize themselves with their ‘roots.’ These are truly rather farcical roots, as the fact that their grandmother (i.e., yours truly) was born and brought up in
Taking Israeli children on a London visit Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Anthony Scaramucci has been appointed the White House Communications Director prompting Sean Spicer to resign his position as Press Secretary. In his first press conference, Scaramucci effused about his love for President Trump and his athletic prowess. What a difference between Spicer, the gruff curmudgeon who rarely spoke with Trump, and
Humoring the headlines: July 26, 2017 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Murder at the River Ben Retirement Resort by Stan Schatt; © 2017; SelfPub: ISBN 9781548-656195; 235 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The fictional Miriam Lipsky writes detective novels, but when a friend accused of murder asks her to sleuth out who really dunnit, she finds the doing is not as easy as
A mystery behind a mystery novel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Story and photos by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO — Once again Comic-Con has come and gone and with it came oodles of new information and stars galore. While it’s a stereotype about the prominence of Jews in Hollywood, the fact of the matter is that a larger than normal percentage of people on the
Jewish celebrities shine at Comic-Con Read More »
Shor M. Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Strangers in Budapest by Jessica Kenner; Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; © 2017; 337 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Edward, a Jewish man in his 70s, and Annie, a young married woman in her 30s, are brought together by a mutual acquaintance back in the United States, a woman who asked Annie
Pain, loss propel 2 U.S. ex-pats in this novel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonBy Sam Ben-Meir DOBBS FERRY, New York — In its attack on the very foundations of science, Trumpism constitutes an epistemic disaster: we are facing a crisis in terms of knowledge and objective inquiry. Epistemology (or the theory of knowledge) is concerned with, among other things, what right we have to the beliefs we hold
Trump denies science, and even knowledge Read More »
Sam Ben-Meir, The World We Share, USA
By Jerry Klinger HAIFA, Israel — She was an American ship, largely American crewed and American funded. Every American on board the Exodus 1947 knew, if they were captured, they faced years in a British prison and the loss of their American citizenship. Yet, they went. They had to do what they had to, even
‘Exodus 1947’ finally feted in Israel Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Middle East
Story by Donald H. Harrison; photo by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO – Miriam Libicki, whose graphic memoir about life as a clerk in the Israel Defense Forces was on sale at the annual Comic-Con Convention, has been plunging into issues of personal identity: hers and those of Russian-born friends. She grew up in Ohio
Former IDF clerk finds identity in cartooning Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Shor M. Masori
Story by Donald H. Harrison; photos by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO – Rabbi Laurie Coskey takes it as an article of her civic faith that “until third grade children learn to read, and after third grade they read to learn.” If a child doesn’t read by the end of third grade, the rabbi
United Way removes barriers so kids can read Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori, USABy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−After witnessing the protracted handshake Trump gave Macron at the G-20 summit, leaders of the other member nations are preparing for the next meeting by purchasing joy buzzers. * President Trump claims that he sat next to Vladimir Putin at the G-20 dinner to talk about adoption. It is unclear whether
Humoring the headlines: July 21, 2017 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire