AJT's Guide to the 2018 Book Festival

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THE PRESENTS A 20-PAGE PULLOUT TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE 2018 BOOK FESTIVAL FROM OCTOBER 30 TO NOVEMBER 18.

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27TH BOOK FESTIVAL OF THE MJCCA PREVIEW A Tome for Every Taste: From Art and Photos to Cooks and Cookies

By Roni Robbins Considering the titles and subjects featured at the 27th edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA Oct. 30-Nov. 18, there’s a tome for every taste: Holocaust and Israel, politics and philanthropy, history and mystery, women’s rights and fights for life, medical breakthroughs and a celebrity who’s who. To top it all off: What would a Jewish festival be without food?

First, let’s find out what’s new at the Book Festival this year from Festival Director Pam Morton.

Artists: Maira Kalman, who, with her son, Alex, created “Sara Berman’s Closet” (Nov.12). The program will feature a film screening of the book by The New Yorker.

“I’ve been collecting her books since the ‘80s,” Morton said. “They have a Chagall aesthetic.”

The Kalmans will be “In Conversation” with Virginia Shearer, director of education at the High Museum of Art, a new relationship for the Book Festival, Morton said.

“People enjoy ‘In Conversation.’ It’s like listening into a conversation two people are having in a living room. It’s a little more interesting than having someone lecture.”

Author Families: The Kalmans aren’t the only family-duo author teams at the festival this year. In addition to former Senator Joe Lieberman and his son, Matt, on Nov. 3, there are two motherdaughter teams Nov. 8, both supporting nonprofits: Sally Mundell, “Packaging Good,” and Ruby Mundell, “Kindness Come In,” and Susan and Laura Stachler, “The Cookie Cure.”

Books, Cooks & Cookies: Coffee and the Stachlers’ Susansnaps gourmet cookies will be served following the motherdaughter author presentations.

Talking about coffee and cookies, there’s Michael Coles’ “Time to Get Tough: How Cookies, Coffee and a Crash Led to Success in Business and Life.” The co-founder of the Great American Cookie Company and former CEO of Caribou Coffee will be “In Conversation” with Catherine Lewis, a history professor at Kennesaw State University, on Nov. 15.

Lewis co-authored the book with Coles.

Food paired with books typically draw a crowd, Morton said. This is expected to be the case when Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook team up with the MJCCA’s caterer, A Kosher Touch, to feature some of their “Israeli Soul” recipes Nov. 16.

recounts his adventures as a one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter in “Disarmed.”

Celebs: Of course, the big draw of the two-week festival is the superstars: Tom Hanks with his first work of fiction, “Uncommon Type: Some Stories,” Oct. 30, and Sally Field, who spoke during the Prologue to the Book Festival Sunday about her first book, the autobiographical “In Pieces.”

Two other celebrities bookend the festival lineup: Mitch Albom, formerly of ESPN, kicked off the Festival Oct. 13 with “The Next Person You Meet in Heaven,” a sequel to his best-selling “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” And closing night is Peter Sagal of NPR with “The Incomplete Book of Running.”

You can learn more about the books and authors of the Book Festival in these pages. Read on! ■

Photographers: William Coupon, a portrait photographer who has 20 Time magazine covers and has “shot” most presidents and plenty of other celebrities (“Portraits,” Nov. 6) and Ziv Koren, an Israel Defense Forces photojournalist, (“Snapshot,” Nov. 4). Their photos will be on display in the MJCCA’s Main Street Gallery. “It’s exciting to dive into that genre,” Morton said.

Appearing with Koren is Izzy Ezagui, an IDF soldier who lost his arm in a mortar attack on the Gaza border. He ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 19

BOOK FESTIVAL

What to Expect from Book Festival Co-Chairs

By Bob Bahr The annual Book Festival of the MJCCA kicks into high gear next week after a soft opening with the Prologue to the festival that began Oct. 13. But planning for the two-week event for one of the nation’s largest Jewish book festivals, now in its 27th year, began in January and ramps up in the spring. More than 13,000 attendees are expected for the event that features 45 books and authors.

The co-chairs of this year’s festival are Bea Grossman and Susie Hyman, both longtime participants in the various committees that help plan the event each November. Pam Morton is the MJCCA’s festival director. There are more than 200 volunteers. We asked the co-chairs and director to explain the selection process and what attendees can expect at the festival.

promote Jewish authors or authors with books that have Jewish content.

This year I think about 15 people from Atlanta went to New York. We see maybe 250 authors over a three-day period. It’s like speed dating. Each author has only two minutes to talk about their book. There’s also a reception where we can have the opportunity to meet with the authors one-on-one. We narrow down a list of books and bring it back to our author selection committee.

The second way we find books is through local authors who contact us directly or through our author submission form.

And then the third way is that Pam Morton has many established relationships with publishing houses and publicists, and that’s where we get many of our keynote speakers.

AJT: How do you find the books you select?

Grossman: The first way we find books is through the Jewish Book Council Network, which is in New York City every May. That’s an organization that helps

AJT: When you’re discussing a book here in Atlanta, what are the questions you ask yourself?

Grossman: We want to make sure we’re appealing to a wide range of readers and interests. That is foremost in our

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mind, trying to make sure how well we can serve our community.

And so much of it is a committee decision too. Yes, we all have, you know, our personal preferences, but in general, I’m going to fight for what’s going to make great programming and a great lineup.

There are people in New York where we’ve heard them Book Festival Co-chairs Bea Grossman and Susie Hyman. speak for two minutes and AJT: So, let me ask, what’s ahead? they’ve been captivating with a fascinating subject, so, we say, let’s see if we can Anything you can share with me about work this into the schedule. In general, the year to come?

Morton: We’re doing a huge bestI try to have a diverse schedule where selling novelist named Elinor Lipman there’s something for everybody. and her book “Good Riddance” on Feb. 13.

AJT: Susie, are you more of fiction or She’ll be in conversation with Emily Gibnonfiction person personally? son, who’s also a New York Times bestHyman: Well, I would say in the past selling novelist who lives here in Atlanta. that I was more of a fiction reader. But We’re also doing two other novelI have to say from going to these events ists in February that are very popular you learn so much from programming with our book clubs, Alyson Richman non-fiction. For instance, Eli Saslow, who and Pam Jenoff. So, they’re going to have was just here recently. He wrote “Ris- a book club night. And we’ve got a lot of ing Out of Hatred” about a person who irons in the fire that we’re still kind of changes after being a white supremacist. ironing out.

He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning jourHyman: From going to the book fesnalist from The Washington Post who is tival I’ve gotten to know more of these an outstanding speaker. He was just fas- authors. Alyson Richman and Pam Jencinating. The entire audience was eating off are two of the ones that I didn’t know out of the palm of his hand because he before. I learned about them through the was so knowledgeable and personable. book festival and now I really enjoy readI’m always so giddy when I come away ing their books. So, the book festival gives from our programs because of so much you a way to develop an interest in new you are able to learn and hear about. authors.

AJT: How important is the author’s way of speaking, that way of presenting themselves to keep an audience listening?

Grossman: We take that into consideration. Yet we also have fabulous interviewers for many of our authors. We’ve learned over the years that having that one-on-one conversation brings the audience in and hopefully can eliminate that challenge.

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AJT: I suppose people will get a chance to have their books signed at the festival and have a word or two with the author?

Morton: Tom Hanks and Sally Field will be pre-signing books, but I think absolutely all the other authors are doing signings, and we’ve had many celebrities who have done signings in the past.

Alan Alda has signed for everyone and so have Larry King and Regis Philbin. Jon Meacham this time around will be signing as well as Peter Sagal, Mike Luckovich and Joe Lieberman, among others.

AJT: The book festival is really becoming more of a year-around event, isn’t it?

Morton: Oh, absolutely. I think we did maybe 15 events outside of the festival last year. Our goal is to try to do something once a month. We always try to do kind of a blockbuster, fun summer event that’s our patron kick-off for the next season.

This past year was Emily Gibson.

We’re in conversation now with Jennifer Weiner with her new book. Yes, we really do love to do these year-round events. It just has to be the right program. There’s a lot of things that go on in our community. So, we’re, I think, a little more selective about what we program on our Page From The Book Festival events.

Grossman: There are a lot of great opportunities when authors are on tour and books are being published that are not in November. It’s incredible. It used to be mostly in November and now it has turned into a year-round program and we volunteer year-round. ■

BOOK FESTIVAL

Shooting from The Front Lines

By Roni Robbins Ziv Koren never expected to become a professional photographer when he signed up to serve in the Israel Defense Forces in his youth. Injured in a motorcycle accident in the 12th grade, he couldn’t be a combat soldier. So, using skills he learned while studying art in high school, he signed up as a military photographer.

More than 26 years later, his photos have graced the covers and filled the pages of major Israeli, American and European magazines and newspapers; he’s held about 120 exhibitions; won 30 major awards; and published 18 books of photography.

He will talk about his latest, “Snapshot: The IDF as Never Seen Before” at the Book Festival 3:30 p.m. Nov. 4, in conversation with AJT Owner and Publisher Michael Morris, who is also past president of the Friends of the IDF. Photos from Koren’s book, offering a rare close-up of the inner workings of the IDF and other elite security forces, also are on display on the walls of the MJCCA’s Katz Family Main Street Gallery.

We caught up with Koren while he was leading his latest photo workshops and capturing images in Ghana and Benin in West Africa.

Here’s what he had to say about being Israel’s premier photojournalist with exclusive security clearance to some of IDF’s most perilous missions.

AJT: Just how dangerous is it shooting at the front lines – with a camera?

Koren: Obviously, when you shoot conflict it’s a dangerous situation, as much as for the soldiers who are standing next to you. If you want the photograph, it takes some guts. There have been more than a few times I’ve been in real danger.

I’ve been shot at and bombarded so many times: with the military during the Lebanon War, in Gaza, during night raids and arrests of suspects.

"Brotherhood: The Israel Defense Forces — A Look From Within" by Koren, published in 2009

ing a book is different than shooting for a newspaper or magazine. I showed the IDF from a different, interesting perspective.

Photo by Ziv Koren of IDF soldiers rappelling down a building.

AJT: Did it help that it was also the 70th anniversary of the state of Israel?

Koren: This was an incentive and why me and Yoav Limor [a veteran Israeli military affairs journalist] made the decision to do the book this year. The Hebrew came out on Israel Independence Day in May, and the English version, two months ago.

AJT: Who do you have access and authority to photograph?

Koren: For the last 10 years, I’ve had exclusivity to the most elite units in the IDF and police … Shayetet 13, which is equivalent to the Navy SEALs.

Israeli photographer, Ziv Koren, will speak about his latest book, "Snapshot" (right).

AJT: Is it worth it to risk your life for the photo?

Koren: There’s nothing glorious about being in a dangerous situation. I understand the necessity of telling the story through media, to show what’s really going on in the field. In 2014, I was the only photographer in Gaza [documenting] the underground tunnels of Hamas.

I want to show what Israel is confronted with … to balance the images coming out of the other side, to show that Israel is in a bad war.”

I started about 15 years ago with special events, small exclusivity here and there. You get to be very trusted. Shoot-

AJT: Do you have a favorite photo in the book?

Koren: I don’t have a favorite photo.

I always hope my best photo is the one I will shoot tomorrow. ■

AJT: Do you have any weapons to protect yourself, just in case?

Koren: Guns? No! That’s the IDF mission. I document. I carry everything I need to tell the story. Two [camera] bodies, four lenses, batteries …

AJT: How did you get this exclusive clearance?

Koren: It was kind of natural. Some things take time. I think I proved myself.

"My Jerusalem: The Eternal City"

by Koren, published in 2017 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 21

BOOK FESTIVAL

Sequel Delivers Heartbreaking Message to Value Life

By Anna Streetman Fifteen years ago, Mitch Albom captivated the world with the tale of Eddie, a maintenance man working at Ruby Pier amusement park who believed he had done nothing extraordinary with his life.

One day, he dies saving the life of Annie, a young girl, during a ride malfunction. After he dies, he meets five people in heaven that had a major impact on him during his life – and those he impacted, as well.

Now, Albom has revealed what happened to Annie from that day forward.

Twenty years after Eddie saved her life at Ruby Pier, Annie is a 28-year-old nurse getting married to her childhood sweetheart, Paolo. After living a difficult life filled with many hardships and struggles, Annie believes she has finally found happiness. But tragedy strikes the day after their wedding day, and Annie finds herself embarking on her own heavenly journey – and meeting her own five people.

Albom said that out of all his books, readers asked him the most about “The Five People You Meet in Heaven," wanting to know “What’s next?” He also men-

tions that personal losses over the last few years, including his mother and father, prompted him to think deeply about life, loss and heaven. These two factors inspired him to further explore the life of Annie.

Annie is somebody who is extremely hard on herself. She blames herself for everything wrong in her life, calling herself “somebody who makes mistakes.”

Flashbacks in the book named “Annie Makes A Mistake” start as early as 2 years old, and continue throughout different stages of her life.

Albom said he knows many people like Annie, and had them in mind while creating her character. Albom reminds the Annies of the world that it is not only important to be kind to others, but to themselves, as well.

“In ‘Tuesdays With Morrie,’ one of the most popular chapters is the one where I speak to Morrie about forgiveness,” Albom said. “Morrie says, ‘Forgive everybody everything.’ But what always stood out to me personally was his next line, where he tells me ‘And then, forgive yourself.’”

Albom’s new novel also explores the

Mitch Albom, author of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and its sequel, "The Next Person You Meet in Heaven".

hardships we face on earth, and how they impact us.

“You can’t love without losing, and you can’t lose without loving,” Albom said. “The experiences we go through in life make us better and more whole, even

the losses. A broken heart is a full heart.

It’s a heart that has lived.”

“The Next Person You Meet in Heaven” is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and touching tale that reminds the reader to make their time on earth count. ■

Q&A with Michael Coles AJT: Why did you choose to present your book at this Book Festival?

Coles: My wife and I love the MJCCA and the Jewish Book Festival. I was so honored to be invited to present my book.

without knowing the outcome.

AJT: How long are you going on a book tour?

Coles: I have tried over the years to tell my story to business groups, universities, as well as first-grade classes. My AJT: What are your story of struggle and modconnections to the Jewish est success is one that can community and Atlanta? connect to first-graders, to Coles: I have been inMichael Coles, co-author business leaders, as well volved with many Jewish of “Time to Get Tough." as university students. I agencies over the years. I wrote this book not to brag about my acam currently on the board of the Jewish complishments, but to inspire others that Federation of Greater Atlanta, the Amerithey can do the same. I will go tell my can Jewish Committee, and have served story with my book for as many years as as president of Hillels of Georgia for the people want to hear it.

I have multiple enlast six years. gagements already going through March AJT: Are there Jewish values that of next year, and hopefully more to come. guide your writing?

AJT: How many books have you Coles: Over the years, when I have sold? faced adversity, I learned early on that Coles: The book was released on Oct. my strength is very much tied to my Jew1, but pre-sale orders already total over ish heritage. The history of the Jewish 12,000 books. ■ people is about finding the strength to face the challenges before us. The story Michael Coles and Catherine Lewis of David and Goliath, which I referred present their book, “Time to Get Tough: How to in my book, is a great example of that. Cookies, Coffee, and a Crash Led to Success It is not about conquering the giant; it in Business and Life,” at the Book Festival is about having the courage to face him 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15.

22 | OCTOBER 26, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

ZIV KOREN & IZZY EZAGUI

Sunday, November 4, 2018 27th Book Festival of the MJCCA at 3:30 PM Please join the AJT for a champagne & dessert reception following the talk.

Famed Israeli photojournalist Ziv Koren was given exclusive access to the IDF, allowing him to show an unfiltered view of Israel’s real war over its homeland -- from covert attacks in Syria and the battle against terror to defending the borders. His work also reveals the daily struggles for the advancement of women in the military, and to integrate the ultra-Orthodox, immigrants, and disadvantaged youth into special units of the IDF. Snapshot offers an unprecedented insider’s view of some of the most exclusive and secretive IDF units offers us a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the IDF and the other security forces as they have never been viewed before.

On January 8, 2009, Izzy Ezagui, an American who had enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at 19--lost his arm in a mortar attack on the border of the Gaza Strip. In this stirring and wryly humorous memoir, Izzy recounts his tortuous trek through rehabilitation to re-enlistment as a squad commander in the IDF where he became, famously, the world's only one-armed Special Forces sharpshooter. Don’t expect your typical war chronicle because this isn’t it. Izzy wrote this book for everyone facing life's daily battles.

His message is universal: if a self-described "nerd" can accomplish his goals, then anyone can become a hero in his or her own life.

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BOOK FESTIVAL A Girl’s Guide to Joining the Resistance: A Feminist Handbook on Fighting for Good women to speak up and make

By Logan C. Ritchie “A Girl’s Guide to Joining the Resistance” by Emma Gray is the antidote to women’s rights fights in Washington D.C. – and closer to home, in Georgia – aimed at young women ages 14 and up.

Gray, the executive women’s editor for HuffPost, includes quotes and advice from political activists, march organizers and politicians who encourage sustainable action for women’s rights.

In the chapter on women’s voices, Gray quotes well-known women, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and those new to the Resistance, such as high school student Deja Foxx.

As Sen. Warren said: “If not you, then who? If not now, then when? We need more

their voices heard. Young women have valuable experiences and perspectives. We need you in this fight.”

Chapter 7: A Tech Savvy Guide to Staying Accountable is the most relevant information for this tech-driven audience.

Always on your phone? Text ResistBot for ways to contact representatives at the touch of a screen. Gray lines up apps, platforms and text messages to direct activism.

From the reasons why a woman’s vote matters to the ways in which we benefit, A Girl’s Guide is a book every young voter needs on her shelf – whether digital or handheld. ■ Emma Gray will appear at The Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7.

Don’t Take “A Very Stable Genius!” Too Seriously

By Marcia Caller Jaffe One need not go far to imagine opportunities for a political cartoonist in today’s political upheaval.

Mike Luckovich is local – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – and has won two Pulitzer prizes. “A Very Stable Genius!” is a compilation of cartoons not autobiographical. He does throw in a few paragraphs about how he despises Fox News and his imagination of Trump “pooping in a punch bowl” and serving it to the Pope.

“My views on Melania are a little more nuanced. There are times I feel sorry for her putting up with that orange cretin, but then I remind myself that she signed up for it.”

There is no middle ground here. Like his views or not, Luckovich is adept at his craft. We asked him a few questions about his inspiration for the book and his political opinions.

AJT: How do you relate to today’s political climate?

Luckovich: There’s so much content with Trump. ... It’s like being married to a nymphomaniac, … fun at first and then it becomes a nightmare.

AJT: Which comes to you first: the words or the drawing?

Luckovich: The words first, but I come up with ideas all day, then go into “panic mode” to decide. It’s like the jigsaw pieces come together.

AJT: Were you talented as a child?

Luckovich: I went to a Catholic School in Idaho and was always doodling cartoons of the nuns and priest. I was not a great 24 | OCTOBER 26, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

student – took no notes – but had interesting drawings.

AJT: Now that the AJC has a dual (Conservative) cartoon alongside you, have you ever felt inclined towards the other side’s view?

Luckovich: I have a natural liberal alignment: Fighting climate change, diversity inclusion, a better living wage. I don’t like guns.

AJT: What book has impressed you?

Luckovich: “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Note the most religious people were the cruelest slave owners.

AJT: What is your connection to the Jewish community?

Luckovich: I was one of two non-Jewish members of ZBT frat at the University of Washington. They had the highest GPAs on campus until I came along and I lowered the average. A few years ago, I was the keynote speaker at the ZBT national convention in Atlanta.

AJT: What stands out most about the Jewish community to you?

Luckovich: Jewish readers are so up on the news, so smart. It’s so great to be able to talk with people who know what’s going on … as a political cartoonist. The understanding creates a strong camaraderie and connection.

AJT: You remind me of two movie stars. Ever hear that?

Mike: Yes, Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson! ■ Mike Luckovich appears at the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4.

BOOK FESTIVAL Button Man: Up Against the Mob

By Alisa Haber Andrew Gross hits the mark in “Button Man,” a gritty rags-toriches tale of the 1930s New York garment industry. Stitched together with real-life Jewish mob figures (think Louis Buchalter and Dutch Schultz) and the author’s own family lore, "Button Man" is the story of three brothers, each trying to succeed in his own way. Morris is tough and determined to make it on his own merits without succumbing to the socalled “aid” of the mob-run union. While his brother, Harry, can’t resist the glitzy appeal of the Jewish gangsters. Man-in-themiddle Sol tries to keep the peace, but that is hard to do when all three are up against the likes of Murder, Inc. Gross might be better known for his earlier best sellers, co-authored with James Patterson, but his solo foray into historical fiction is proving to be equally powerful.

"Button Man" is an unexpected primer on how gangsters and racketeers infiltrated

the trade unions in the early 30s.

While combing through microfilm issues of Women’s Wear Daily at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Gross unearthed a sound recording of his own grandfather, a founding figure in the industry.

Gross builds on this ancestry and his own personal experiences in the clothing trade to weave a tale full of Yiddish-isms and depression-era bravado.

But with only glimpses of the few female characters, "Button Man" is largely a blood-and-guts crime novel. As others in the garment industry submit to the violent “protection” of the union, how is it that Morris Raab keeps beating the odds? It seems the only way to stay clear of the mob may be to bring them down. In the words of Gross’ grandfather, “you can do anything you want in life, anything – if you want to do it badly enough.” ■ Andrew Gross and his “Button Man” will appear at the Book Festival 12:30 p.m. Nov. 8.

Disarmed: Unusual First-Person Account of Lessons from War and Aftermath

By Chana Shapiro When 19-year-old American Izzy Ezagui joined the Israel Defense Forces, he wanted to do whatever he could to keep Israel safe and strong, the motivation of many other idealistic young Jewish men and women. When he volunteered, he had no idea how exceptionally life-changing his military experience would be.

Ezagui’s family became religiously observant when he was 8 years old, and it was then that he started learning about Jewish history. His growing identification with the Jewish people and homeland –his people, his homeland – fueled his determination to do whatever he could to make sure that Israel, and by extension the Jewish people, would never again be vulnerable.

Ezagui graphically describes in “Disarmed” the mortar attack on his unit at the Gaza border, causing the amputation of his dominant left arm above the elbow, making a reattachment impossible. We accompany him on long months of grueling rehab, and we share his frustration and anger – and cheer for him – as he struggles back to combat. His acceptance as a one-armed sharpshooter in the elite and dangerous special

forces – believed the only one in the world – are a triumph of tenacity and grit.

That brave struggle would have been a fully satisfying page-turner, delivering a thrilling climax to an inspiring autobiography. However, this is not the expected heartbreaking tale with a typical happy ending.

Ezagui goes deeper, revealing his plaguing phantom physical pain and, at the same time, real emotional struggles. His search for love, his anguish over serious family troubles, his dependence on painkillers, and his fear that his life had already peaked by the time he was 21 years old are some of the issues Ezagui weaves into his story with brutal honesty and wry humor.

“Disarmed” is a first-person rollercoaster ride of challenges, testing Ezagui’s amazing will and resilience. This candid book is perfectly subtitled, “Unconventional lessons from the world’s only one-armed special forces sharpshooter.” It’s unconventional, to be sure, and, on many levels, disarming. ■ Izzy Ezagui presents “Disarmed” at the Book Festival 3:30 p.m. Nov. 4.

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BOOK FESTIVAL DAY BY DAY TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

OPENING NIGHT

10:00 a.m.

SUSAN STACHLER and LAURA STACHLER, The Cookie Cure SALLY MUNDELL, Packaging Good RUBY MUNDELL, Kindness Come In In conversation with Rabbi Brian Glusman, Director of Outreach and Engagement, MJCCA. Coffee and Susansnaps gourmet cookies will be served following the author presentation. Free and open to all

7:30 p.m.

TOM HANKS Uncommon Type: Some Stories A small-town newspaper columnist with old-fashioned views of the modern world.

Mr. Hanks will NOT be signing books.

Member: $40/ Community: $60/ Premier VIP: $80 *Includes a pre-signed, paperback copy of the book.

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MONDAY 12:00 p.m.

DORIE GREENSPAN Everyday Dorie In conversation with Kim Severson, Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and Atlanta Bureau Chief for The New York Times. A dessert reception featuring recipes from the book will follow the program. Member: $15/ Community: $20 7:30 p.m.

NORMAN EISEN The Last Palace Europe’s turbulent century in five lives and one legendary house In conversation with Gail Evans, Former Executive Vice President, CNN and bestselling author. Member: $15/ Community: $20

5 10:00 a.m.

JACK BARSKY, Deep Undercover Free and open to all 12:30 p.m.

JENNA BLUM, The Lost Family Member: $10/ Community: $15 7:30 p.m.

MAIRA KALMAN AND ALEX KALMAN, Sara Berman’s Closet In conversation with Virginia Shearer, Eleanor McDonald Storza Director of Education, High Museum of Art. This program will feature a short film screening of "Sara Berman’s Closet"

by The New Yorker. Member: $15/ Community: $20

12 26 | OCTOBER 26, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

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12:00 p.m.

MIMI SWARTZ Ticker History of the pioneers and the process of cutting into an organ humans can’t live without.

Member: $10/ Community: $15

12:00 p.m.

YVETTE MANESSIS CORPORON Something Beautiful Happened LAURIE BETH MORALES Bulletproof In conversation with Gail O’Neill, Journalist, ArtsAtl.com. Member: $10/ Community: $15

7:30 p.m.

WILLIAM COUPON Portraits Famed portrait photographer has photographed everyone from Yasser Arafat to Mick Jagger.

In conversation with Susanne Katz, Director of Exhibitions, The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. A multi-media presentation of Coupon’s work and a champagne reception will follow the program. Member: $15/ Community: $20

7:30 p.m.

ALLISON YARROW 90s Bitch EMMA GRAY A Girl’s Guide to Joining the Resistance In conversation with Dana Barrett, TV and Radio Host, The Dana Barrett Show on Talk Radio 640 WGST. Member: $15/ Community: $20

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12:00 p.m.

CHLOE BENJAMIN The Immortalists If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

In conversation with Greg Changnon, Playwright and Former Book Club Columnist, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Member: $10/ Community: $15

12:00 p.m.

SUSIE ORMAN SCHNALL The Subway Girls KITTY ZELDIS Not Our Kind In conversation with Adrianne Murchison, Journalist, AJC Northside Living Magazine. Member: $10/ Community: $15

7:30 p.m.

DAVID SANGER The Perfect Weapon War, sabotage and fear in the Cyber Age Member: $15/ Community: $20

7:30 p.m.

SALLY KOHN, The Opposite of Hate A field guide to repairing our humanity from a Fox News and CNN commentator.

In conversation with Nadia Bilchik, CNN Editorial Producer. Member: $15/ Community: $20

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12:30 p.m.

MARTIN FLETCHER Promised Land: A Novel of Israel ANDREW GROSS Button Man In conversation with Alison Law, Publicist and Consultant, Alison Law Communications; Host, Literary Atlanta Podcast. Member: $10/ Community: $15 7:30 p.m.

MOHAMMED AL SAMAWI The Fox Hunt Four strangers, three faiths and one extraordinary escape to freedom In conversation with Daniel Pincus, AJC ACCESS. Member: $15/ Community: $20

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10:00 a.m.

JOCELYN WURZBURG Jocie Memoir of a "southern Jewish American princess" and civil rights activist.

Free and open to all 12:30 p.m.

RONALD H. BALSON The Girl from Berlin STEVEN HARTOV The Soul of a Thief In conversation with John Lemley, Host and Producer of John Lemley’s City Cafe and High Tea, WMLB-AM, 1690. Member: $10/ Community: $15 7:30 p.m.

MICHAEL COLES and CATHERINE LEWIS Time to Get Tough: How Cookies, Coffee and a Crash Led to Success in Business and in Life In conversation with Dr. Catherine M. Lewis, Assistant Vice President of Museums, Archives & Rare Books; Director of the Museum of History and Holocaust Education; and History Professor at Kennesaw State University. Member: $18/ Community: $25

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BOOK FESTIVAL DAY BY DAY FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

8:15 p.m.

SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN With Liberty and Justice: The 50-Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai With his son, MATT LIEBERMAN Lucius Debut novel of the imaginative retelling of “Huckleberry Finn.”

In conversation with David Lewis, David Lewis Productions. Member: $18/ Community: $25

12:00 p.m.

REBECCA ERBELDING, Rescue Board RICK RICHMAN, Racing Against History In conversation with Catherine Lewis, Professor of History and Executive Director, Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw State University.

Member: $10/ Community: $15 3:30 p.m.

ZIV KOREN, Snapshot IZZY EZAGUI, Disarmed In conversation with Michael Morris, Owner and Publisher, Atlanta Jewish Times and FIDF Board Member. A dessert and champagne reception will follow. Member: $15/ Community: $20 7:30 p.m.

MIKE LUCKOVICH, A Very Stable Genius!

Political cartoon satire.

Member: $18/ Community: $25

2 12:00 p.m.

JASON SHEFFIELD Son of a Bitch The defense attorney’s debut novel that is rooted in fact more than fiction.

JAMIE WEISMAN We Are Gathered The story of an interfaith wedding in Atlanta.

In conversation with Gail Cohn, Local Media Personality. Member: $10/ Community: $15

3

4

8:00 p.m.

LIANE MORIARTY Nine Perfect Strangers Nice perfect strangers are about to find out if 10 days in a health resort can change their lives forever.

In conversation with Mara Davis, Local Media Personality. Member: $18/ Community: $25

12:00 p.m.

EDITH SHEFFER, Asperger’s Children DAWN RAFFEL, The Strange Case of Dr. Couney In conversation with Nadia Bilchik, CNN Editorial Producer. This program will feature a screening at 11:30 a.m. of "That Was Awesome!," a short film produced by the MJCCA in partnership with Dad’s Garage, starring actors with special needs from the MJCCA Spotlight Theatre. Member: $10/ Community: $15 3:30 p.m.

ANNA QUINDLEN, Alternate Side Exploration of what it means to be a mother, wife and woman at a moment of reckoning.

In conversation with Holly Firfer, CNN Journalist. Member: $26/ Community: $32 *Includes a paperback copy of the book.

7:30 p.m.

STUART EIZENSTAT, President Carter Eizenstat details Carter’s four years in the White House.

In conversation with Greg Bluestein, Political Reporter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Member: $18/ Community: $25

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10

12:00 p.m.

MICHAEL SOLOMONOV and STEVEN COOK, Israeli Soul Great dishes that are the soul of Israeli cuisine.

In conversation with Ligaya Figueras, Senior Editor, Food and Wine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Serving a buffet Shabbat lunch featuring recipes from the book. Tickets: $25

8:00 p.m.

JON MEACHAM The Soul of America Understanding the present moment in American politics by looking back at history.

In conversation with Gail Evans, Former Executive Vice President, CNN. Member: $33/ Community: $38 *Individual tickets include a hardcover copy of the book.

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11 12:00 p.m.

KENNY LEON, Take You Wherever You Go Inspirational memoir from the Artistic Director of Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta.

In conversation with Holly Firfer, CNN Journalist. Member: $10/ Community: $15 3:30 p.m.

STEVE ISRAEL, Big Guns Comic tale that shows the lines between fiction and non-fiction are often blurred.

Member: $10/ Community: $15 7:30 p.m.

PETER SAGAL, The Incomplete Book of Running Host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me” shares funny stories about running and life.

Member: $18/ Community: $25

18 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 27

BOOK FESTIVAL Israeli Soul: Is Mouthwatering and Emotional

By Marcia Caller Jaffe It’s a travelogue, a photographic masterpiece, a mouthwatering adventure, all rolled into cookbook, “Israeli Soul: Easy Essential, Delicious,” by famed chef-restaurateurs Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook. The book showcases toothless, tanned faces, bowls, bones, beans, and sparkling views of Israeli seas.

Solomonov’s acclaimed Philadelphia restaurant, Zahav, is standing the test of time as a unique dining destination in a fickle industry.

Israel just turned 70; Zahav turned 10. What’s unique about the chefs’ appearance at the Book Festival of the MJCCA Friday, Nov. 16, is a kosher buffet pre-Shabbat lunch ($25) prepared by local caterer, A Kosher Touch.

On the personal side, Solomonov revealed in The Inquirer in 2014 that his brother was killed on patrol on the Lebanese border about 10 years earlier.

Other articles headline “From Humus to Heroine” or “From Crack to James Beard (Award),” detailing his double life abusing drugs.

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Not one to linger through cookbooks, I found this one an emotional photographic journey. Well-catalogued as falafel (Balls of Gold, Old Akko, page 28), shawarma grilling, soups, sabich, bakery, and ice box barely scratches the surface of the choices and compelling backgrounds. Food is used to bridge heritage. Solomonov dispels the common misconception that Israeli food equals “The Middle East.” The authors have done the research to highlight the best of the best.

If you think you are well-versed in Israeli cuisine, imagine a meal of Soom tahini, kubaneh, jachnun, Libyan squash, Yemenite-style veal osso buco, yeasted rugelach, and Druze mountain bread.

The latter instructs how to invert an everyday wok over a gas burner and spread the mixture over the dome. An exotic segment was devoted to Zalatimo, an Arabic folded sugar dough dessert passed down from King Herod, now served outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

I asked Solomonov about his latest cookbook and community action.

Jaffe: Why is this book different than your earlier ones?

Solomonov: This one is less definitive.

For hummus, instead of boiling and draining chickpeas, we start with a simple can plus a jar of tahini, garlic and seasoning. No measuring, very little clean up.

Jaffe: How does your Tikkun Olam project work?

Solomonov: All the profit from my other restaurant, The Rooster, goes to fund food at the Broad Street Ministry (in Philly), where we serve a hundred quality meals a week on nice linens.

Jaffe: You’ve visited Atlanta before.

How would you describe our vibe?

Solomonov: Atlanta is a cultural blast! It’s a culinary and cultural destination. All the traffic complaints are typical of any city.

Jaffe: You have a special empathy for recovering addicts and the homeless?

Solomonov: I have been honest and outspoken about my own addiction and recovery. I continue to participate in programs that work for me. ■

Jaffe: What was unusual about the production of the book?

Solomonov: Each one of the 100 recipes was tested in my tiny one-bedroom apartment!

For a fascinating 10 minutes, view “CBS Sunday Morning,” (Nov. 12, 2017) for a segment on Solomonov. I’ll never forget it.

Solomonov will share his recipes at the Book Festival 12 p.m. Nov. 16.

BOOK FESTIVAL Not Our Kind: Shines Light on Interfaith Relations

President Carter: Determined to Shake Up Washington

By Alisa Haber

By Bob Bahr

One of my favorite things to do is judge a book by its cover. I’m usually drawn to those that depict an air of nostalgia: a wooden pie shelf, a scuffed pair of Keds or, in this case, a 1940s-era woman in a soft pink A-line dress looking out over a fading New York City skyline. I was immediately captivated, despite being slightly put off by what I initially perceived to be an inflammatory title.

Kitty Zeldis’ novel, “Not Our Kind,” is about two women from different worlds. By fate or accident, Eleanor Moskowitz, a Second Avenue Jew, and Patricia Bellamy, a Park Avenue AngloSaxon Protestant, become “almost” friends. At the outset, Patricia insists that Eleanor take on a less Jewishsounding last name so that she can work as her daughter’s tutor in their restricted building. In an ironic twist, the Jewish Israeli-born author chose to use

a pseudonym for this book because she feels her last name, McDonough, doesn’t sound Jewish enough.

In a recent interview with Curt Schleier of the Jewish Standard, Zeldis says her new book is “about the intersection of Jews in a non-Jewish world.” She says she is not talking about the Orthodox, who she sees as “shielded from the outside world,” but rather those like herself who have assimilated. She clarifies, “I feel what I am doing is expanding the definition of what it means to be Jewish. The way we’ve been doing it hasn’t been so great.

The sense of exclusivity, the sense of us and the other doesn’t speak to my core values.” Indeed, “Not Our Kind” is about finding that we have more in common than the stereotypes that have kept us apart, finding a place in this world that does not leave others out. ■ Kitty Zeldis will appear at the Book Festival 12 p.m. Nov. 14.

Stuart Eizenstat’s magnum opus, his lengthy history of the Carter presidency during the latter half of the 1970s, “President Carter: The White House Years,” is a portrait of the ups and downs of a national leader who came to Washington determined to shake things up.

This comprehensive re-appraisal examines how well Carter succeeded in that task by a consummate political insider whose long record of public service in the nation’s capital, including his celebrated efforts on behalf of Holocaust survivors, began as Carter’s chief domestic policy advisor.

He draws upon 5,000 pages of notes he took during the four years on Carter’s White House staff, and more than 350 interviews, including five with Carter and his intensive experience as a high-ranking official over a quarter century of public service. This helps to give us a close-up view of how American government oper-

ates at the highest levels. Our 39th president, he argues, was much better than his present-day reputation suggests.

He examines with a thoughtful, thorough and generally-objective eye the many successes of those years, including the history-making agreement between Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat, describing the Carter presidency as “one of the most consequential in modern history.”

While many may remember the time for its long lines at the gas pump, high inflation, and the lengthy and disheartening Iran hostage crisis, Eizenstat argues that it was a time of history-making programs in energy reform, human rights and international diplomacy that played an important role in shaping history in the last 40 years.

In this well-written and important work, he provides an absorbing portrait of a complex man many Jews have found hard to forgive for his latter-day views on Israel and his characterization of that nation as an apartheid state. ■ The book is the Esther G. Levine Community Read at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11, and is sponsored, in part, by Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 29

BOOK FESTIVAL Promised Land: A Novel of Israel

By Dave Schechter “Promised Land: A Novel of Israel,” by Martin Fletcher, blends fictional characters and historical events in Israel’s early years.

In 1950, two years after the modern nation of Israel declared its independence, just 35 percent of its 806,000 citizens were sabras, native born.

Post-Holocaust refugees from Europe and the former residents of Arab nations alike faced the task of reinventing themselves.

The lives of three such people are at the center of “Promised Land,” whose author is among the longestserving foreign correspondents in Israel. He is best known for his more than 30 years reporting for NBC from Israel and the Middle East.

“Promised Land” takes readers on an 18-year trip, as Fletcher blends his fictional characters with familiar Israeli names from the years 1949 to 1967, as their lives dovetail with real events.

Peter, sent to America as a teenager by his German parents to escape the pending destruction of their Jewish world, grows up with a gentile family in the Midwest.

His younger brother, Aren, emerges from Auschwitz without his family and scarred by the experiences that kept him alive when so many others died.

Tamara and her family flee a comfortable life in Egypt, only to find themselves in squalor among the Mizrahi Jews looked down on by the Ashkenazim, particularly the haughty “yekkes,” the Jews of German descent.

When the brothers reunite in Israel, Peter has become a silent defender of their new homeland while Aren, who has taken the more Israeli name of Arie (the lion), is a wheelerdealer looking for his next score.

The brothers have exchanged their family name, Berg, for the more Israeli ben Nesher (the eagle).

The wheels of the story begin turning when Peter, and then Arie, meet Tamara.

Both could be accused of taking advantage of the young Egyptian woman, even though she engages willingly, and over time the benefits of her new relationships accrue not only to her, but to her parents and siblings.

“In this strange new country where everyone was reinventing themselves, all the traditions and niceties of relationships in Egypt were lost. Here you didn’t gain respect with age, but lost it. At the head of the table the virtues and wisdom and knowledge were replaced by money and power, the gentle hand replaced by sharp elbows and a big mouth,” Fletcher writes.

But in his next sentence, the author asks: “How else could it be though, in a nervous, scared nation threatened by annihilation at any moment?”

Peter rises in the ranks of those staving off annihilation, while Arie takes every opportunity to get ahead, no matter whether those close to him are hurt along the way.

Tamara, who has cast her lot with Arie, grows stronger with every episode she endures, though neither she nor Peter lose sight of each other, even while Peter creates a family of his own.

Fletcher’s knowledge of this historical and geo-

graphic landscape, a byproduct of his journalistic experience, is what makes “Promised Land” work.

He leads readers through Israel’s crucial early years, the threats from without that test its security apparatus, and the threats from within, including the boom-and-bust of its economy.

There are twists along the way, some readers may see coming and others that surprise.

“Promised Land” ends soon after the June 1967 sixday war and portends some of the challenges Israel has faced since. I am left wishing that Fletcher had revealed more about the future lives of his protagonists. Perhaps the years that followed in Israel’s history will be worthy of a sequel. ■ Fletcher will discuss “Promised Land” when he speaks at the Book Festival of the MJCCA, at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 8.

Rescue Board: The Untold Story of an Effort to Save the Jews of Europe

By Bob Bahr It seems truly remarkable that it has taken 74 years to write the first history of the important work that President Franklin Roosevelt’s War Refugee Board undertook to save the Jews of Europe in the waning years of World War II. But that is what Rebecca Erbelding has done in her new book.

Erbelding, who works as an archivist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, spent 10 years writing and researching the book and sifting through an amazing 43,000 documentary sources. In the process she has created a history of how officials in the U.S. Department of Treasury succeeded in doing a better job than they are usually credited with.

The WRB was created by executive order in January 1944, less than 1 ½ years before the end of the war in Europe. During its short history it became a tireless advocate for those Jews who could still be saved. In a thrilling, detailed narrative, Erbelding outlines how a small group of government bureaucrats in Washington used daring, imagination, cunning, ingenuity and a very limited budget to sometimes create miracles.

The WRB was behind the heroic work done by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg on behalf of the Jews in Budapest. It was instrumental in helping escaping Jews from Romania make it safely to Palestine, despite a strong British effort to stop them, and in the final months of the war, it created hundreds of thousands of relief packages that were delivered to prisoners in German concentration camps.

In short, the book chronicles, in greater detail than previously attempted, the effort America made on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust. And while it may be seen by some as too little too late, it is a challenge to those who, in recent decades, have insisted that America’s response to the Holocaust was half-hearted and ineffective. Perhaps, as many have argued, America could have done more, but as Erbelding’s book persuasively argues, the work of the WRB was an important humanitarian effort during a decidedly dark time in human history. ■ Rebecca Erbelding will present “Rescue Board” at the Book Festival 12 p.m. Nov. 4.

30 | OCTOBER 26, 2018 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES

BOOK FESTIVAL Rise and Kill First: Inner Workings of Israel’s Secret Security Revealed

By Vicki Leopold The title of the fast-paced true adventure book, “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” comes from the Talmud: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” The author, Ronen Bergman, is senior correspondent for military and intelligence affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest daily newspaper, and contributing writer for The New York Times.

Bergman appears to have done meticulous research into Israel’s top-secret security services. He explores the inner workings and personalities of those employed by Mossad, Shin Bet and Caesarea as well as their policy of targeted assassinations against perceived enemies of Israel.

Bergman explained how he was able to gather such information from top-secret intelligence sources. Many wanted to share their experiences as well as their points of view, moral hubris, internal conflicts and their pride in saving Israelis lives, he said.

They told him that gone were the days of being led to slaughter. Gone was the acceptance that Jewish life was cheap.

“As Rabin put it, ‘There is no immunity for any PLO element anywhere in the world. The long arm of the IDF will be able to reach and punish them.’” Preemptive strikes were the norm and retaliation accepted policy, he said.

Bergman covers many important events in Israel’s history with a written style that is engaging and thrilling. He shares such events as: targeting Nazis; destroying Iraq’s nuclear facility; assassinating Iranian and Iraqi nuclear scientists; implanting viruses into foreign computers to slow nuclear development; gaining release of U.S. intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard who spied for Israel; targeting terrorists; obtaining intelligence; and manipulating the Lebanon War. The secret agencies Bergman studied were condemned before the 911 massacre by various presidents and cabinet members, but then admired afterwards.

“In one swoop, the complaints against us ceased,” said retired Maj. Gen. Giora

Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council.

The author continues, “Decades of Israel trying to explain its drastic measures to the rest of the world were suddenly made unnecessary.” President Ariel Sharon ordered all the intelligence organizations of Israel to give the Americans everything they had, Bergman said.

The Americans were most interested in finding out how the integrated assassination system of all the intelligence arms worked … persistent, ruthless, exacting and efficient.

The author explained that there were many forces, understandably, against his publication of this book.

While “Rise and Kill First” is a fascinating read, one cannot help but wonder the price to the secret agencies and assets of publicly revealing such tactics, methods, strategies and names. One might question the purpose of the author. Was the author trying to give history, challenge the inner workings, moralize or just write a real-life thriller and allow consequences to be what they will? This was a constant worry that I, the reader, had

as more and more was revealed. Is there anything similarly written about the secret underbelly of the United States? One doubts that it would be published in such exacting specificity. Nevertheless, this book is out and is quite astonishing in its detail. ■ Ronen Bergman presents “Rise and Kill First” at Prologue to the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 31

BOOK FESTIVAL Son of a Bitch: Resembles ATL and Author’s Life

The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America

By Jan Jaben-Eilon

By Janice ConvoyHellmann

Just from the title of the book, “Son of a Bitch,” by criminal defense attorney Jason B. Sheffield, readers know who the two main characters are, and they realize that the relationship between the two is – let’s call it – turbulent and troubled.

Indeed, the relationship between the narrator and his mother – both lawyers – is the centerpiece of this book. But the storyline is just as compelling and could be the makings of a soap opera.

Not surprisingly, Sheffield, a partner at Decatur-based Peters, Rubin & Sheffield, P.A., is already thinking about making this semi-autobiographical story into a movie. And, he’s planning to write more books about the mother character.

Last year, when Sheffield called and told his mother the title of the book, there was a long pause on the phone. Yet his mother – a post-conviction specialist – loves the book, he said.

Atlanta readers will not only enjoy the engaging story, but will feel at

home in its background, much of which occurs in the Atlanta area. Sheffield, after all, is a graduate of Georgia State University College of Law. Attorneys and lawyer-wannabes will particularly appreciate the legal intricacies and the inside look of the courtroom. And feminists will recognize the patronizing, obstructionist behavior of the good ole’ boys.

Some of the dialogue and sexual details may be shocking to some, but Sheffield says that was not accidental.

“I wanted to spark debate. I wanted to tackle old euphemisms and put a new spin on it. Although it was inspired by true events, and there are a lot of emotions and experiences the book captures, it quickly moves into fiction when the criminal defense attorney mother gets involved with her client and asks her son – also a criminal defense attorney – to defend her.” ■ Sheffied, a former actor, will speak about his book at noon, Friday, Nov. 9.

Kenny Leon is no stranger to Broadway. From winning a Tony Award in 2014 for Best Director of a Play for “A Raisin in the Sun” to Broadway credits including “Fences,” “Hairspray Live!” and “The Wiz Live!” Leon has become one of America’s most beloved theater and television directors.

He is artistic director of his eponymous True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta and was artistic director of the Alliance Theatre for 11 years.

Leon’s latest literary accomplishment, “Take You Wherever You Go: A Memoir,” is about the people who shaped him. Today, a far cry from his humble beginnings, he is now a powerhouse of talent and looks forward to returning to Atlanta.

With a foreword by Samuel L. Jackson and endorsements from Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett and Harvey Fierstein, Leon celebrates the wisdom learned from the pillars in his life.

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Mohammed Al Samawi will appear at the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8.

The Girl from Berlin: A Treasure Hunt Through History

Take You Wherever You Go: Kenny Leon Comes Home with Debut Memoir

By Robyn Spizman Gerson

I was drawn to “The Fox Hunt” because one of the four “strangers” in the book, who helped the protagonist escape war-torn Yemen, is not a stranger to me at all. In fact, she’s an Aussie-born, Atlanta-bred woman, who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing since her days at The Weber School, and which, of course, made the story a more compelling read on a personal level. That, coupled with the book’s current relevance and the fact that its author, Mohammed Al Samawi, is a sensitive human-rights activist, not a terrorist as some would have us all believe Muslim refugees are, made for a real page-turner.

Although the first half of the book established the context for the story and was mired with lots of facts about geopolitics in the Middle East in general, and

Yemen in particular, the rather suspenseful second half of the book more than made up for the plodding beginning.

Overall, I would recommend this book; not only is it an inspirational story about how open-mindedness can help us overcome indoctrination and prejudice, but it’s also a story of resilience and how stumbling blocks in our lives – physical disabilities, for example – can empower us. Most of all, however, it’s a story of the power and positivity that social networks, as well as interfaith and cross-cultural alliances, can bring, and the new and creative ways in which social activism is happening. Although a memoir at its core, this book reads like a thriller and has already been optioned for the screen. ■

He credits his Grandma Mamie, who set his life’s purpose towards dreaming large. “She made sure I knew I could do whatever I set my mind to do. The anchors and lessons in my life have been from three sources: my grandmother, my mother and iconic playwright August Wilson,” he said.

“This book is my way of telling you, as my Grandma told me, that you can do whatever you need to do. The only limits are the ones you set yourself. You have all you need in you right now. I grew up poor … I ended up on Broadway. I am interested in how I can help future generations. We’ve all been dealt hands in life, but life is about how you play that hand.”

About appearing at the Book Festival, he added, “I have a strong connection to the Atlanta Jewish community. To me, it’s like coming home.” ■ Kenny Leon appears at 12 p.m. Sun., Nov. 18, In Conversation with CNN’s Holly Firfer.

By Jan Jaben-Eilon If you loved Ronald H. Balson’s thriller, “Once We Were Brothers,” you will certainly enjoy his new novel, “The Girl from Berlin.”

Both have the ability to stick with the readers long after the last page is finished. The characters and the stories are painted so clearly that they are memorable.

Both books are based on situations during the Holocaust, although the gist of the stories occur in the present.

Readers of Balson’s previous books will immediately recognize, in his new novel, the main characters, Chicago attorney Catherine Lockhart and her investigator-husband Liam Taggart. Neither is Jewish, yet their cases always involve the Jewish world.

His book, “Saving Sophie,” took the couple to Israel. “The Girl from Berlin” has the couple solving its case in the Tuscan hills of Italy. The aunt of a Chicago restaurateur – a friend of Lockhart and Taggart’s – is threatened with eviction from her Italian home by a powerful

corporation that seems to yearn for her grape vines.

A treasure hunt for the origin of conflicting land deeds leads to duplicity and death, and eventually to lawyers in Germany who help uncover corporate shenanigans.

The key to helping the aunt, and solving the mystery, lies in a handwritten manuscript from the 1930s that the aunt insists the Chicago couple read to learn the history of the ownership of the villa, as well as the aunt’s connection to the property.

That story-within-a-story was written by a girl from Berlin who moved to Italy during the Nazi regime to continue her career as a violinist. Readers learn about the more lenient lives for Jews in Italy, at least in the beginning. The Berlin girl’s story also shows that not all Nazis were the same. ■ International best-selling author Ronald Balson, a Chicago trial lawyer, will speak about his latest novel, “The Girl From Berlin,” at 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15.

BOOK FESTIVAL The Incomplete Runner: May Not Be the Perfect One

By Ian Robbins Peter Sagal and I have something in common.

From what he writes in “The Incomplete Book of Running,” we both started running seriously at 40. I made a goal to run a marathon by that age. I ran two by then and have been running them for 17 years. He’s a successful NPR radio host for “Wait, Wait …. Don’t Tell Me!” and a popular columnist for “Runner’s World,” which I read. I’m married to an AJT editor. That’s where the comparisons stop.

On a scale of one to 10, I’m a two.

He’s an eight. I may have run more marathons; he reported running 14. But he’s a top-tier marathoner for his age in major races.

One of the most powerful parts of this autobiography was his recounting of how he escaped the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, crossing the finish line moments before the explosion. He was

a volunteer for a blind runner, tethered to his charge.

If the runner hadn’t stopped to take a break, Sagal said he would’ve died.

He holds nothing back.

Not about his divorce and how horrible it was. And not about the 2012 incident in which he was labeled a “bandit” for jumping in and out of the Chicago Marathon without registering.

He said he innocently wanted to prepare for his next marathon, but, as a minor celebrity, he was widely criticized.

Sagal also shares how it’s difficult to find time to run in a busy schedule, but how rewarding the stress relief. He’s very realistic about the aches and pains, the wavering diligence. It makes “The Incomplete Book of Running,” a takeoff on “The Complete Book of Running” by James Fixx, very relatable to any runner. ■ Peter Sagal closes the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18.

Heavenly Reunion Teaches About Love and Compassion

By Al Shams

“The Next Person You Meet in Heaven” is a sequel to “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom that takes off where the first ends.

In “The Next Person You Meet in Heaven,” Albom tells the story of a young girl, Annie, who, while visiting an amusement park is saved by a park attendant. The attendant, Eddie, who led a troubled life, loses his life while saving Annie. But Annie did not escape the incident without injury. Her hand was severed, but in a miracle of medicine, it was reattached. The surgery left scars on Annie, both emotional and physical.

Annie has no memory of the incident. As she grows, she must deal with the emotional trauma of the accident, which impacts her teenage years. Her guilt-ridden mother becomes overprotective, which hinders Annie’s personal growth.

Annie struggles with these emotional scars to find happiness. As a young woman, she reconnects with a childhood love who she later marries. The wedding is the high point of her life, but the evening ends in tragedy for her and her husband.

The wedding night events put her on the path to heaven, where she meets five people who have had a profound impact on her life. One of the people she meets is Eddie, the amusement park attendant who lost his life while saving hers.

The book reminds us that often, the most important person in our lives may be someone we never met or may only know briefly. A person has a heart attack, but is saved by a quick-acting EMT. Someone is in a very serious auto accident because of a drunk driver.

One of the thoughts that I gleaned is that many events in our earthly life seem to be random, but when we arrive in heaven their significance becomes apparent.

I found the book to be a difficult read. It did not flow smoothly, and the early chapters seemed disjointed. The final chapters tie the events together in a more coherent fashion. But overall, it’s unique, provocative and interesting.

Readers will learn/relearn life’s lessons of love and compassion. They will be drawn from the daily business of earthly life and be forced to contemplate existence on a broader basis. ■

The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels

By Bob Bahr In his new book, “The Soul of America,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham gazes across the contentious political divide in America today and pronounces the glass half-full. Right from the start, his subtitle lets us know where he’s going. His search for the Soul of America is really, in his estimation, “The Battle for Our Better Angels.” The well-known quote is taken from Lincoln’s first inaugural address, which implored the rebellious South to respond to “the better angels of our nation.”

Meacham was moved to write the book in the aftermath of last year’s white racist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., and President Trump’s response. The author seeks to soothe his many troubled readers.

He confidently and smoothly reminds us, like the best-selling author and former publishing executive that he is, that these troubled times are not unique.

We have faced discord in our democracy before, particularly in the century that

he examines between president Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson.

His optimistic conclusion, based largely on what he sees as the role of progressive national leaders in the 20th century, is that, despite our difficulties, we often have come out on the side of the angels.

I found that what Meacham largely chooses to ignore is all that came after LBJ, and the disintegration of the liberal coalition in the later years of the 20th century.

In my opinion, it is one thing to say how good things were in 1964 without much of a thought as to how we came through the following 54 years.

Everyone who attends Meacham’s appearance during the final Saturday night climax to the MJCCA Book Festival gets a free copy of his book to reflect on the era for themselves.

Hopefully the conversation at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 between Meacham and Gail Evans, former CNN executive vice president, will explore more of how we got from there to here. ■

Atlanta Section

Invites you to

2018 Election Analysis Featuring Moderator: Gail Evans, Former Executive Vice President, CNN Panelists: Stephanie Davis, Founding Director, Atlanta Women’s Foundation Beth Schapiro, Political Strategist Thursday, November 8, 2018 11:30 am: Registration 12:00 noon: Luncheon Maggiano’s Little Italy 3368 Peachtree Road, Buckhead Tickets: $25.00 Register by Friday, November 2, 2018 RSVP to christineh@ncjwatlanta.org & send check to P.O. Box 76162, Sandy Springs, GA 30328, or call 404 843-9600.

ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES OCTOBER 26, 2018 | 33

BOOK FESTIVAL The Subway Girls: Shows How Far Women Have Come in Workplace

By Roni Robbins I had just returned from New York when I started reading “The Subway Girls.” Besides recognizing many of the iconic sites realistically described in the novel, it immediately reminded me of how far my generation has come in the workplace versus my mother’s generation.

As it says on the book cover, “The Subway Girls,” is about “two strong women, a generation apart, who find themselves up against the same eternal struggle to find an impossible balance between love, happiness and ambition.” In other words, they, too, search for the work-life balance we all struggle to achieve.

But for me, the story was very personal. As with all good books, the reader – me – inserted herself in the story. It wasn’t too difficult in this case. You might say that the main character, Charlotte, who could only hope to become a typist

in her day, represents my mother, a bookkeeper. She even went to Hunter College, like Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the character, Olivia, an ad rep, is similar to me, the journalist/editor. My mom and I are both native New Yorkers, so the comparisons are uncanny and made the novel very relatable to me.

I’m sure it would be for women of either era.

Despite the generational divide, the parallels between Charlotte and Olivia are as clear as those between me and my mom. We think we are so different, but we aren’t. In essence, some things never change. We still struggle to break through the glass ceiling in many arenas and the #MeToo movement proves that it’s still difficult to be a woman in any generation. ■ Susie Orman Schnall presents “The Subway Girls” at the Book Festival 12 p.m.

Nov. 14.

Ticker: Details Breakthroughs in Heart Surgery

By Janice ConvoyHellmann Heart disease, which “kills more people around the world than all the cancers combined,” is the primary threat to human health across the globe.

In “Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart,” Swartz charts the evolution of cardiac technologies. The editor of Texas Monthly magazine who co-authored a book in 2003 about the Enron collapse focuses on the individuals responsible for breakthroughs in artificial heart research. She examines four Texans, in particular, and how their work has radically altered the surgical success and survival rates of heart patients worldwide. These trailblazing physicians demonstrated drive and the creative innovation necessary to revolutionize the way heart patients survived and thrived through the development of new techniques and life-saving devices.

Sadly, the book does not address the ethical limits of innovation, the bioethical dilemmas that naturally occur, or the patients’/ families’ reactions and feelings when their experimental surgeries fail. Although this book is likely to resonate more for cardiac patients and their physicians, even casually-interested readers will be fascinated by Swartz’s vivid depictions of both the daring doctors’ work and some of the more complicated surgeries involved.

Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve a permanent artificial heart, this is not a tale of man’s triumph over nature, yet it does illustrate the leaps and bounds happening in the medical arena and provides hope for those suffering from heart disease. ■ Mimi Swartz will talk about “Ticker” at the Book Festival 12 p.m. Nov. 6.

Time to Get Tough: Michael Coles Gives Keys to Business Success

By Allen Lipis If you want to be successful in business, then read “Time to Get Tough,” by Michael J. Coles and Catherine M. Lewis.

It details Coles’ very varied business career. He did not go to college, but learned through experience. He made his financial success through the Great American Cookie Co., Caribou Coffee, Charter Bank, BrandBank, and the Georgia Film Commission.

Coles distilled his business approach down to four I’s: information, innovation, implementation and improvement.

Get the appropriate information to understand the business, then be innovative to make the changes that will improve it.

Change is never easy, and it is all about executing properly, and once that is done, it isn’t over. Change has to be continual and improvement has to be a constant.

Having been a success in so many endeavors, Coles’ book passes on his wisdom learned over a lifetime. It’s about taking risks, associating with people of integrity, learning from others and building relationships with customers. Also important is having a clear vision about your business and knowing how to deal with failure.

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Coles will inspire you to take on your own challenges, to compete for the last five miles and to prepare for the next five.

He will tell you that real wisdom comes when you realize through victory that the skills you used to finish your race are exactly the same ones you need to conquer the next five miles. ■ Coles and Lewis appear at the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15.

BOOK FESTIVAL Uncommon Type: By Tom Hanks is a Wild Ride

By Marcia Caller Jaffe The biggest buzz for this year’s Book Festival of the MJCCA is actor-director Tom Hanks, whose appearance sold out very quickly. No doubt, he’s a charming guy with a humble demeanor. I was impressed with a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” last year highlighting his collection of old typewriters and affinity for the written word. “Uncommon Type,” this publication of short stories, is his first collection of fiction.

The book is described as “poignantly playful” (Actress Mindy Kaling), “as charming and all-American as the actor himself" (Time magazine), and “spiked with humor, whimsy and insight” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). I choose to go with “spiked.”

No question Hanks has his way with words. His descriptions beget pictures: “out like a glass jarred boxer,” or the “sphere of a woman’s breast.” He crafts. He cares about what language he chooses. As in all collections, some you like more than others. I found the book frenetic at time keeping a “cray-cray” pace from place to place and a jab to code in proper names (MDash, B15K).

His use of sounds was amusing: the klockklock of typewriter keys, the bleat-bleat mimicking the European phone ring.

Overall, it’s a deft, funny, modern col-

lection of stories. It’s as worldly as geography spanning the globe: Budapest, Vegas, Noo Yawk, Mallorca, Rio, New Orleans. Food details string through many stories.

In my personal favorite, “Three Exhausting Weeks,” the hyperactive girlfriend serves up buckwheat pancakes, vegetable lasagna, avocado on toasted spelt, beets and celery stew while he eats strawberry Pop-Tarts, Portuguese sausage and Cocoa Puffs. This was symptomatic of why they ultimately couldn’t see eye-to-eye. Question: With no one identifying as Jewish, why does he say “Shabbat Shalom” when they have sex?

The bottom line: Hanks has a lot going on in his brain and retains his title as “king of likeability. ■

The 2018 MJCCA Book Festival features Tom Hanks’ volume of short stories that all involve antique typewriters.

We Are Gathered: Put This Book on Your Guest List

By Robyn Spizman Gerson Jamie Weisman’s latest novel, “We Are Gathered,” is a fast-paced read that celebrates her dynamic, creative storytelling ability. Not your everyday wedding, Weisman skillfully details the dysfunctional side of her scandalous and skillfully crafted characters. Their flawed personalities unravel as the story of an interfaith wedding unfolds.

From charming to disarming, the lead roles are not the bride and groom, Elizabeth Gottlieb and Hank Jackson, rather a complex cast of wedding guests.

While a talented novelist, Dr. Weisman, as many know her, is also a nationally recognized board-certified Atlanta dermatologist. What makes this book even more relevant is how Weisman blends her careers and weaves a blemished tale of adoring, envious, even comical guests.

“You can fall in love with doing more than one thing in life. I wanted to be a writer. As a little girl, I would ride my

bike to Ardmore Bookstore in Sandy Springs and pick out books. Throughout high school, my English teacher would feed me books. While writing was my major interest, the medical world also ran deep in my family.”

She adds, “As the writer, I get to make up these characters. I hope readers will find it in their hearts to love them. The thing I love about this book is it’s set at a wedding. It is two people who love each other until death do us part. The question I wanted to raise was not romantic love, but the love also for parents and children. If you look at the characters, life is hard. Joy is hard.”

Weisman’s book tells an untraditional story about flawed individuals, human in their experiences. This book reminds us of the universal hope of the unexpected journey beyond happily ever after. ■ Jamie Weisman appears at the Book Festival 12 p.m. Nov. 9.

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