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Daughter of Holocaust Survivor Lovingly Recounts Lost Family’s Painful Odyssey

By Jillian Risberg he takes us on an epic journey through her childhood and the heart-wrenching loss of her grandmother, aunt and cousin in concentration camps, and her father who escaped — bringing them back to life with love in “Heart Songs – A Holocaust memoir.” “I was compelled to give my family the memorial denied to them,” says Morristown author Barbara Gilford. “They lived, they mattered, and I received a legacy of love from them through my father. Every Holocaust memoir stands as a bulwark against the legions of Holocaust deniers.” It was while cleaning out an old cabinet that the author discovered her unknown grandmother Clara’s last letters (written in German) and learned of her relentless efforts to obtain a visa outside Europe’s borders, as well as her father John’s monumental efforts to save his mother — who maintained an inconceivable optimism despite separation from her beloved family and an uncertain future. “The moment I discovered them (the letters), I was both ecstatic and deeply moved,” Gilford says. “Kerstin White, a writing-friend, fellow psychotherapist and translator, gave me my grandmother’s voice, her thoughts and feelings, a sense of her capacity to love, and her amazing resilience.” In the end, their lives and their individual, unique selves cannot be eclipsed by the tragedy and circumstances of their deaths, according to the educator and psychotherapist. “They exist together in life and in death and their memory lives on in our very selves and in our souls.” She calls the book process, from inception to press a deeply emotional experience filled with ‘longing, loss, grief and enduring love.’ “Writing Heart Songs was fulfilling beyond words,” she says. “My book is the Buchsbaum family memorial and it will exist for many years to come.” On a lifelong quest to understand how people handle loss and suffering has fostered in Gilford a deep appreciation for the strength and resilience embedded in the human psyche and spirit. As a second generation Holocaust survivor, it was a profound experience for the author to travel to see the sites where her grandmother and the rest of her family lived and died. “I shed copious tears at Auschwitz and Treblinka, and depended on hugs from family and friends for comfort,” she says. “Using psychological theory evolved through the process of writing the book.” According to the author, growing up in post-war Germa-

ny and in the United States with antisemitic incidents and a very limited community of Jewish people — finding her Jewish identity and managing any issues of self-esteem and not belonging because of what her family endured has been a journey of decades. “My Jewish identity has become a joyful and profound part of myself through synagogue membership at Temple Sinai in Summit, New Jersey,” Gilford says. “I believe that human beings have the capacity to keep growing and maturing until the last breath. I feel a strong sense of belonging as a Jewish woman and as a member of the human race,” she says. “When we embrace, not tolerate ‘the other,’ we join in universal human struggles, and hopefully emerge as deeply compassionate people.” In sharing the story of the author’s family, so tragically lost, she finds deep fulfillment when her readers and those who hear her public talks, respond with a connection to the particulars of her relatives and therefore to the enormity of the Shoah. “The journey of grief and love reaches my readers now that my family is individualized in their hearts and minds,” Gilford says. She explored the historical, familial and psychological aspects of the Holocaust in “Heart Songs” through the family history her father wrote, beginning with his grandparents, and ending with his arrival in the United States. “Throughout my life, he spoke of his family in great detail and gave me, along with photos, his own reminiscences,” says the psychotherapist. “The packet of my grandmother’s letters also contained documents relative to her attempts to emigrate.” In the mid-1990s, documents obtained by the Soviet Army, as they moved westward during WWII were finally released, according to Gilford. “I held in my hands the documents of deportation of my aunt, uncle, and cousin who were exterminated in Treblinka,” she says. “That was the single most heartbreaking and even traumatizing moment of my journey.” Clara Buchsbaum, aunt Gretl and cousin Susi may not

have physical headstones to mark their existence, but Gilford celebrates the resilience of three generations of her family who died and those who survived, by ensuring their legacy is forever immortalized through the words and photographs in her book. “I feel that because of my grandmother’s letters, I do know my family and take from them their example of strength, endurance and hope,” Gilford says. The educator hopes when people read her book they can come to respect the enormous struggles of refugees today to find safety and the opportunity to develop and share their talents. “We must apply the tragic lessons of the past and expand our embrace of our fellow human beings desperately striving for refuge and opportunity,” says the author. Gilford’s book is available for purchase on Amazon.

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Newark Academy’s Dan Bailey-Yavonditte Named USA Fencing’s Coach of the Year

By Steve Sears ewark Academy’s second-year varsity Fencing Head Coach, Daniel Bailey-Yavonditte, was recently named USA Fencing 2020 National High School Coach of the Year. Nominated by his players, Bailey-Yavonditte led the squad to an 11 -2 record and their first ever State Team Championship over a strong Ridge High School team, whom they had lost to a few months earlier at the winter Cetrulo Tournament. During the tournament, Newark Academy finished second out of 55 schools, and the squad only got better as the season progressed. “We’ve had a lot of individuals who have been very, very good,” says Bailey-Yavonditte, citing Newark Academy’s fencing past. “But it’s been a long while since the program has had such a high quality across the board with the quality of our athletes.” Some top fencers this past season were Konrad Czyzewski, Aidan Orr, Michael Pyo, JJ Whitehurst, Torata Mishima, and John Steinmetz. USA Fencing, which is the governing body for fencing across the United States, notified Bailey-Yavonditte of his win near the end of June. “To be nominated by them (his players), those kids who put in the hard work to be at the top of high school fencing in New Jersey, that’s really big for me,” he says. For Bailey-Yavonditte, 40, the goal was specific: he wanted

to develop athletes. “A lot of my high school fencers – I’ve been with a number of high school programs - not all of them are going to go on and fence in college, or even fence outside of high school. It’s their one chance to participate in the sport, and they’ve taken it. If they take this idea of being an athlete and being healthy and being fit through their lives – if they’re a life-long athlete, just like I want them to be a life-long-learner – that’s a huge takeaway for me. It’s great if you win championships, it’s great if we do well during the season, but if we have a kid who is able to be healthy into their 60s and 70s and 80s because of the discipline and determination they learned while they were in high school, that is a real victory for me.” It’s that employed discipline and determination that carried Newark Academy to the top. “Our team got some really big wins when we needed them,” says BaileyYavonditte. In the state quarterfinals, Newark Academy was a winner over both West Windsor Plainsboro North and Columbia, the latter the same team the Newark Academy sabre and foil fencers had lost to earlier in the season. Then came the semifinals and, facing the school he formerly coached, Bailey-Yavonditte’s squad defeated West Windsor Plainsboro South, setting up the Ridge rematch. “It comes Change datestotoput Novin 15 back to the hard work they chose during the season,” he says, “andtake then out myself as their coach them razor and put a burst there with: specializing in and Straight as a team verbalizing and saying to each other, ‘Hey, we’ve continued all on page 5 We have implemented measures to keep you visit safe

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A VIEW FROM THE LEFT

Our Most Personal Vote

EDITORIAL &

Opinions

n the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, the Democratic nominees, former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, were both seen by the nation’s voters as more knowledgeable and more intelligent than the Republican standard-bearer in both elections, George W. Bush. But those same voters in both campaigns found Bush to be more honest, trustworthy and likable than either Gore or Kerry. In explaining why Bush defeated Kerry, respected Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart put it bluntly: “Voters value ‘I Like’ over IQ.” Our vote for president is actually the most personal vote we Americans get to cast. Aware of the enormous impact every president has over our lives -- both national and individual -- we learned painfully that the national tragedies of both Vietnam and Watergate were directly attributable to defects of character and personality -- along with acute absence of honesty -- of elected American presidents. In the most recent Wall Street JournalNBC News national poll, 2020 voters listed the three most important qualities in deciding how to vote for president to be “having the ability to bring the country together” (36%); “being honest and trustworthy” (35%); and “having strong leadership qualities” (33%). Democrat Joe Biden held a statistically insignificant 45%-43% edge over President Donald Trump on the “strong leadership qualities” question. But on “bringing the country together,” Biden was judged to be better than Trump by the lopsided margin of 52% to 28%. And on “being honest and trustworthy,” voters again picked Biden over Trump by a decisive 47% to 30% margin. How, if the vote for president is so personal, did Trump, with a 38% favorable-60% unfavorable personal rating from 2016 voters, the lowest for any major party candidate in the history of polling, win the White House four years ago? Because he was running that year against Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose 43% favorable-55% unfavorable personal rating was the second-lowest ever recorded by a major party nominee. If Trump had been running unopposed four years ago, he would have lost. But

Mark Shields he was running against Clinton, who just 36% of voters saw as “honest and trustworthy,” while 61% said she was not -- almost identical to Trump’s bad numbers on “honest and trustworthy,” which were 33% positive and 64% negative. No incumbent president or his party has won reelection to the White House when that president’s job rating was below 48% positive. In nearly four years, during which he presided over an economy where unemployment fell to just 3.5%, the nation’s lowest rate in 51 years, Trump remains the only U.S. president in the history of the Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll never to be rated positively by at least 50% of Americans; in fact, he never even reached beyond 46% approval. In this bizarre pandemic year, with voters unable to assess the character and personality of the presidential candidates because they are unable to see them interact with voters, Americans will take their clues more than ever from the three presidential debates, in which the candidates will be wise to remember that character is destiny and the presidential choice is the most personal vote we will cast. To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2020 MARK SHIELDS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM 100% MailedNewspaper Flanders, NJ 07836

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A VIEW FROM THE RIGHT

The Hit-Job Parade of Anti-Trump Authors It must be fall campaign season, because our incredibly tilted Democratic media are rotating through a series of authors ripping into President Donald Trump. Start with the most overpraised journalist in Washington, Bob Woodward, who is the same age as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden but is still trotted out with great fanfare as the conquering hero of Watergate. Everywhere he goes, it seems Woodward is asked to declare that Trump’s term in office has been “worse than Watergate.” Tony Dokoupil on CBS insisted that “no one died in Watergate,” while Trump is somehow responsible for the vast majority of deaths from the coronavirus. On “60 Minutes” this week, Woodward colorfully described the president as a lethal pile of dynamite. No fact-checkers were requested Also this week, the networks lavished attention on two discredited actors in Trump scandals: former FBI agent Peter Strzok, dismissed from the Robert Mueller probe for flagrantly partisan text messages, and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, fresh from serving a prison sentence. Trump’s niece Mary Trump is still squeezing big money out of her lurid psychological profile on Uncle Donald. She calls him “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.” It helps with the royalties. Notice that there isn’t a single author with a deeply critical book on Joe Biden. Somehow, all the publishers in America weren’t interested in the half of America that might buy that book. A librarian trying to help a reader interested in Biden might try to suggest Woodward’s Washington Post colleague Steven Levingston and his book released last October, helpfully titled “Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership.” The publisher, Hachette Books, touts it as “A vivid and inspiring account of the ‘bromance’ between Barack Obama and Joe Biden.” Potential buyers of that book were sold with explicitly anti-Trump terms:

Tim Graham “As many Americans turn a nostalgic eye toward the Obama presidency, (SET ITAL) Barack and Joe (END ITAL) offers a new look at this administration, its absence of scandal, dedication to truth, and respect for the media.” You’d have “respect for the media,” too, if they didn’t lie about the “absence of scandal.” Pro-Trump authors are being ignored by the “mainstream” media. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has a bestselling memoir called “Speaking for Myself,” but somehow, she is considered beyond the pale, even though she hasn’t been to prison like Cohen. Washington Examiner reporter Byron York has a new book out on the Mueller probe and other Trump scandal inquiries titled “Obsession: Inside the Washington Establishment’s Never-Ending War on Trump.” Liberal journalists will probably dismiss the book because it’s published by the staunchly conservative Regnery Publishing. The networks that were so deeply invested in the fantasy of Russian government collusion with the Trump campaign won’t want to hear York explain that Mueller’s team of Democratic investigators knew early on continued on page 5

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Livingston, Caldwell Life • October 2020 • Page 5

Anti-Trump Authors... continued from page 4

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there was no proof of collusion but dragged the whole charade out past the midterm elections. Black conservative Candace Owens has a brand-new book titled “Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation” published by Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions. Does anyone think CBS will lavish attention on this book as it did for Woodward, a Simon & Schuster author? The Democrats running the “news” media and the book publishing industry have stacked the deck against Trump, just

as they did in 2016. Once again, they expect their merciless onslaught against Trump to usher the Democrats into the White House. Once again, they cannot imagine why half of America treats them like relentlessly partisan pseudo-news outlets. Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM

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continued from page 2 put in this hard work. We’re the ones who have put in the effort to be here and to win.’” For Bailey-Yavonditte, who is married to photographer Kim Craven, his experience as a coach was well buttressed before his arrival in Livingston. Originally from New York state, he has (as previously mentioned) coached at West Windsor Plainsboro South, and before that for St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, Morristown High School, and Drew University (where he himself fenced back

in 2000 and 2001). While attending LaSalle Institute in New York in the mid-90s, BaileyYavonditte participated in both hockey and fencing, and currently fences as a veteran for Beaches Sabre Club in Troy, New York. As for Newark Academy’s 2021 season? “We are keeping a majority of our starters,” says the coach. “I’m hopeful that we’re going to have another strong season, mainly because of the standards set by the team this past year, and our goal is to hopefully repeat as state champions.”

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County College of Morris President Dr. Anthony J. Iacono Named to NJBIZ Education Power 50 List

By Steve Sears or Dr. Anthony J. Iacono, being recognized as a top leader of an institution is familiar territory. He has been lauded again, being named to the NJBIZ Education Power 50 list for the second consecutive year. And he’s proud of the honor. But there’s more recognizable terrain when it comes to the fifth President of the County College of Morris. It’s never just about him. “It’s a big honor, but it’s more of a reflection of what we do together at the college and the incredible support we get from the community,” he says. “Particularly the manufacturing community and our Freeholder Board, and our state legislators, because the county and state provided a majority of the funding, and then we’ve had good support from manufacturers also.” NJBIZ this year focused on recognizing educators’ leadership during COVID-19 and their economic recovery roles. Iacono and CCM acted with gusto in both categories. With the pandemic, the Randolph campus from March 30 to June 26 offered COVID-19 drive-thru testing by Morris County and Atlantic Health System for Mor-

ris and Sussex County residents in its parking lot. “That was just a remarkable countywide partnership between the Office of Emergency Management in Morris County, the Sheriff ’s office, Atlantic Health, Randolph Township Police, parks police, and the college,” says Iacono. “You know that saying, ‘It takes a village”? Well, in over two months they administered 8,000 tests. That was great work with the county coming together.” Also, the college gave a hand to hard hit Morristown Medical Center, lending five ventilators, and donating 325 N95 masks and 3,000 gloves for use. CCM also hosted March and August Table of Hope food distribution events, and during the pandemic many college faculty and staff, current students and alumni, volunteered or worked on the front lines during trying times. In addition to bringing new paramedic (in partnership with Atlantic Health) and paralegal studies and expansion to technology programs to CCM in the future, Iacono is excited about both the Dover College Promise, and the September unveiling of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Center. “We are Morris County’s commu-

nity college,” he says when speaking about the Dover partnership, “and our job is to really serve the whole community. We want to make sure that we’re reaching out to all communities, and that every individual has an opportunity to get a great education. The Dover initiative is college employees, faculty, staff, and administrators partnering with community leaders, business owners, education officials – the Superintendent’s office in particular – and others up in Dover to make sure the kids are getting great opportunities.” In September, the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Center (AMEC), finally opened after two years of construction. The center provides a wealth of new employees to businesses and is there to update the skills of those currently employed. Dr. Iacono, received his Ph.D. in American History from Mississippi State University, and his M.A. and B.A. in American History from the University of Central Florida. An Associate in Arts in General Studies recipient from Indian River Community College, prior to his CCM arrival, he was Vice President of Academic Affairs at Indian River State College (IRSC) in Fort Pierce, FL.

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I Remember Dad:

By Richard Mabey Jr. ne of the greatest honors that was ever bestowed upon me, was when I was presented the golden opportunity to write the front page story for the old Lincoln Park Journal about my dad and Jack Floyd receiving the Scoutmasters of they Year Award. This was back in early 1987. Dad received the Scoutmaster of the Year for the Boonton District. And Jack Floyd received the Assistant Scoutmaster of the Year Award for the Boonton District. At that point in time, Dad was serving his 21st year as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 170. And, Mr. Floyd was serving his 24th year as Assistant Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 170. I was the one who took the picture of my dad and Jack Floyd standing in front of the “Scout Awards Wall” of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church’s Thorpe Hall. It is a most strange and bewildering thing, because I was the very person who created the Scout Awards Wall, back in the Summer of 1969, when I painted Thorpe Hall for my Eagle Scout Project. Dad and Jack were as close as brothers. After Jack’s first wife passed away, Jack remarried quite a few years later. Jack asked Dad to be his Best Man when he and Lee married. My dad was deeply honored. Jack was like an adopted uncle to me. Dad, Jack and I, and the scouts of Boy Scout Troop 170 shared 10,000 memories together. We went on several week-long, rugged hikes of the Appalachian Trail. We went on dozens and dozens of scout campouts. We survived the rapids of the Delaware River on quite a few, week-long canoe trips. When I received my Eagle Scout, Dad told me that he just wanted to be my dad and not my Scoutmaster for the

Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Livingston, Caldwell Life • October 2020 • Page 7

The Front Page

important event. So, I asked Jack to honor me, by presenting my Eagle Scout medal to me. Jack told me that he was honored that I asked him. And, I hold the historic record in Boy Scout Troop 170 of being the only scout to have received the highest rank of scouting from Assistant Scoutmaster Jack Floyd. Both Dad and Jack lost their battles with cancer. At times, I can feel their spiritual presence so strong. When I am faced with making a hard decision, going through rough times, or just struggling with my writing; I can hear the gentle echo of both Dad and Jack’s voices sharing words of assurance with me. In so many ways, I have been very blessed to have had so many positive role models in my life. Things were not always honey and roses. There were times when I had to learn the hard lessons of being disciplined. Like when I got a D on my first chemistry test in high school. Dad’s answer to the problem was very simple. “Richie, you need to study more,” was all Dad said about the subject. And, my father was right, he was all so very right. I really had not put my best foot forward in chemistry class. I am glad to say that I earned a B as my final year-end grade in that chemistry class. I think that love is the key that unlocks the door to most every problem that we could ever face in life. Love melts away the ugly wall of prejudice. Love inspires. Love can take us to another dimension, to find hidden talents sleeping deep within our inner selves. For love truly is the key to life. Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@hotmail.com. Please put on the subject line: My Life Publications.

My front-page story, from the pages of the old Lincoln Park Journal, that told of my dad and Jack Floyd receiving the coveted Scoutmasters of the Year Awards.

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Two-time Cancer Survivor Doing It Her Way with Raw Resilience

By Jillian Risberg taring down breast cancer as an adult was not the same as her teen bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma because now Christine Shields Corrigan has the advantage of tackling the diagnosis on her own terms. In her new book, “Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists,” the former attorney and legal writer tries to normalize her own family life with her husband and kids, while feeling echoes of her deeply ingrained upbringing. Shields Corrigan says her parents were very protective and in her mother’s family there was a culture of don’t tell the kids anything — it’ll get them upset. “Then when it was over, it was over and nobody talked about it,” says the author of her early cancer. This time around it was an early evening in March 2016 when the former attorney was wrapped up in what her older son wanted for his 15th birthday dinner the next day. Then her breast surgeon called and said those dreaded words… “I’m sorry, it’s cancer,” the 49-year-old says. “I was frozen in my spot.” Her visceral reaction was that she was ‘doomed.’ “All of life’s ordinary was right there with me in the kitchen and I knew in that moment my world shifted and I would never have that again,” says Shields Corrigan. It all started with a routine mammogram and ultrasound. “Sitting in the exam room waiting for the techs to walk in with the reminder card for me to fill out for next year,” she says. “Instead the door opened and a woman in a white coat walked in and my stomach fell out.” The author had a gray cyst they said looked ‘junky.’

“Of course I immediately asked if it could be breast cancer and she said, ‘I don’t know, that’s why you have to have it biopsied, but most of the time these things are benign,’” Shields Corrigan says the doc told her. The biopsy revealed triple positive breast cancer, which meant she had to go through six cycles of targeted anti-HER2 chemotherapy from March until July. “It was a stage-one tumor,” the author says. “It wasn’t even palpable when I did my monthly self exam but it was an aggressive cancer.” Her oncologist is very conservative. “Very aggressive with treatment and very conservative in making determinations about causation,” says the former attorney, adding that her childhood lymphoma certainly put her at greater risk of developing a secondary cancer. A month after completing chemo she was very adamant about having a bilateral mastectomy. “I was like ‘look, I had cancer now twice; I’m not putting my family through this a third time,’” Shields Corrigan says of the surgery, which she followed up with implant reconstruction. “There’s certainly an aspect of grieving because there is a loss. I felt like I lost a big sense of who I was as a woman,” says the author. “I had been going to a breast cancer support group run by my surgical nurse navigator and at the end of one of the meetings she asked me if I wouldn’t mind putting together a list of continued on page 9 tips and tricks,” Shields Corrigan says.

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Two-time Cancer Survivor continued from page 8 She told the nurse she would be happy to but in hindsight didn’t know what she was getting herself into. “In a very uncharacteristic move I chose to ignore the request for a couple of months,” says the former attorney. “And then my guilt caught up with me and I was like I really need to sit down and write that list.” The nurse loved it and wanted to share it with her patients. She also felt Shields Corrigan should publish, ’What I know now’ — a collection of 10 interwoven essays about her breast cancer experience. “And I was like, ‘that is so cute but this is not something that can be published,’” the former attorney told her. According to the author, that was the genesis of the book but she didn’t have any training in creative writing or writing outside of law. So she tackled it the way she would a legal case — with research. That meant taking classes in New York City, attending author talks, writing seminars and conferences. “I read a ton of memoirs; joined a writing group and that gave me the structure and accountability to write the book,” says Shields Corrigan. “This time last year I was working on writing a book proposal to find a publisher, had my marketing plan ready to go, querying agents and then COVID happened.”

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The author says she was looking for small, independent publishers who would be willing to take a chance on her. She had three acceptances of the manuscript and went with Koehler Books. And the former attorney was excited to put it out there because this is the type of cancer book she needed. “There’s tons of books written about breast cancer, tons of books written about cancer in general, tons of books written by doctors, all sorts of celebrity cancer memoirs and absolutely gorgeous meditations on life’s meaning, she says. “But those weren’t books I wanted to read when I was newly diagnosed and terrified of dying.” “I wanted the grit of somebody’s experience to help guide me through my own as an ordinary mom with teenage kids and I searched high and low for that book let me tell you.” She also wrote the book to help other women, families and caregivers. “They will find the strength and courage to walk a path they never asked to be put on and that they’re not alone,” says the author. The book not only tells Shields Corrigan’s story but interspersed throughout is the ‘practical reality’ list of information she learned along the way. “I am happy that Koehler thinks it’s go-

ing to work and it’s going to be released on October 24,” she says. “It’s available now for pre-order on Amazon and on my website, christineshieldscorrigan.com as well.” It was very cathartic to write the book, according to the author, who says she knew she had to tell both stories. “Because when I went through this experience as a teenager Hodgkin’s lymphoma was called Hodgkin’s disease, so I don’t think

when I was 14/15 years old I even understood that I had cancer,” she says. She walked this journey with more transparency and graced with wonderful people who supported her through the whole process. “I’ve learned to live with the uncertainty, try everyday to let go of the things I can’t control — and just be at peace with that,” Shields Corrigan says.

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Rethink Ingredients to Refresh Family Meals This Fall

f you’re looking to spice up your mealtime routines, especially during those busy school nights, you may find your solution in versatile ingredients that work for a multitude of dishes. For example, you can turn to plantains as a replacement for often-used recipe staples like potatoes. Plantains are a fruit grown around the world that cooks and eats more like a vegetable. Members of the banana family, they’re starchier and lower in sugar, meaning they’re still green when ripe. While you’re most likely to find them baked, roasted or fried as a savory side dish at Latin, African or Caribbean restaurants, they’re growing in popularity in North America as stars of their own recipes or as nutritious, exotic swaps for starches. For example, these dishes from Dole for Plantain Crusted Salmon Fillets and Slow Cooker Sweet Potato, Plantain and Lentil Caribbean Curry offer quick ways to enjoy plantains while saving time in the kitchen. As an additional benefit, plantains can

be used at every stage of ripeness. They can be boiled like a potato when green; prepared in sauces and soups, air-fried or roasted as snacks when yellow; or baked in desserts and sweet recipes when black or spotted. Find more ways to enjoy plantains and other fresh fruits and vegetables in family recipes at dole.com. Plantain Crusted Salmon Fillets Prep time: 15 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 Nonstick cooking spray 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon cumin 4 salmon fillets (6 ounces each), skin on 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus additional, to taste, divided 1 DOLE® Plantain, green or half ripe

2 Dole Green Onions, thinly sliced 1/2 tablespoon grated lime peel Preheat oven to 425 F. Line baking sheet

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Rethink Ingredients... continued from previous page Combine cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, garlic and cumin; set aside. Arrange salmon fillets on prepared baking sheet. Season with salt, to taste. Spread about 1 tablespoon cilantro mixture on top of each salmon fillet to cover. Using box grater, peel and grate plantain. Place grated plantain in bowl with green onions, lime peel and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss to combine. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup plantain mixture on top of each salmon fillet, gently pressing to adhere. Spray plantain crust with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 15 minutes, or until salmon is opaque and plantain crust is lightly browned. Slow Cooker Sweet Potato, Plantain and Lentil Caribbean Curry Prep time: 20 minutes Servings: 6 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons, grapeseed oil, divided 1 large DOLE® White Onion, chopped

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Page 12 • October 2020 • Livingston, Caldwell Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

CCM Professor’s Award-Winning International Latino Award Novel Honors Mother and Grandmother

by Jillian Risberg he colorful words of Maria Estelle Picouto, the County College of Morris (CCM) professor who recently took home the Latino Book Award for Best Novel Historical Fiction in Spanish permeate “Estelita.” “Standing at the entrance of his small plantation home, while enjoying a foamy cup of coffee, Ventura Sanjurjo contemplated the sun as it rose through the coastal valley covered by sugar cane fields. He could perceive the sweet smell of the sugar cane ready for harvesting, as well as the sticky humidity characteristic of the season, on his skin.” The fictional novel was also chosen by the Luis Munoz Marin (Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and first elected governor of Puerto Rico) Foundation as a book of importance to the history of Puerto Rico — a proud moment for Picouto, who wrote it as a loving tribute to her mother and grandmother. And the book was selected for a community outreach project to promote the reading of culturally and historically significant Puerto Rican books. The professor even heard from Kirk Whisler, the publisher and activist, National Association of Hispanic Journalists Founder and Latino Book & Family Festival cofounder with Edward James Olmos. ‘One or more of the judges for your book felt it would be a good fit as a TV show or movie,’ reads Whisler’s e-mail.

“I have to send a copy in English because they will check the book with some of the people who make movies to see if they want to do a movie about my book” says the author, a Spanish as a Second Language, Hispanic Culture and Cultural Affairs professor at CCM since 2006. According to Picouto, her book is full of intrigue, envy, lies, loneliness, abandonment, physical, emotional and institutional abuse and is based on the complex history of the Sanjurjo-Gely family from 1800 to 1955. The story begins around 1917 with the migration of Puerto Ricans to New York when Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones– Shafroth Act. “My grandfather came and brought some of his brothers,” says the professor. “Then comes my grandmother (Margarita Gely Caceres) and she established herself in New York and then met my grandfather and they married. “Soon after my mom (Estelle Sanjurjo Gely) was born my grandmother died. And my grandfather put my mom in an orphanage.” That meant Picouto had no connection to her family. “My mom met her family when she was around continued on page 13

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continued from page 12 15-years-old, the first time she went out of the orphanage but she was already a novice and was going to become a nun that summer,” the professor says. According to the author, they moved to Puerto Rico when she was four and never got to know her extended family on both sides. “I never met my grandmother’s side of the family and very few on my grandfather’s side,” she says. “So I grow up with that need to know who I was, where I come from,” the professor says. It was a natural progression to study anthropology when she got to college. “For my first thesis I decided I was going to write on Puerto Rican immigration to the United States,” she says. “To do that work was to start with my genealogy.” The year was 1990 — and Picouto says through researching the genealogy for 25 years after that she met her mother’s aunt in Puerto Rico. “They never knew that my mom was born and never knew what happened with my grandmother,” says the professor. “All those thoughts were always in my mind.” “Everything you read in the book really happened and also the places where the characters live and go (are real),” the author says. “I also include pictures and documents that prove the story.” In 2005, when she had most of the information she needed, the author started writing short stories with the intention to preserve them for her children. “One day four years ago a friend of mine, Dr. Yun Sil Jeon (Foreign Languages professor at Coastal Carolina University) came here on vacation,” Picouto says. “My husband tells

Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Livingston, Caldwell Life • October 2020 • Page 13

her I’m writing a book; I didn’t even tell anybody.” The author was halfway through writing when she emailed her friend the draft to find out what she thought. “I was embarrassed because I was so afraid the book was not good,” says the professor. “The next morning she said, ‘Not able to sleep last night; I was the whole night reading your book (and) I need more. She’s Korean but was raised in Argentina and speaks fluently in Spanish, so she becomes like my mentor.” Jeon continued to follow up. “Since she read the draft, for two years was motivating me to complete the book, calling or visiting me every week,” the author says. “When I finished I said, ‘I’m going to publish but probably only something my family will read.’” It was much more and in April 2020 “Estelita” went into mass publication. Then her cousin’s friend who had read the book encouraged Picouto to compete in the International Latino Book Awards. She wasn’t sure about such a prestigious competition. But after hearing that famous Spanish writers compete and they have to approve your book just to enter — she decided to send her manuscript. “A month later I receive an email telling me to send five copies of my book,” Picouto says. “They consider my book like a novel. Two months later, I received another email saying I was in the finals; I was in shock.” On September 12, there was a virtual celebration and the professor got to take in the whole experience. “I was worried because I researched the people who were competing in my section; they are really writers, they

live writing, make a living writing,” says the professor, who was feeling a little intimidated. “This is my first book.” Picouto told her husband that while she was happy to be there and made it to that point she didn’t think she was going to win first place. But she got a thrilling surprise from the emcee announcing the awards in her category as none other than Esmeralda Santiago (Puerto Rican author known for her novels and memoirs). “Ever since I read Esmeralda’s book, ‘When I was Puerto Rican’ in 1992 I have always dreamed of writing something like her,” the author says. “So not only I did write the book, she was the one who announced the first-place award for ‘Estelita,’ my book. That was like a sign from heaven.” “I feel like I accomplished a promise I made to my mother and grandmother.” According to the author, her phone hasn’t stopped ringing for weeks. “Family, friends (and) people that I don’t know e-mailing me because they want the book but don’t want to buy it from Amazon,” she says. “They want me to sign it.” The book has been translated to English and Picouto expects to release that version in December. And at the request of the readers who can’t get enough the author started penning a second book, which she is calling “Estelita; what I did not tell you.” At the end of the day, the author feels incredibly blessed about the award. “I was doing this with my heart to heal part of the family story,” says the professor. “This was a process of healing for me, my mom and my grandmother. I complete that circle.”

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Page 14 • October 2020 • Livingston, Caldwell Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

Safety Steps for Spooky Fun

raditional family activities like trickor-treating create fun moments and memories, but the effects of COVID-19 on this Halloween will bring about change for the spooky excitement. You can still ensure a special night for your little ones and all the ghouls, goblins and ghosts in your neighborhood by following safety measures aimed at keeping everyone healthy on All Hallows’ Eve. Consider these tips for safe trick-or-treating from the experts at the National Safety Council and leading candy maker, Mars Wrigley. Before * Buy individually wrapped candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters. Fun-size packs are one of the easiest forms of candy for trickor-treaters to grab and go. * Create fun, individual candy goody bags for a no-touch option for trick-or-treaters. * Make sure your yard is well-lit; replace any burnt-out light bulbs. * Create signs encouraging trick-or-treaters to stay 6 feet apart and display them in your yard. * Don’t hand out treats if you are not feeling well. * Consider socially distanced options such as “trunk-or-treating,” during which prepackaged goodies are handed out, or a virtual costume parade. Alternately, you can use a tool like Mars Wrigley’s “TREAT TOWNTM,” an app-based digital experience for families to virtually trick-or-treat for real candy. It offers Halloween fans of all ages the ability to create personalized spooky avatars, customized decorations for your in-app “door” and the ability to “knock” on the doors of friends and family across the country. Visit Treat-Town.com to find more information. During * Make trick-or-treating care packs with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and extra face masks. * Help little ones clean their hands throughout the night. * Maintain a distance of 6 feet from other groups of trick-or-treaters, allowing one group to collect candy at a time. * Wear face masks and reflective tape or clothing and carry flashlights or glow sticks if you’re walking in the dark. * Do “mask checks.” Stop in a safe place and make sure young children’s masks are covering their mouths and noses. * Use sidewalks and crosswalks. Don’t cross the street between cars and be as visible as possible as drivers may be distracted. * Consider setting up a grab-and-go “candy corner” for visitors, inclusive of hand sanitizer and treats. After * Wash your hands when you get home. * Sanitize candy wrappers before eating or let it sit for 24 hours.

* Follow the “when in doubt, throw it out” rule. Throw away any candy that is open, ripped or has torn packaging, an unusual appearance or pinholes. Discard any homemade items made by people you don’t know. * Watch for choking hazards. If you have a young child, make sure candy he or she collected isn’t a choking hazard. If it is, discard it. * Keep candy away from pets, especially chocolate and sugar-free gum, which can be poisonous for your furry friends. Handing Out Treats from Home If you’re staying home to hand out treats to the superheroes, ghosts, princesses and other little guests that arrive on your doorstep, consider these ideas to encourage safety and fun: * Minimize the number of hands reaching into a bowl. Find fun, hands-free ways to give candy to trick-or-treaters. You can place candy on your lawn or driveway, so trick-ortreaters don’t have to crowd around your front door, touch handrails or knock. * Move out of the way any items that children could trip over and keep pets inside. * Stand outside when handling treats, wear a mask and use hand sanitizer often. Consider keeping a large bottle of sanitizer near you for visitors to use as well. * Allow one small group at a time at your door. * Give out one set of treats at a time to minimize hands reaching into a common bowl. For example, fun-size packs of treats like M&M’s and SNICKERS offer plenty of options and are easy for trick-or-treaters to grab and go. (Family Features)

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