People of the Book

Meryl chats with Susan Weidman Schneider, editor-in-chief of Lilith Magazine, about the anthology she co-edited, Frankly Feminist, which features 44 short stories that have been published in Lilith over the past 45 years. They also discuss the history and mission of Lilith Magazine and Susan’s role as editor-in-chief, since its launch in 1976. One of Lilith’s founding mothers, Susan has been editor-in-chief of the magazine since it launched in 1976. Lilith’s mission is to be the feminist change-agent in and for the Jewish community. Susan’s writing about Jewish women’s philanthropy, the Jewish stake in abortion rights, the persistence of gender stereotyping and more have been credited with moving the needle on feminist change in the Jewish world. She’s the author of Jewish and Female and Intermarriage, and co-author of Head and Heart, a book about money in the lives of women. 

She is the co-editor, along with Yona Zeldis McDonough, of a brand new short story collection titled Frankly Feminist. The book includes stories by 44 authors, whose works have been published in Lilith over the last 45 years.  Born in Winnipeg, Canada, she is a graduate of Brandeis University. 

Website: lilith.org 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LilithMagazine 

Publisher: https://brandeisuniversitypress.com/title/9781684581269/ 

Instagram: @lilithmagazine 

Twitter: @LilithMagazine 

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Meryl chats with Rabbi Sandy Sasso about her mission of engaging the religious imagination of children through her books, and her career as one of the first women to become a rabbi in America.

Rabbi Sasso was the first woman ordained from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1974 and the first to serve a Conservative congregation together with her husband, Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso. They were the first practicing rabbinical couple in world Jewish history. Following 36 years of service to Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, Indianapolis, Indiana, she is now its Senior Rabbi Emerita. She is an internationally known award-winning children’s author who has published twenty-five children’s books and two adult books. Active in the arts, civic and interfaith communities, she has written on midrash, women, and spirituality.

Learn more on Rabbi Sasso’s website: www.allaboutand.com

Meryl Ain chats with Claudia Long about her 2023 novel, Our Lying Kin, the sequel to Nine Tenths of the Law. Both books are about two sisters who seek to solve mysteries and uncover family secrets. They talk about the relationship of sisters, the weight of family secrets, and the writing process.

Claudia Hagadus Long is an author, a lawyer-mediator, a wife, mother, grandmother, and cook. She’s written books about Jewish women living as Catholics in colonial Mexico, and professional female writers struggling to effect change in early 20th Century California. And now, with Nine Tenths of the Law and Our Lying Kin, she’s writing about women in contemporary California and New York, whose lives are powerfully affected by their parents’ history.

Author’s website: claudiahlong.com/

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Meryl chats with Becca Kantor about the history and mission of Jewish Book Council and its annual literary journal, Paper Brigade. They also discuss current trends in Jewish writing, the definition of a Jewish book, and the many ways JBC empowers authors and readers.

Becca Kantor is the editorial director of Jewish Book Council and its annual print literary journal, Paper Brigade. She received a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Becca was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Estonia to write and study the country's Jewish history. She now lives in Brooklyn.

Website: www.jewishbookcouncil.org/

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Meryl chats with Linda Pressman about her memoir, Jewish Girls Gone Wild, a coming-of-age story about her life in Arizona after her parents transplant their family of seven daughters from Skokie, Illinois. Linda shares her journey from outsider and rebel to rediscovering her Jewish roots.

Linda Pressman is the author of the recently published memoir, Jewish Girls Gone Wild. Her previous memoir, Looking Up: A Memoir of Sisters, Survivors and Skokie won the Grand Prize in the Writer’s Digest 20th Annual Contest and is part of the permanent collections of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the National Library of Israel. Her freelance writing has appeared on Kveller, in Motherwell Magazine, Six Hens, and others. She is a book coach and teaches memoir on an individual basis and through Scottsdale Arts.

Website: http://lindajpressman.com

Linda Pressman, Author:

https://www.facebook.com/LookingUp.LindaPressman

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Meryl chats with Robin Kall about her career as a book broadcaster, book influencer and organizer of book events. In a freewheeling conversation, they talk about Long Island, Rhode Island, the trajectory of Robin’s success, and Jewish books and authors.

Robin grew up on Long Island, graduated from Binghamton University, and has lived in Rhode Island since she was 22. She is famously known as a “book pusher,” “fairy book mother,” and “all around nice person.” In 2002, after hosting author events and merchandising several local bookstores, Robin founded the highly regarded talk radio show "Reading With Robin," which is now available on podcast. After the passing of her mother Carol in 1997, it became Robin’s mission to educate women on the importance of early detection and advocate for them. In 2009, Robin and her sisters, Laura and Jennifer, established the Love Carol Foundation to honor their mother’s memory and invest in types of projects that were important to her.

In 2016, with the assistance of her cohort and daughter Emily, launched the now 2x award-winning The Cardigan Connection(formerly Point Street Reading Series), which brings together people looking for a good story and fun night.  Since COVID-19, Robin has shifted her focus to bringing engaging digital content to readers across the nation on social media and Crowdcast.

Crowdcast, F

The Cardigan Connection

For the most up-to-date information, you can follow Robin on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram

Reading With Robin a

@robinkall, n

@robinkallink,

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Meryl chats with Kitty Zeldis about her 2022 novel, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights, which takes readers into the lives of three very different women living in Brooklyn during The Roaring Twenties. In this lively conversation, they discuss the themes of the book, including female vulnerability, pregnancy, religious intolerance, and the relationship of mothers and daughters.

Born in Israel, Kitty Zeldis is the pen name of a Brooklyn-based author of nine novels and almost 40 books for children.  Her new historical novel, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights, was published in December. Her fiction, essays and articles have appeared in numerous national and literary publications including the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle and O, the Oprah Magazine and she has been the Fiction Editor of Lilith Magazine for the last twenty years.

Author’s Social Media

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/kittyzeldis

Instagram:

www.instagram.com/kittyzeldis

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Meryl chats with Deborah Levison about her 2022 novel, A Nest of Snakes, a harrowing story of abuse, complicity, and trauma. They also discuss The Crate, her award-winning non-fiction account of Holocaust survival and present-day murder.

Deborah is an author and publicist. Her life has two parts: the first in Canada, where she attended University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the second in Connecticut, where she lives with three children, two doodles, and one husband.

Her first book, an acclaimed nonfiction called THE CRATE, is a true crime story with echoes of the Holocaust. Reviewers called it “gorgeous and poetic,” “heart-wrenching,” and “a brilliant story.” The Jerusalem Post wrote: “exquisite.” The book won seven literary awards.

Levison’s debut novel, A NEST OF SNAKES, is part thriller, part courtroom drama based on real-life abuse at elite New England private schools. Reviewers call it “a roller-coaster ride of surprising twists” leading to a “staggering climax and an absolutely perfect ending.” Monster Librarian hails A NEST OF SNAKES as one of the fall’s most talked-about novels.

Author’s website: www.DebbieLevison.com,

Facebook and Instagram: @DeborahLevisonAuthor

Twitter: @DLevisonAuthor.

People of the Book is a copyrighted work © of Meryl Ain and Authors on The Air Global Radio Network.

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Meryl chats with Nora Gold about JewishFiction.net, the prestigious online literary journal, which she founded and is the editor-in-chief. In addition, they discuss her three books, The Dead Man, Fields of Exile, and Marrow and Other Stories. They also talk about wide-ranging topics related to literature, including the definition of “a Jewish book”.

Nora is a prize-winning writer and the author of three books: Marrow and Other Stories (winner of a Canadian Jewish Book Award), Fields of Exile (winner of the 2015 Canadian Jewish Literary Award), and The Dead Man (published in 2016, which was awarded a Canada Council Translation Grant and was published in Hebrew).

She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Jewish Fiction.net, a prestigious online literary journal, that publishes Jewish-themed fiction from around the world, either written in English or translated into English from 18 languages. To date, Jewish Fiction.net has published 500 works of fiction that were never before published in English, including fiction by eminent authors like Elie Wiesel. Jewish Fiction .net has readers in 140 countries.

Nora holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, and from 1990-2000 she was a tenured professor of social work with several scholarly publications to her credit. She left full-time academia in 2000 and for the next eighteen years was affiliated with the OISE/University of Toronto's Centre for Women's Studies in Education. Nora also coordinated the Wonderful Women Writers Series, housed at the Toronto Public Library.

In addition, Nora is a co-founder of three Zionist organizations in Canada and has been involved over the past thirty-five years in community work and social activism that reflects her commitment to social justice and her love of Israel.

Websites:

JewishFiction.net

www.noragold.com

linkedin.com/in/dr-nora-gold-2376541a

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Meryl chats with Rick and Annette Schwarz Kaye about their 2022 memoir, Revelation, which chronicles Rick’s shocking discovery of his biological origins that were revealed through DNA testing. Rick and Annette share the emotional roller coaster they experienced as Rick wrestled with deception, secrets, and lifelong memories now seen through a new lens.

Rick and Annette live in Fairfield County, Connecticut, where they raised their two sons. Rick has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Cooper Union and a Master’s in Business Administration specializing in Operations Research. Annette holds Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in communicative disorders from Queens College of the City University of New York.

In addition to co-authoring their new book, Revelation: A Memoir of Deep Family Secrets, Discovery, and Identity, they co-founded and manage a software design company that services the jewelry industry. Annette and Rick have four grandchildren and make time to be actively involved in their lives. They also enjoy traveling, hiking, long-distance cycling, and racquet sports.

Publisher website and info:

www.GershonPress.com

Contact the authors:

[email protected]

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/annette.s.kaye

https://www.facebook.com/rgkaye1

Book available at Amazon in print and eBook:

https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Family-Secrets-Discovery-Identity/dp/B0B8R854TT/ref=tsm_1_tp-tc

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