People of the Book

Meryl chats with Marilyn Simon Rothstein about how she combines her Jewish background and her robust sense of humor in her recently released novel, Crazy To Leave You (May 2022), as well as her other award-winning novels, Husbands and Other Sharp Objects, and Lift and Separate. Crazy To Leave You is the Number #1 New Release in Jewish Fiction on Amazon and tells the story of a 41-year-old woman who is jilted at the altar and how she moves on with her life.

Marilyn is the author of Crazy To Leave You, just published in May 2022. In addition, she wrote Lift and Separate, winner of the STAR Award for Outstanding Debut presented by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and a second novel, Husbands and Other Sharp Objects. She grew up in New York City, earned a degree in journalism from New York University, and began her writing career at Seventeen magazine. She married a man she met in an elevator and owned an advertising agency for more than twenty-five years. Marilyn received an MA in liberal studies from Wesleyan University and an MA in Judaic studies from the University of Connecticut.

Website: https://www.marilynsimonrothstein.com

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/liftandseparate

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Meryl chats with Lois Schaffer about her new book, From Bullet to Bullhorn and her 2013 book, The Unthinkable: Life, Loss and a Mother’s Mission to Ban Illegal Guns, which was written after her daughter Susan was murdered by a robber with a gun. They discuss how Lois channeled her grief into writing these books, as well as her thoughts about the current scourge of gun violence.

Lois Schaffer is the author of two books, and a non-profit administrator, grants writer, human rights activist, and a life-long gun safety advocate. Her first book, The Unthinkable: Life, Loss and a Mother's Mission To Ban Illegal Guns, published in 2013, was written after her daughter Susan was murdered by a robber with a gun. Her new book, From Bullet to Bullhorn: Stories of Advocacy, Activism and Hope, was published in April. It is a compilation of essays, contributed by other gun violence survivors from around the country. She and her husband, David, live in Great Neck, NY. They have a son, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Lois Schaffer’s Website: www.loisschaffer.com

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People of the Book is copyrighted by Meryl Ain and Authors on the Air Global Radio Network

Meryl chats with Rabbi Dan Ornstein about his book, Cain v. Abel : A Jewish Courtroom Drama, and the timeless issues it raises about the world’s first murder. These include: sibling rivalry, dysfunctional families, the human family, misogyny, forgiveness – and the perennial question, Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Rabbi Ornstein is the rabbi of Congregation Ohav Shalom and a writer living with his family in Albany, New York, where he also teaches Judaic Studies at the Hebrew Academy of The Capital District.  Rabbi Ornstein is the author of Cain v. Abel: A Jewish Courtroom Drama (Jewish Publication Society 2020).  He blogs at the Times Of Israel, he writes monthly for WAMC Northeast Public Radio, and he has contributed essays to The Jewish Forward, the Jerusalem Post, and the Lehrhaus.  Rabbi Ornstein has also published essays and poetry at the Journal of Conservative Judaism, the CCAR Journal of Reform Judaism, the Jewish Literary Review, and the Pine Hills Review. He and his wife, Marian Alexander, are the proud parents of Joseph, Shulamit and Vered.

Social media and writing links:

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/dan-ornstein/

http://wamc.org/term/dan-ornstein#stream/0

https://forward.com/author/dan-ornstein/

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.ornstein.7/

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Meryl chats with Sharon Gloger Friedman about historical fiction, her recently released novel, In Freedom’s Light, and her 2019 award-winning book, Ashes.Her second novel is set against the background of eighteenth and nineteenth century Charleston and Philadelphia. Her award-winning first novel chronicles one family’s escape from the horrors of a Russian pogrom to the tenements of New York City, and the events that link them to the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

Sharon was born and raised in South Florida and now lives in Georgia with her husband. A former English teacher who left the classroom to raise her daughter and son, she found a new career as a freelance writer and copy editor. Her articles and essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Woman’s World Magazine, Yahoo News and Examiner.com.

Sharon’s debut novel, Ashes, chronicles one family’s escape from the horrors of a Russian pogrom to the tenements of New York City, and the events that link them to the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Ashes is the 2019 winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2019 New Apple Summer E-Book Awards Solo Medalist winner for Historical Fiction. Her second novel, In Freedom’s Light, is set against the background of eighteenth and nineteenth century Charleston and Philadelphia. It explores historical events and their impact on the bonds of family and friends.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sharonglogerfriedmanauthor

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/friedman_sharon

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 Esther Amini about her 2020 memoir, Concealed, which chronicles her childhood and coming of age in a Persian-Jewish household in Queens, New York during the 1960s. As the American-born daughter of parents who had fled Mashdad, Iran, she shares how she was caught between these two cultures as she sought to carve her own path.

Esther Amini is a writer, painter, and psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice. Her debut memoir, Concealed, was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2020. In addition, both Katie Couric and Zibby Owens selected Concealed as one of their favorite books and showcased it last year at The Streicker Center in Manhattan. Esther’s short stories have appeared in Elle, Lilith, Tablet, The Jewish Week, Barnard Magazine, and numerous other publications. Her essays can also be found in Zibby Owens’ Anthology: “Moms Don’t Have Time To,” as well as in Zibby’s most recently published anthology: “Moms Don’t Have Time To Have Kids.”

She was named one of Aspen Words’ best emerging memoirists and awarded its Emerging Writer Fellowship in 2016 based on her memoir. Her pieces have been performed by Jewish Women’s Theatre and was chosen by as their Artist-in-Residence in 2019. ChaiFlicks, (Jewish Netflix), is presently streaming an excerpt from “CONCEALED” called AM-REE-KAH. Esther lives in New York City with her husband.

Author’s website: www.EstherAmini.com

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Meryl chats with Dan about his new book, By the Grace of the Game, which chronicles his family’s journey from the Holocaust to the NBA, the essential role of basketball in his family, and his own commitment to share the lessons of the Holocaust.

Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top leagues around the world, including in Germany, Spain, and Israel. Dan’s writing has been published numerous times in media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, The Jerusalem Post, and NBC News. Dan is the author of the bestselling book By the Grace of the Game, which chronicles his family’s journey from the Holocaust to the NBA. Dan earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017 and lives with his wife and family in the Bay Area.

Website: www.dangrunfeld.com

Twitter @Dan_Grunfeld

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 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.

Rabbi Sasso’s website: www.allaboutand.com

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

Meryl chats with Thane about Holocaust literature, Holocaust writers, his own post-Holocaust fiction, and his new non-fiction book, Saving Free Speech…from Itself.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro College, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He has written numerous works of fiction and nonfiction and hundreds of essays in major national and global publications. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio and appears on cable TV news programs. His most recent book is entitled “Saving Free Speech . . . from Itself.”

Thane’s website and social media links:

Personal: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

FOLCS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

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Meryl chats with Julie Zuckerman about her novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, and what it’s like to be an English-speaking writer in Israel, where she founded the monthly author series Literary Modiin.

More about Julie Zuckerman

Julie Zuckerman‘s debut novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, was published in May 2019 and has been selected by dozens of synagogue, sisterhood, Hadassah and private book clubs for discussion. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in CRAFT, Jewish Women’s Archive, Tikkun, The Maine Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Sixfold, among other literary magazines. She is the founder of the Literary Modiin monthly author series, connecting readers and writers of Jewish books. She is a graduate of Barnard College and holds an MA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. A native of Connecticut, she made aliyah in 1995, and lives in Israel with her husband and four children in Modiin.

Subscribe to Julie's monthly author newsletter for book recommendations, writing news, recipes & more

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Julie on Twitter

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 Michelle Cameron about her novel, Beyond The Ghetto Gates, which tells the little known story of how Napoleon liberated the Jewish Ghetto in Ancona, Italy.

Michelle Cameron is the award-winning author of works of historical fiction and poetry: including Beyond the Ghetto Gates (2020), The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz (2009), and In the Shadow of the Globe (2003). Beyond the Ghetto Gates won a Silver medal for Historical Fiction, The Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs); was First Place, Best in Category for the Chanticleer Goethe Awards; and was a finalist in the 2020 Foreword Indies.

Michelle lived in Israel for fifteen years (including three weeks in a bomb shelter during the Yom Kippur War) and served as an officer in the Israeli army teaching air force cadets technical English. She is a director of The Writers Circle, an NJ-based organization that offers creative writing programs to children, teens, and adults. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and has two grown children.

More about Michelle here:

Website: https://michelle-cameron.com

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/michellecameronauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellecameronwriter/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcameron_writer