arts & life book fair Authors Authors! Authors! Authors! Authors! Authors! The JCC’s Annual Elizabeth Applebaum | Special to the Jewish News Jewish Book Fair sizzles with books efore her extraordinary Book Club Night.” adventures — The secrets! Lutz also recommends An about Detroit, mystery, BThe romance! — Addie Improbable Friendship by Anthony religion, romance, Montforte lived in a drawer. David, which “reveals the per- She was there for more than 15 sonal sacrifices Ruth Dayan and ghosts, heroes and years in the form of a few notes, a Raymonda Tawil endured in the character waiting for Pam Jenoff to effort to strive for peace and under- rock-and-roll. take her from idea to heroine. standing for Israel and the Middle Jenoff is a clinical professor of East. Anthony David will speak law at Rutgers University in New on his historic book of these two Jersey and the author of eight independent women on Thursday books, including her latest, The evening, Nov. 12. details Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, the “The next day, the film Life as story of Italian-born Addie who a Rumor will be shown, which Book Club Night will be comes, as WWII approaches, to the furthers the acknowledgement that 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the United States, where she will begin the leaders of Israel often suffered JCC and includes a dessert a life full of surprises. personally, into the next genera- reception. The cost is $18 Jenoff will be the guest for Book tion,” Lutz says. for the author presentation Club Night on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at And, she adds, be sure to check and reception, or $28 for the the Jewish Community Center of out Paper Love. presentation, reception and a Metropolitan Detroit’s 64th Annual “The individual experiences copy of the book. To RSVP, call Jewish Book Fair. during the Holocaust continue the Berman Center The book fair, which kicks off to be revealed in a book I could for the Performing Arts Nov. 4, features more than 30 not put down,” she says. “It is well (248-661-1900) or visit authors covering topics including researched and delicately told by theberman.org/bookfair. the death-defying missions of the author Sarah Wildman, who I can- All events at the 64th Israeli Special Forces, a Holocaust not wait to hear speak.” ! Annual Jewish Book Fair are survivor who won the American A graduate of George Wash- free and open to the public, Medal of Honor, Albert Einstein, ington University in Washington, unless otherwise noted, and the complicated political history of D.C., and Cambridge University in will be held throughout the Detroit, how to turn favorite child- England, Jenoff began her profes- West Bloomfield JCC. For more hood meals into great contempo- sional career as special assistant information, including the rary dishes — and the adventures to the Secretary of the Army, then official brochure, visit of Addie Montforte. moved to the U.S. Consulate in the Holocaust. As a child, she Among the stories Jenoff jccdet.org/book-fair. “We knew Pam Jenoff was Krakow, where she worked on had dreamed of writing books; in imagined was the life of Addie Advance registration is exceptional when we met her projects including the restitution of Poland she would begin that path, Montforte, which she began while recommended for all ticketed several years ago at the Jewish Jewish property in Poland. creating fictionalized accounts of living in Poland in 1996. “But back events. To purchase tickets, go Book Council,” said Susan Lutz, Her time in Poland, Jenoff says, Jews who lived through the hur- then there was no Internet, no to theberman.org or who co-chairs the event with Terry “had a profound impact on my ricane of WWII. English-speaking peer group,” she call (248) 661-1900. Hollander. “She will honor us with life” after she met with survivors “My books,” she says, “are love says. So Jenoff put the outlines of her exuberance and intelligence for and saw firsthand the effects of songs to Jewish Europe.” Addie’s life in a drawer and forgot continued on page 54 October 29 • 2015 53 arts & life book fair continued from page 53 “My books,” Pam Jenoff says, “are love songs to Jewish Europe.” Pam Jenoff about her. in the morning before going to work,” Returning to the United States, Jenoff says. Her first book was The Jenoff graduated from the University of Kommandant’s Girl. Pennsylvania Law School and, on Sept. 4, She quickly managed to find an agent. 2001, she began working as an attorney. Securing a publisher was a different Then came 9-11. story. Jenoff suddenly realized that “I don’t The first one said no. have forever,” she says, and that now, The second one said no. right this moment and no longer, she The third and the fourth and the fifth would have to seize her childhood and an additional 34 publishers said no. dream. That didn’t mean living off noth- It was April 8. Jenoff’s agent was on ing but coffee and pretzels while she the phone. wrote day and night, though. “I had “Are you calling to fire me?” the a lot of student loan debt, so I wrote author asked. MEMOIRS/BIOGRAPHIES 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11 Shulem Deen: All Who Go Do Not Hannah Nordhaus: American Ghost: Return: A Memoir A Family’s Haunted Past in the Desert As a member of one of Judaism’s Southwest most insular sects, the Skverer Among the regular guests to La Hasidim, Shulem Dean knew little Posada, one of Santa Fe’s most elegant about the outside world. He was 18 hotels, is Julia Schuster Staab. If you visit, when he wed in an arranged mar- you’ll recognize Julia by her preferred riage, and he and his wife had several method of communication: tossing vases children. and disturbing anyone asleep. She’s also But one day Deen did something dead. extraordinary: He turned on the radio. Almost 120 years after her death, Julia, What followed was a feverish inqui- along with her Jewish husband, is the ry into the tenets of religious beliefs, subject of a new book by her great-great- until, several years later, Deen found granddaughter. This fascinating true that his faith had unraveled entirely. account takes readers on a journey from Julia’s childhood in Germany to her years in the American West — and the great beyond. 54 October 29 • 2015 “No,” the agent said. “A publisher to reveal one of the keys to her career. “I made an offer.” wanted it very, very badly,” she says. “I’ve The Kommandant’s Girl became an met better writers, but I was absolutely international best seller and was followed tenacious.” by The Winter Guest, The Diplomat’s Wife Married and the mother of three, and more, but Addie Montforte had to Jenoff also is willing to listen to criticism. wait until three years ago, when Jenoff She reads all the reviews and comments suddenly remembered the Italian girl on Amazon, all the little, “Why didn’t and pulled the story out of a drawer. She you …” from critics whose only source is was surprised to find that it was “still Wikipedia. “You can learn” from these, fresh and interesting,” she says. she says. As with all her novels, The Last She is a voracious reader who writes Summer at Chelsea Beach started with every day, loves going to the library and an idea followed by “a lot of junk,” Jenoff tries to get in “the occasional workout,” says. The “junk” is piles and piles of she says. She can’t wait for Book Club notes, scribbles, some thoughts that Night at the Annual Jewish Book Fair. will ultimately develop into scenes and “You’re a household name!” a friend many more that will be left behind, a told her recently. process “I don’t recommend to anybody.” Jenoff laughed. Then Jenoff rewrites and edits, edits and “I could stand in Barnes & Noble with rewrites. She works at a computer but a sign that says: ‘I am author Pam Jenoff’ always keeps a notebook with her, “for and I don’t think anyone would notice,” problem-solving.” Next, a draft goes to she says. “But when I’m naked in the the agent and editor, who make their JCC locker room,” finally getting in a own recommendations, and finally to workout, “that is when someone is going the printer. to recognize me and come right over to Even with her great success as a writ- talk.” * er, Jenoff remains humble and is quick 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 Jo Ivester: The Outskirts of Hope: A Memoir of the 1960s Deep South In 1967, Jo Ivester, then 10 years old, moved with her Jewish family from a Boston suburb to a small, all-black town in the heart of Mississippi. There, Jo’s father served as director of a medical clinic, and her mother, a 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11 high-school English teacher. Daniel M. Cohen: Single Handed: Forty years later, Ivester’s mother The Inspiring True Story of Tibor began writing about her experiences in “Teddy” Rubin — Holocaust Survivor, Mississippi, eventually filling dozens of Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor notebooks that are at the heart of this Recipient unforgettable story. Tibor “Teddy” Rubin was 13 years old when he became a prisoner at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 15 Mauthausen. After the camp was liber- Steven Gimbel: Einstein: His Space and ated, he came to the United States, where Times he would become the only Holocaust Albert Einstein was an outspoken survivor to receive the Medal of Honor.