The story behind the books
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
So you want to have a book fair?
Just do it.
Sandy Adler did.
Adler approached JCC director Mark Shore with the concept of a major event celebrating Jewish Book Month. Many other JCCs sponsor fairs each year, most very successful, and Adler thought the Valley should too.
Within weeks Shore called back. "Let's do it."
That was more than two years ago. Last fall, Adler, working with a dedicated steering committee and the professional support of J€C Adult Services Director Tricia Serlin, staged the first event. This year the group is at it again, with retooled scheduling and format and a line-up of superb authors and books for the second Jewish Book Fair.
Five of the committee members traveled to Los Angeles this summer for the Book Expo of America, roaming the huge trade show and schmoozing with publishers. Their visit yielded useful contacts as well as myriad ideas for speakers and books. Twelve authors over two weeks will be taking readers between the pages, so to speak, and filling them in on the stories behind the books.
Arthur Magida will talk about his real life crime thriller, "The Rabbi and the Hitman: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and the Shattered Faith of a Congregation," (HarperCollins Publishers, $24.95 hard cover.) Magida is the author of "Prophet of Rage: A Life of Louis Farrakhan and His Nation," and is a former contributing correspondent to PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," and former senior editor at the Baltimore Jewish Times. He is currently writer-in-residence at University of Baltimore.
His gripping narrative chronicles the story of the first rabbi convicted of murder. Rabbi Fred Neulander, a Reform rabbi who headed a large Cherry Hill, N.J., Reform congregation was convicted of the bludgeoning death of his wife, Carol, ten years ago. He is currently serving a life term in prison.
Robert Meeropol, son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, will speak about his book, "An Execution in the Family, One Son's Journey," (St. Martin's Press, $25.95, hard cover.) Meeropol is executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children and the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was 6 years old when his parents were executed after being convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. His book tells the story of his own journey, ultimately reconciling his personal history with his propensity for social action and finding a way to honor his parents' memory.
Other authors include Ron Ross, children's author Sylvia Rouss, Yaacov Peterseil, Ed Zuckerman, Peter Horvitz, Abraham Foxman, Molly Gifford, Edward Carnot and Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Topics range from boxing to baseball, from writing to dating. (see "Calendar of Jewish Book Fair Events" for details).
Authors will speak at all book fair programs. Their books, as well as nearly 400 other titles, will be offered for sale during the two-week book fair.
Adler's committee not only selected the authors to be showcased but the books to be sold. Books are either written by Jewish authors or treat Jewish content.
Adler hopes the public will take advantage of the opportunities the book fair offers.
"What a pleasure to come in and support Jewish authors and find a wide range of Jewish books by Jewish authors on Jewish subjects in one place," she says.
Borders Books at Cactus and Tatum ordered all the books for the fair, which will be sold at list prices with a portion of the proceeds going to support the book fair.
Adler emphasizes that the book fair is not a fund raiser. Monies raised are funneled back into the project. Besides advertising and marketing costs, book fair sponsors assume the travel expenses for the visiting authors. Local businessman Tom Silverman has graciously underwritten lodging.
Adler, who is in two book groups in the Valley, says the book fair is a labor of love.
"I love doing it," she says, noting that an additional dividend has been the community of book lovers it has engendered.
"Most of us did not know each other before we began working on this project, she says of her 19 member steering committee and cadre of more than 60 volunteers who will be helping out over the two-week period.
"Now we've become friends."
And in the course of creating an event for the entire community, "We've built community among ourselves."
Contact the writer at vicki_cabot@jewishaz.com.
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