The Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys has announced the program for this year’s Jewish Book Festival. Each fall, the Jewish Book Festival brings a broad selection of the best new work from Jewish authors and authors on topics of Jewish interest to the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. Author events and book signings will take place at area synagogues and community venues from October 29 to December 2. All the events are open to the general public; most are free of charge; and a few require reservations. For details about each event refer to the online brochure available at www.jewishsgpv.org/jewish-book-festival
Here are this year’s authors:
Robert Gandt
Gandt is a former Navy pilot, airline captain and award-winning military historian whose work has appeared on CBS. His new book, Angels in the Sky, tells the true story of airmen who smuggled fighter planes out of the US and Europe to help Israel win its War of Independence. Gandt interviewed surviving members, senior IAF officers and many others for a pilot’s-eye view of the action.
Stephen Tobolowsky
Tobolowsky, a prolific character actor, is one of the most recognized faces in movies (Groundhog Day, Mississippi Burning, Memento) and television, where he is currently appearing in both Silicon Valley and the new One Day at a Time. He’s also a talented storyteller with a popular podcast of humor, autobiographical anecdotes and essays. In his most recent collection, My Adventures with God, he explores love, catastrophe, family life and triumph through the lens of his evolving relationship with the mystery that is “God.”
Paul Boorstin
Boorstin is a renowned documentary filmmaker for the A&E Channel, the History Channel and National Geographic. In David and the Philistine Woman, he reads between the lines of both biblical accounts and ancient history to breathe new life into the familiar tale of David and Goliath.
Stanley Ginsberg
Ginsberg, who won the IACP Jane Grigson award for Inside the Jewish Bakery, is back for second helpings with The Rye Baker. Join us for an evening of bread tasting and learn how rye fed the world as it gave rise to classic breads from Europe and America.
Rachel Kadish
Rachel Kadish is the award-winning novelist of Tolstoy Lied and From a Sealed Room and a National Endowment for the Arts fiction fellow. The Weight of Ink tells the unusual story of a Jewish woman who leaves Amsterdam to make her way as a rabbi’s scribe in Shakespearian England.
Bruce Henderson—Kristallnacht Commemoration Event
Henderson, a #1 New York Times bestselling author and former journalist, is this year’s featured speaker at the University of La Verne’s Kristallnacht Commemoration. Sons and Soldiers is the story of a special US military intelligence unit of Holocaust refugees who returned under cover to Europe during WWII.
Pam Jenoff
Join us for brunch with award-winning novelist Pan Jenoff, a law professor, former diplomat and Holocaust expert, as she reads from The Orphan’s Tale, the story of two women who join a traveling circus that is sheltering Jews in Vichy France.
Rabbi Naomi Levy
Rabbi Naomi Levy, named one of Newsweek’s 50 most influential rabbis, will discuss Einstein and the Rabbi, which was inspired by one of Albert Einstein’s letters. In it she explores the tension and balance between community and individual values.
Dr. Bonnie Buratti
Dr. Buratti, Principal Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has led science explorations on numerous NASA missions from Voyager to Cassini-Huygens. She has received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal and has an asteroid named in her honor. Worlds Fantastic, Worlds Familiar is an inside look at the personalities, scientific arguments, strategic tradeoffs, and challenges of finding out what the planets are made of, whether there’s water on Mars, what is spewing out of a geyser on one of Saturn’s moons, and much more. Along the way she introduces astronomers from the ancient world to her JPL colleagues, Neil de Grasse Tyson and the Vatican’s astronomer. Philosophers from Rashi to the Dalai Lama also make appearances in this entertaining and thought-provoking tour of the Solar System.
Ali Katz
Katz is a certified meditation teacher and mindfulness coach and the mother of two small boys. In Hot Mess to Mindful Mom, she presents 40 everyday practices to help reduce parenting stress, reconnect with yourself, create balance and rediscover the joy in raising kids.
Peter Eisner
Peter Eisner is a long-time foreign correspondent who has served as foreign editor for the Washington Post and Newsday and as bureau chief for the Associated Press. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on the PBS NewsHour. He is also the award-winning author of Freedom Line, The Pope’s Last Crusade, and The Italian Letter. In MacArthur’s Spies, he has pieced together the true story of Claire Phillips, an American spymaster who posed as a popular nightclub singer in Manila during the Japanese occupation in WWII.
All the books will be available at all the events for purchase and signing. For information, ticket reservations, or to request a brochure, call the Jewish Federation at 626-445-0810 or send an
e-mail to federation@jewishsgpv.org. Reservations can also be made online at jewishsgpv.org/jewish-book-festival
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