JCC MetroWest Literary Series Opens 2006-2007 Season
(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Author! Author !, the 2006-07 JCC MetroWest Literary Series will open this month with two programs that explore family legacies. The Literary Series is a year-long celebration of nationally renowned Jewish authors and their remarkable contributions to our cultural life. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet authors and to hear what they have to say about their lives and work. All programs are held at the Leon and Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, 760 Northfield Avenue , West Orange, NJ , except where noted.
The Author! Author! Series will open on Thursday, November 16 at 10:00 am with Jeff Bukantz, author of Closing the Distance: Chasing a Father’s Olympic Fencing Legacy. Please note: This program will take place at the Lautenberg Family JCC, Aidekman Family Campus, 901 Route 10, Whippany. Tickets are $9 JCC Member/Student/Senior; $12 General Public; Free for Men at Leisure members.
The son of legendary fencer Danny Bukantz, Jeff Bukantz became a great fencer in his own right. In Closing the Distance: Chasing a Father’s Olympic Fencing Legacy, Bukantz explores the highs and lows of competing in the Olympics, including the history of Olympic fencing and the collection of victories (and defeats) that he and his legendary father experienced on the international stage. Bukantz, captain of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Fencing team, lives in Livingston with his family.
The series continues with Rich Cohen, a contributing editor of Rolling Stone and author of Tough Jews, who will talk about his latest book, Sweet and Low, on Wednesday, November 29 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $11 JCC Member/Student/Senior; $14 General Public.
Sweet and Low is the bittersweet and hilarious story of an American family and its patriarch, a short-order cook named Ben Eisenstadt who, in the years after World War II, invented the sugar packet and Sweet ‘N Low, converting his Brooklyn cafeteria into a factory, and amassing the great fortune that eventually would destroy his family. The New York Times said, “Rich Cohen has managed to turn his family’s rancorous history into a gripping memoir: a small classic of familial triumph, travail, and strife, and a telling--and often hilarious--parable about the pursuit and costs of the American Dream.”
Author! Author! , the JCC MetroWest Literary Series will also feature novelist Ayelet Waldman, author of the Mommy Track Mysteries, who will discuss her latest novel, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits on January 22; five-time Emmy Award winning comedy writer Alan Zweibel on Sunday, February 4; Jim Lebenthal, who is best known for making tax-free municipal bonds understandable and desirable, will talk about his new book Confessions of a Municipal Bond Salesman on April 15; and the series will conclude on Sunday, April 22 with Rabbi Irwin Kula, who has inspired thousands of people across the country using Jewish wisdom in a way that speaks to modern life, discussing his latest book, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life.