66th Annual Jewish Book Fair

D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus

Featuring…

And many more…

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About Book Fair

The JCC's Annual Jewish Book Fair is a community-wide cultural and literary event, attracting a large and varied audience of more than 20,000 people of all ages. It is the oldest and largest Jewish book fair in the nation.

Prominent and emerging writers – from our community and all over the world – in literature, the arts, philosophy, theology, history and current events are invited to engage, educate and entertain.

We hope you will join us for these two weeks of books and authors!

A Word From the Chair 

In 1951, the birth of Book Fair, we were about to enter the golden age of futurism, the time when we expected jet packs, flying cars, robot helpers and glass-domed cities to be right around the corner.
Well, the future has come, and with it changes in the way we read, socialize and communicate, spend our time and our money, and do our JCC Annual Book Fair.
What hasn’t changed is the value of gathering together to hear, meet and ask questions of our great Jewish thinkers and writers. Joining together as a community is something you cannot do through your television. Additionally, shaking hands with a Nathan Englander or a Tova Mirvis isn’t something your computer can help you do.
We hope you will come out to socialize and connect, and experience the excitement of interacting with some of the many outstanding authors who will appear in person at Book Fair. We have lots of changes in store, with most events at no charge, and we hope you will love the Book Fair of the future, which is now!

Terry Hollander

Book Fair Chair

Wednesday, November 2: 5-10 p.m.
Thursday, November 3: 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday, November 4: 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, November 4: 6-10 p.m.
Sunday, November 6: 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Monday, November 7: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 8: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wednesday, November 9: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 10: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Friday, November 11: 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, November 12: 6:30-10 p.m.

Event Tickets

Book Fair events are free unless otherwise noted. Advance registration is recommended for all ticketed events. To purchase tickets online, click the Tickets button that appears underneath each event description. You may also purchase tickets via phone by calling 248.661.1900 or in person at The Berman Ticket Office. Seats for Book Fair patrons will be held until 15 minutes before start time.

Book Store Hours

Thursday, November 2: 6-10 p.m.
Sunday, November 4: 7-10 p.m.
Sunday, November 5: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Monday, November 6: 10 a.m - 9 p.m.
Tuesday, November 7: 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 8: 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday, November 9: 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday, November 10: 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 11: 7-10 p.m.
Sunday, November 12: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Sponsors

We would not be able to host Book Fair without the generous support of our sponsors!

2017 Book Fair Sponsors

Become a Book Fair Patron

Your support helps us bring one of the country's premier Jewish cultural events to the Metro Detroit community. Please call the Development Department at 248.432.5418 to learn more about becoming a Book Fair Patron.

Attended? Fill out our Book Fair survey!

Calendar of Events

Thurday, November 2 (Sneak Peek!)

7 p.m. - Sneak Peek Panel - Sharon Schwartz, Connie Silver, & Cheri Victor

Looking for something great to read?
Please join us at our Book Fair Sneak Peek for an introduction to many of our Book Fair offerings, as well as some of the best newly published works!

SNEAK PEEK PANEL:
Sharon Schwartz, Connie Silver, & Cheri Victor

Recommended books will be available with a special discount on this night only.

 

Saturday, November 4 (Opening Night)
Opening Night underwritten by Barbara & Douglas Bloom

7:30 p.m. - Jeff Rossen - Rossen to the Rescue

Millions of Americans watch Jeff Rossen on NBC’s “Today,” where he explains how to solve the world’s most harrowing problems.
In Rossen to the Rescue, Jeff Rossen discusses many of his greatest tips while sharing personal, and sometimes embarrassing, anecdotes that he couldn’t tell on TV. He provides game plans for handling almost everything life can throw your way – some of which may even save your life.

Co-sponsored by the Commerce Township Community Library

Sunday, November 5 – Detroit Writes (Local Authors)
Day underwritten by Andi & Larry Wolfe

10 a.m. - Detroit Writes - Local Authors

Mark M. Bello: Betrayal of Faith
Lawrence I. Berkove: How Butterflies Got Colored Wings
Diane Bernstein: Teaching is Murder
Leonard Borman: Fix the Roads: A Novel
Edith Covensky: Life Is Fiction
Jon Dwoskin and A. J. Reilly: The Think Big Movement:
Grow your Business Big. Very Big!
Renee Jaspan & Ellen Gendelman: When Ice Cream is Not Enough
Gary Gerson: I’m Light: A Driver’s Search for Meaning on the Mean Streets Uber Detroit

11 a.m.  - Detroit Writes - Local Authors

Steve L. Cohn & Eric Sander Kingston: The Hidden Door: 26 Original Rabbinic Parables to Reveal the Concealed Donald Levin: The Forgotten Child
Susan Knoppow & Kim Lifton: How to Write an Effective College Application Essay: The Inside Scoop for Parents
Janet Meir: Voices 4
Andrei S. Markovits: Hillel at Michigan
Shana and Rick Morrison: The Hug Store
Donna Oram, MSW, ACSW: When Lupus Throws You for a Loop: A Handbook for the Newly Diagnosed, Lupus Veterans, and For Those Who Love Them
Monica Starkman, MD: The End of Miracles
Michael S. Walker: Quantum Fuzz

Sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan

1-4 p.m.  - Michele Borba, Ed. D. - “It’s Not All About Me: Developing Empathy and Character in Kids”

Opening the Doors Program presents
Anita Naftaly Family Circle Conference
MICHELE BORBA, Ed. D. “It’s Not All About Me: Developing Empathy and Character in Kids”
Author of UnSelfie: Teaching Children Empathy in Their All-About-Me World and The 6Rs of Bullying Prevention
Michele Borba, Ed.D., is an award-winning author, psychologist and expert in developing empathy and character in kids. Dr. Borba has been seen on “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “CNN,” “Dateline,” “MSNBC,” “The Early Show” and “Anderson Cooper.”

Guests will learn specific, practical strategies that can be used the next day.
For teachers, parents and mental health professionals.

Noon – Registration and Resource Fair
1 p.m. – Presentation followed by informal parent Q&A and dessert reception

Tickets
$20 In advance/$25 Walk-in
Register by phone: 248.205.2549

Get Tickets

1:30 p.m.  - Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff & Dr. Michelle Y. Sider - “Never Long Enough: Finding Comfort and Hope Amidst Grief and Loss”

Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff
Dr. Michelle Y. Sider
Never Long Enough: Finding Comfort and Hope Amidst Grief and Loss
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, senior director at the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network and Dr. Michelle Sider, psychologist, artist and educator combine their years of experience to create a unique book about grief and loss.
This beautiful book harnesses powerful words and evocative imagery to help facilitate conversation around loss and gently move the reader towards acceptance and healing.
In their presentation, they will share the inspiration behind their book, speak about grief and share stories about loss, grief, love, the power of memories and creating a legacy.
Co-sponsored by IRP (Institute for Retired Professionals), The Ira Kaufman Chapel, The Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network

5 p.m.  - Alex Berenson - “The Prisoner”

Alex Berenson
The Prisoner
Join John Wells on his terrifying mission to unmask a CIA mole. All he has to do is go undercover as an Al-Qaeda jihadi, get captured and befriend a member of ISIS. New York Times best-selling author Alex Berenson presents his latest novel featuring the incomparable John Wells. A blockbuster thriller, The Prisoner is filled with suspense that will leave readers astonished!
Co-sponsored by Jewish Ensemble Theatre

7 p.m.  - Joel Stone - “Detroit 1967”

Joel Stone
Detroit 1967
In the summer of 1967, Detroit experienced one of the worst racially charged civil disturbances in United States history. In an event that has been called a “riot,” “rebellion,” “uprising” and “insurrection,” thousands of African-Americans took to the streets for several days of looting, arson and gunfire. Fifty years later, native Detroiters cite this event as pivotal in the city’s history, yet few completely understand what happened, why it happened, or how it continues to affect the city today.
Sponsored by Anti-Defamation League
Co-sponsored by Wisdom (Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit)

Monday, November 6
Day underwritten by Esther & Neal Zalenko

11 a.m.  - Sana Krasikov - “The Patriots”

Sana Krasikov
The Patriots
When the Great Depression hits, idealistic Florence Fein leaves Brooklyn College for a job in Moscow. But once in Russia, she quickly becomes entangled in a country she can’t escape. Years later, Florence’s son, Julian, immigrates back to the US, though his work in the oil industry takes him on frequent visits to Moscow. When he learns that Florence’s KGB file has been opened, he arranges a business trip to unearth the truth about his mother, and to convince his son, Lenny—trying to make his fortune in Putin’s cutthroat Russia—to return home. What Julian discovers is both poignant and terrifying: an untold story of a generation of Americans abandoned by their country, and the secret history of two rival nations colluding under the cover of enmity.
Sana Krasikov won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and was selected as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists of the decade.
Co-sponsored by Temple Kol Ami Sisterhood

1 p.m.  - Exploring Detroit - Barbara Madgy Cohn & Michael G. Smith

Barbara Madgy Cohn
The Detroit Public Library:An American Classic
The Detroit Public Library is filled with remarkable architecture, intricate carvings, murals, mosaics and painted windows. Its history is long, beginning in 1921, and it is filled with contributions from famed artists Mary Chase Perry Stratton (co-founder of Pewabic Pottery) and Edwin Howland Blashfield (who painted murals in the Library of Congress), among many others. The Detroit Public Library is the story of one of the city’s greatest works of art.
Michael G. Smith
Designing Detroit: Wirt Rowland and the Rise of Modern American Architecture
The Guardian, Penobscot, Buhl and GM Buildings; the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium and Hatcher Library; and many others are the work of Wirt Rowland, a Clinton, Michigan-born architect who served as chief designer for Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, and Albert Kahn. Designing Detroit offers a look at one of Michigan’s most innovative, and often overlooked, architects and his contributions to the city and beyond.

Sponsored by Wayne State University Press
Co-sponsored by Henry & Delia Meyers Library and Media Center, Janice Charach Gallery

2:30 p.m  - Lynda Schuster - “Dirty Wars and Polished Silver: The Life and Times of a War Correspondent Turned Ambassatrix”

Lynda Schuster
Dirty Wars and Polished Silver: The Life and Times of a War Correspondent Turned Ambassatrix
Detroit native Lynda Schuster worked as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor covering war-torn Central and South America, Mexico, the Middle East and Africa. Schuster, the wife of an ambassador, tells her extraordinary life story, including her experience working on a kibbutz while providing a window into the culture and conflicts existing in these regions. “A riveting inter- national thriller ... a page-turner thanks to lucid writing and thrilling storytelling” (Kirkus).
Co-sponsored by the JCC’s Arts, Culture and Education Department

6 p.m.  - Book Club Night - Light dinner followed by author talk

(Book Club membership not required)

Rachel Kadish
The Weight of Ink
Set in London in the 1960s and the early 21st century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velazquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plaque hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. Helen has been summoned to view a cache of 17th century Jewish documents newly discovered in a home renovation. Enlisting the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and in a race with another fast-moving team of historians, Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the document’s scribe, the elusive “Aleph.”

Tickets
$38 ($36 for JCC members) – Speaker, book and light dinner
$20 ($18 for JCC members) – Speaker and light dinner only

Tickets
Co-sponsored by Bookies Book Club, Congregation Beth Ahm Sisterhood, Temple Israel Weinberg Family Library

Tuesday, November 7
Day underwritten by Rona Rones

11 a.m.  - Daphne Merkin - “This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression ”

Daphne Merkin
This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression
Beginning with a childhood where she felt little love and continuing to this day, Merkin has suffered with clinical depression. There is no cure, no hope for total happiness but instead, she says, the possibility of reaching a place of “relative all-right-ness.” Merkin’s book provides an invaluable look at an illness that is rarely discussed and offers “a stunningly perceptive voice into the forefront of the conversation about depression, one that is both reassuring and revelatory,” in the words of renowned psychologist Carol Gilligan.
Co-sponsored by Kadima, Jewish Family Service

2:30 p.m.  - Peter Gethers - “My Mother’s Kitchen”

Peter Gethers
My Mother’s Kitchen
Judy Gethers was 53 years old when she took a low-level job with a new chef named Wolfgang Puck. She soon became a master in the kitchen, working as Puck’s close associate, becoming a friend of Julia Child and Jonathan Waxman and teaching celebrities invaluable kitchen hacks.
Then Gethers became ill, and when she was in her 90s it became clear to her son Peter that she wouldn’t live much longer. Peter decided to recreate and serve his mother her favorite dishes.
Just one problem: he doesn’t cook.
As he sits with his mother in her final days, listening to stories of her past, Gethers learns not only how to prepare food but what it means to be a family.
Co-sponsored by the Sisterhood of Adat Shalom Synagogue, Congregation B’nai Moshe Sisterhood, Hazon

Patron Night  With Nathan Englander

6:30 p.m. – Patron Dinner
8 p.m. – Author Talk – Open to the public

Nathan Englander
Dinner at the Center of the Earth
Dinner at the Center of the Earth is both a political thriller and a compelling look at the Middle East, with a collection of characters ranging from an American waitress in Paris, a Canadian businessman, a young Palestinian, a prisoner in a secret cell and the Israeli leader who is the only person who knows of the prisoner’s existence.
This latest novel is a tour de force from one of America’s most talented authors whose works have appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly.
Nathan Englander received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEN/Malamud Award, the Bard Fiction Prize and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, among many others.
Patron Night sponsored by the DeRoy Testamentary Foundation

Support Book Fair, become a patron!
Please call the Development department at 248.432.5418

Wednesday, November 8
Day underwritten by Nancy & James Grosfeld

10:30 a.m.  - Janet Benton - “Lilli de Jong”

Janet Benton
Lilli de Jong
Lilli de Jong arrives at the doorstep of a Philadelphia home for unwed mothers in 1883.
She has nowhere else to turn. Her family will not help her. The baby’s father has abandoned her. She is no longer allowed to teach and has no source of income.
To keep her child would mean a life of poverty. But when the baby is born, everything changes. Lilli tells her story in a diary, where readers learn of her journey that starts at a charity and moves to the streets of a new American city.
Lilli de Jong is a story filled with adventure and surprise and offers a thoughtful testament to a mother’s love.
Co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood

12 p.m.  - Lunch with the Authors - Jean Hanff Korelitz & Tova Mirvis

Jean Hanff Korelitz
The Devil and Webster
Naomi Roth is a strong, confident, experienced woman. She knows herself and knows how to manage the most difficult situations.
What better person, then, to serve as the first female president of Webster College?
Formerly a bastion of conservatism, Webster is now famous for its outspoken, progressive graduates. So after a popular professor is denied tenure and students (including her daughter, Hannah) begin to protest, Naomi – once a radical herself – understands.
A single, charismatic student emerges as the protestors’ leader – a Palestinian named Omar Khayal – and the situation takes an extraordinary turn.
Naomi will now be forced to take a second look at everything she thought to be true and take desperate measures to protect friends and family.

Tova Mirvis
The Book of Separation: A Memoir
Tova Mirvis was born and raised in a close-knit Orthodox Jewish family.
She was married at 24, had three children and lived the typical life of an observant woman.
And then a few months before she turned 40, everything changed.
Mirvis always had doubts about her Jewish life, but she could no longer silence those doubts. She left her husband, her friends, her community and her faith.
It was a decision that would have profound consequences not just for Mirvis but for her children.
This memoir is an honest look at what it means to listen to your heart and leave everything you’ve ever known and start again.

Tickets
$30 ($25 for JCC members) – Includes luncheon
Reservations required by Wednesday, November 1

Tickets
Lunch with the Authors co-sponsored by National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Detroit Section; West Bloomfield Township Public Library

2:30 p.m.  - Alexandra Zapruder - “Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film”

Alexandra Zapruder
Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film
Abraham Zapruder didn’t know when he ran home to grab his video camera on November 22, 1963, that this single spontaneous decision would change his family’s life for generations to come.
His home movie of President Kennedy’s assassination is the most famous example of citizen journalism, a precursor to iconic images like the Challenger explosion, the Rodney King beating and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. But few know the complicated legacy of the film itself. 
Now Abraham’s granddaughter, National Jewish Book Award winner Alexandra Zapruder, tells the story of the film’s journey through history, through the transformation of American society, and the emergence of a media-driven consumer culture that challenges traditional ideas of privacy, ownership, journalism and knowledge.  Co-sponsored by Southfield Public Library

7 p.m.  - Irwin Shaw Night - Francine Klagsbrun

Irwin Shaw was the founder of the JCC’s Annual Jewish Book Fair

Francine Klagsbrun
Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
She was the founding mother of Israel – an impassioned orator, a shrewd negotiator, a chain smoker and a masterful prime minister – until she was completely caught off guard with the Yom Kippur War.
Lioness is the definitive biography of Golda Meir, who settled in pre-state Israel in 1921.
As prime minister, Meir negotiated arms agreements with Richard Nixon, struggled to understand how to work with the new Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and met secretly with Jordan’s King Hussein, hoping to establish peace.
Her only – and astonishing – fall came with the surprise attack on Yom Kippur in 1973, forcing Meir to resign and redefine her place in Israeli life.
Co-sponsored by Ameinu Detroit, Hadassah – Greater Detroit Chapter, StandWithUs-Michigan, Zionist Organization of America – Michigan Region, JCRC/AJC

Thursday, November 9 – Kristallnacht Remembrance Day
Day underwritten by the Raymond & Atara Zimmerman Philanthropic Fund

11 a.m.  - Bruce Henderson - “Sons and Soldiers”

Bruce Henderson
Sons and Soldiers
They were known as the Ritchie Boys, and they were one of America’s greatest weapons in the fight against the Nazis.
The Ritchie Boys were an elite group of Jews who had fled Germany and come to the United States in the 1930s. They spoke German and were familiar with German customs – invaluable tools when they became part of the U.S. Armed Forces and helped gather critical information during the war.
Sons and Soldiers traces the men’s lives from childhood to their feats during the war to their desperate attempts to find missing loved ones who never managed to escape.
Along with Bruce Henderson, Dr. Guy Stern, professor, prolific writer and Ritchie Boy, will share his memories of time with the group.
Co-sponsored by Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, Hidden Children of Child Survivors of Michigan, IRP

2:30 p.m.  - Patricia Posner - “The Pharmacist of Auschwitz: The Untold Story”

Patricia Posner
The Pharmacist of Auschwitz: The Untold Story
Victor Capesius was a Bayer pharmaceutical salesman who became the chief pharmacist at Auschwitz, where he worked with Dr. Joseph Mengele to decide the fate of Jews.
Along the way, he enriched his pockets using gold ripped from the mouths of corpses, which helped fuel his getaway when the Nazi empire began to collapse. He managed to escape justice until a tenacious prosecutor, 20 years after the war, brought him to trial. Exposing the culpability of I.G. Farben and its Bayer subsidiary, author Patricia Posner presents a spellbinding, little-known account of Victor Capesius, his role in the Holocaust, his escape and trial.
Co-sponsored by Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, The Voice/Vision Archive and Mardigian Library

3 p.m.  - Yvette Manessis Corporon - “Something Beautiful Happened”

Yvette Manessis Corporon
Something Beautiful Happened
When Yvette Manessis Corporon was a little girl, she loved hearing her grandmother’s recounting of the Jewish family hidden on the small Greek island, Erikousa, during WWII. The family was named Savvas, and the father and his daughters managed to survive the Nazis thanks to the citizens of Erikousa.
As an adult, Corporon went in search of the Savvas family, now living in Israel, where she discovers a new way to understand tragedy, forgiveness and the power of kindness.
Then days later her cousin’s child was murdered by a neo-Nazi.
As Corporon wrestled with the tragedy, she returned again and again to lessons she learned from the survivors of the Holocaust, which helped her confront and make sense of the present.
Co-sponsored by Women of American Technion Society Stock Club Library

5 p.m.  - Film: Casablanca

Film: Casablanca

Come see the classic 1942 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman! Co-sponsored by The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, the JCC’s Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish Film Festival, JCC’s The Active Life
Followed by author talk with Noah Isenberg.

7 p.m.  - Noah Isenberg - “We’ll Always Have Casablanca”

Noah Isenberg
We’ll Always Have Casablanca
What if “Casablanca” had been called “Burbank” instead? It could have been. The entire movie was filmed in the California city named for its dentist founder.
“Casablanca” is beloved, it’s iconic, it’s usually listed as one of the greatest films ever made. It’s also filled with surprises and has much to say about life both in wartime and today.
“Fascinating, packed with fun trivia ... but also profoundly relevant in its exploration of how our politics and creative industries not only hold a mirror to each other but also to the nation.” (The Los Angeles Times)
We’ll Always Have Casablanca celebrates the 75th anniversary of a classic film and considers why it continues to delight audiences all these years later. Co-sponsored by C.H.A.I.M., JCC’s Center Travel, Oakland University’s Judaic Studies Department, Temple Israel Sisterhood

7 p.m.  - April Peveteaux - “Bake Sales Are My B*tch: Win the Food Allergy Wars with 50+ Recipes to Keep Kids Safe and Parents Sane ”

Janice Charach Gallery, JCC West Bloomfield
6600 W. Maple Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48322

April Peveteaux
Bake Sales Are My B*tch: Win the Food Allergy Wars with 50+ Recipes to Keep Kids Safe and Parents Sane
Remember when you could serve kids a peanut butter sandwich and call it a day?
Today, that’s known as a recipe for disaster.
Peanut allergies. Dairy allergies. Soy allergies. Wheat allergies.
What’s a parent to do?
April Peveteaux’s book can help any parent prepare delicious school lunches, food for parties and sleepovers, and vegan and kosher treats while avoiding the eight major food allergens. Readers also will learn the nitty-gritty of food allergies, including how to talk to other parents who don’t take seriously your child’s eating needs.
Whether you’re a parent whose child has allergies or just a parent who needs the best advice on what food to fix so that everyone can feel comfortable, Peveteaux lends much-needed guidance and teaches you to make party foods that’ll be a surefire hit!

Get Tickets

For more information: 248.432.5636 Co-sponsored by Federation’s NextGen, Federation’s Young Women’s Philanthropy, jbabydetroit!, JFamily, JCC’s Sarah & Irving Pitt Child Development Center

Friday, November 10 – Health Awareness Day
Day underwritten by Natalie & Manny (z”l) Charach

11 a.m.  - Amy Silverstein - “My Glory Was I Had Such Friends”

Amy Silverstein
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends
Sometimes life tosses you something so unbearably difficult you doubt you’ll survive.
In Amy Silverstein’s case, it was learning that her donor heart was about to fail. She immediately needed a new heart, and she would need to move to California to begin the process.
That is when nine friends stopped everything and went with Amy to California, where they slept on cots beside her bed, rubbed her back when the pain was unbearable and adorned her room with decorations to distract her. My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is the story of a group of extraordinary women who came forward to support a friend in the most terrible of times.
Sponsored by West Bloomfield Nursing Center
Co-sponsored by Friends of Jewish Senior Life, the Emily Stillman Foundation

1 p.m.  - Cathryn Jakobson Ramin - “Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting On the Road to Recovery”

Cathryn Jakobson Ramin
Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting On the Road to Recovery
Like millions of Americans, Cathryn Jakobson Ramin had terrible back pain.
She spent many years and dollars in her search for a treatment. In the end, she became an expert on what works, what doesn’t and how to start on the road to recovery.
Crooked is the result of six years of intensive investigation, written after interviews with everyone from surgeons to exercise physiologists to patients whose pain forced them to make extraordinary decisions. The result is a brilliant book that shatters assumptions about surgery, chiropractic methods, physical therapy and spinal injections and addresses legitimate rehabilitation options, revealing how to avoid therapeutic dead ends while saving money, time and anguish.
Sponsored by West Bloomfield Nursing Center
Co-sponsored by the JCC Men’s and Women’s Executive Health Clubs

Saturday, November 11
Night underwritten by Elaine & Michael Serling

7:30 p.m.  - Comedy Night with Susan Silver & Alan Zweibel – "Hot Pants in Hollywood: Sex, Secrets & Sitcoms" & "For This We Left Egypt"

Join us for drinks, snacks and two of the funniest television writers to ever visit Book Fair!

Susan Silver
Hot Pants in Hollywood: Sex, Secrets & Sitcoms
Susan Silver was a Milwaukee girl who made it big: she was one of the first female TV comedy writers, with credits like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Maude” and “The Bob Newhart Show.” She also wrote a dating column about searching for “Mr. Adequate,” built a career in New York and had more than a few unforgettable adventures. Susan Silver tells her revealing story in this tale of love, love lost, love it was great to get rid of and a lot of fun that’s certain to resonate with any woman dealing with divorce and dating, or in need of advice in work or love.

Alan Zweibel
An original “Saturday Night Live” writer, Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmys and awards, including “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Late Show with David Letterman”. He is an expert on the many ways to prepare for and celebrate Passover.
In For This We Left Egypt, authors Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach recommend using a blow- torch to get ready for the holiday.
Just a few terrific bursts of fire and your chametz is gone! In addition to culinary tips, Zweibel and his co-writers set the historical record straight – there’s no land of milk and honey. It’s the land of rocks and Yorkshire terrier-sized scorpions.
Even after four cups, Zweibel and his funny version of the Haggadah practically guarantee everyone will stay awake throughout the entire evening!

Tickets
$20/ticket or two tickets for $36
Theberman.org or 248.661.1900
Comedy Night co-sponsored by ORT America - Michigan Region

Sunday, November 12
Day underwritten by Rona Rones

11 a.m.  - Laurie Frankel - “This Is How It Always Is”

Laurie Frankel
This Is How It Always Is
Claude is 5 years old, and when he grows up he wants to be a girl. Claude’s parents support their son’s choice, but how will the rest of the world feel about it? The family is about to find out. This Is How It Always Is is a novel about love and transformations, and how one set of parents deal with a challenge facing every parent: the surprising world of allowing your children to grow up and become exactly who they choose.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Gay Network, Stand with Trans

12 p.m.  - SAJE Learning at the J

Kosher lunch available for purchase

Barry W. Holtz
Rabbi Akiva: Sage of the Talmud
Much of what you practice, know and experience of Judaism is because of one man: Rabbi Akiva.
Born in about 50 CE, he grew up poor and knew little about religion until he was an adult. So how did he become so influential, and what kind of a man was he?
Barry Holtz provides a compelling look at a remarkable person – a man never afraid to disagree with colleagues yet beloved by all his peers.
Co-sponsored by Adat Shalom Synagogue, Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies – Wayne State University, Frankel Jewish Academy, IRP, JCC’s FedEd and Melton Detroit, Jewish Theological Seminary, SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment, is generously endowed by Cis Maisel)

1-4 p.m.  - Leslie Bennetts - “Last Girl Before Freeway: The Life, Loves, Losses and Liberation of Joan Rivers”

Leslie Bennetts
Last Girl Before Freeway: The Life, Loves, Losses and Liberation of Joan Rivers
“I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die, they will donate my body to Tupperware.”
Joan Rivers was smart, funny and self-aware. She also led a life of extraordinary ups and downs.
She was estranged from her daughter for a long time, her husband committed suicide and she battled late night’s most famous and formidable figure, Johnny Carson.
She was also an extremely successful comedian, driven by ferocious ambition, and an icon to millions.
Last Girl Before Freeway is a juicy and surprising biography of a woman driven by the need to feel loved.
Co-sponsored by David-Horodoker Organization

1-4 p.m.  - Sherrill Berman Family/Children’s Program - Ongoing Activities for Ages 0-8

Sammy the Spider Comes to Book Fair – Chanukah, Israel, Mitzvah and First Friend
Join us for a fun event with an adorable spider who loves Jewish holidays!
Sammy the Spider lives in the Shapiro home where he has learned all about Chanukah and Shabbat, where he picked up a few Hebrew words and where he makes a new friend from Israel.
We’ll have fun and games and plenty of surprises for all of Sammy’s guests!
Sponsored by PJ Library Co-sponsored by JCC’s Sarah & Irving Pitt Child Development Center, Temple Beth El, Janice Charach Gallery

3 p.m.  - Berl Falbaum and Alton Logan - “Justice Failed: How “Legal Ethics” Kept Me in Prison for 26 Years”

Berl Falbaum and Alton Logan
Justice Failed: How “Legal Ethics” Kept Me in Prison for 26 Years
Imagine knowing a terrible secret you cannot tell. And because of this, an innocent man is in prison – where he will remain for more than 25 years.
In 1983, Alton Logan was falsely convicted of murdering an off-duty corrections officer outside Chicago. The real killer was named Andrew Wilson, and he admitted his guilt to his lawyers.
But bound by client-attorney privilege, the two men could never take action until his death.
Written in collaboration with Detroit journalist Berl Falbaum, Justice Failed is Alton Logan’s unforgettable story from childhood to prison to freedom.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Bar Association of Michigan, Professional Advisory Committee of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit

5:30 p.m.  - Closing Night with Adam Greenberg

Adam Greenberg
Get Up: The Art of Perseverance
On July 9, 2005 Adam Greenberg, formerly of the Lansing Lugnuts and now an outfielder with the Chicago Cubs, stepped into the batter’s box.
And then it came.
A 92-mile-an-hour fast pitch smashed into the back of Adam’s head. The first pitch of Greenberg’s major league career left him with a compound skull fracture that threatened not only his ability to play baseball but his very life.
Get Up: The Art of Perseverance is the story of one man – and a book for everyone. It is a story about new beginnings, about facing trauma and about the ability to hope. Adam Greenberg’s story of never giving up will inspire readers of every age and teach everyone how to relentlessly pursue a dream!
Co-sponsored by Detroit JCC Maccabi, Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation

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