BOOKS/ART/CULTURE
ANOTHER DANGEROUS BOOK
Some people believe that racism in the United States is dead. Others, it never really existed. Still others, if racism lives, mention of it divides Americans between oppressed and oppressors. The result? Books are being tossed off library shelves or censored before they get there. Take Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura,…
Read MoreTHE PAST MATTERS
I’ve often cited George Santayana about people ignoring the past being condemned to repeat it. I’ll add William Faulkner: the past isn’t dead—it’s not even the past. Let me offer two examples—one current, one ancient. Writing fiction, I’m drawn to the past. It offers perspective on issues the whirring present sometimes confuses. So, I set Flight…
Read More“FAUDA”—VIOLENCE AND HUMANITY
Spoiler alert: If you plan to watch season 4 of the Netflix series “Fauda,” stop reading. Otherwise, consider the humanity of this Israeli show that focuses on the never-ending violence in Israel and the West Bank. “Fauda” (Arabic for chaos) follows a special commando unit in the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security force. These men and women are…
Read MoreCOLOR BOUND
Many literary publications charge writers a small submission fee to help cover expenses. These fees may pose a financial barrier to some writers, so a few publications waive them—if a writer fits a certain profile. Financial hardship doesn’t always factor in. One publication waives fees for Black, Asian-American-Pacific-Islander and LGBTQ writers during months that honor…
Read MoreWHY I (USUALLY) DON’T SAY “CAWFEE”
Decades ago, I theorized that something we give little thought to might impact racist attitudes—for bad or good. According to Katherine D. Kinzler, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, I’ve been on to something. In her book How You Say It: Why We Judge Others by the Way They Talk—and the Costs of This…
Read MoreTHE TWO OF EVERYONE
Last Tuesday was the 112th anniversary of my mother’s birth. Belying surface impressions, there was more than one of her. Blanche Finkle Perlstein was a middle-class Jewish housewife with a successful husband (Morris); a well-furnished apartment in Queens; a mink coat and lots of jewelry. She loved opera and Broadway theater. But . . .…
Read MoreDO YOU HAVE TO BE JEWISH? 
From 1961 through the ’70s, Levy’s Real Jewish Rye Bread ran a celebrated advertising campaign in New York. It’s worth a thought when we talk about casting actors in films and on TV. The Levy’s campaign (agency: Doyle Dane Bernbach) featured obviously non-Jewish models across the ethnic spectrum. Smiling, each held up a piece of…
Read MoreFAREWELL, GRACE AND FRANKIE 
One of our family left us. No one died. The comedy TV series Grace and Frankie (Netflix) aged out. I feel the loss. Seven seasons involved Carolyn and me with two elder women thrown together reminiscent of The Odd Couple. The straightlaced WASP Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and ex-hippie Frankie Bergstein (Lili Tomlin) were forced to live together…
Read MoreGOV. DeSANTIS, BURN MY BOOK! 
When it comes to banned books, I once was ahead of the curve. I fell back. Now, I appeal for a boost from Florida governor Ron DeSantis. In 1969-70, I taught English at a private school in San Antonio. I assigned a high school class Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird. The school…
Read MoreFREEDOM AND WATER 
The Israelites fleeing Egypt, and Albert Sobel, the transgender protagonist of my novel Lola Flores, share something in common. Their freedom requires traversing or immersion in a body of water, source of life. Following the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Reed Sea. “Then Moses held his arm over…
Read MoreMOVIE ACTORS OFFSCREEN 
Last Sunday, Carolyn and I attended a preview screening of Last Chance, Charlene. Carolyn had a small role in this independent film and did a great job. But the movie offered only a glimpse of her life as an actor. Charlene’s star, Allison Ewing, is a fellow student in Carolyn’s film/TV acting class and suggested that…
Read MoreMARTY
On March 3, I lost a friend. So did hundreds of other people. Many were closer. But Rabbi Martin Weiner (z”l) will always hold a place in my heart. Carolyn and I met Marty in 1985 when we joined Congregation Sherith Israel. Seth, then nine, entered religious school. Yosi and Aaron followed. Every Sunday morning—rain…
Read MoreLARRY’S COMFORTING BOOK
Do books matter? For a Good Year: Selected High Holy Day Sermons by Congregation Sherith Israel’s Rabbi Emeritus Larry Raphael (z”l) is giving me needed perspective on critical theological and personal issues. Larry’s wife Terrie put the book together. I’m grateful. The Jewish High Holy Days are more than a month behind us, so it’s easy to…
Read MoreOZZIE AND HARRIET
In 1950s television, virtually everyone was white. So, in my novel 2084, a key symbol for America under a white-Christian government played on a hit ’50s TV show. 2084’s protagonist, a floundering stand-up comic named Sam Klein, aka Groucho, meets “secretly” with his stand-up mentor, Don Green (nee David Greenberg) aka Miltie. They hide in plain…
Read MoreIT CAN HAPPEN HERE
Ross Douthat, columnist for the New York Times, wrote an opinion piece last Tuesday as a follow-up to my previous post, “A Bleak American Future?”, in which I mentioned my new novel, 2084. Okay, that’s wishful thinking on my part—but… Douthat’s column, “Are We Headed for A Coup in 2024?” considers the same challenge to American democracy…
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