Arts & Culture
A spectacular 2020-21 “virtual” Jewish Book Festival season features 21 authors at 19 events
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eginning in December and concluding in March, the Sixth Annual Greater Naples Jewish Book Festival will once again offer a dazzling series of author events. This year’s festival, however, is quite different from previous festivals. Challenged by the social distancing requirements of the pandemic, the Festival is being presented virtually. By offering the events through Zoom, the Jewish Book Festival, a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, in cooperation with the Jewish Book Council, continues to be a key contributor to the cultural life of our community. While five of the 19 Festival Events will already have taken place by the time you read this article, you can still choose from 14 events. Here’s a rundown:
Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 3 p.m.
You will have the opportunity to hear from Debbie Cenziper, an investigative journalist who earned the 2007 Pulitzer Prize and the Robert F. Kennedy award for human rights reporting. Her book, Citizen 865: Hunt for Hitler’s Soldiers, tells a gripping story of Nazi hunters, against the forces of time and political opposition, pursuing WWII mass murderers hiding in the U.S. Sponsored by Jewish Congregation of Marco Island and John R. Wood Properties
Monday, Jan. 11, at 4 p.m.
We are delighted to welcome back author Susan Jane Gilman, who captivated us during our first Book Festival with her bestseller The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street. Her newest book, Donna Has Left The Building, is an edgy novel that offers a mix of comedy 20
and tragedy, as it takes us on a road trip through friendships, passionate love and Tikkun Olam. And come prepared to toast the Jewish Book Festival as Susan shares a special drink recipe with us. Sponsored by Daymaker Hair Salon
Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Zoom in for Alexandra Silber, who will not only talk about her memoir White Hot Grief Parade but will also once again enthrall us with a couple of songs. When her father dies after a decade-long battle with cancer, Alexandra, a teenager at the time, feels like his death is the end of everything. Told with raw passion, candor and wit, this reminiscence is an ode to the restorative power of family and friendship. Sponsored by TheatreZone
Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 10:30 a.m.
In celebration of the power of women, two authors will explore the struggles women have encountered in making an impact. Janice Kaplan, The New York Times journalist, asks the plaintive question: “Why do 90% of Americans believe that geniuses are almost always men?” Her book, The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World, uses a unique mix of memoir, narrative and inspiration to make surprising discoveries about women geniuses now and throughout history. Jill Wine-Banks, author of The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President,
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was barely 30 when she became the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials in what the world has forever after known as “Watergate.” The fact that she was called “the mini-skirted lawyer” and “a girl” demonstrates her need to battle to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts. And she prevailed. Sponsored by Women’s Cultural Alliance and Senior Housing Solutions
Monday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m.
Author Meg Waite Clayton will talk about her bestselling novel, The Last Train to London. Based on actual events, her book tells the story of a Dutch woman, known as Tante Truus, who dares to approach Adolf Eichmann to rescue thousands of children from Nazi-occupied Vienna through the Kindertransport operation. Clayton’s screenplay of the novel was chosen for the prestigious The Writers Lab, sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. Sponsored by Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center
Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 10:30 a.m.
Did you know that Israel’s Mossad operated a luxury diving resort? Author Raffi Berg will fill you in on the details. His book, Red Sea Spies, explains that guests from around the world flocked to the resort, where staff members were undercover spies working for Israel’s secret service. What began with one cryptic message pleading for help morphed into the secret evacuation to Israel of thousands of Ethiopian Jews.
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