You don’t usually think of your local librarian as a rock star. Nonetheless, it’s hard to find a better word to describe local book aficionado Nancy Pearl. Besides the fact that she has her own action figure, her daily schedule consists of jetting around the country giving talks about books.Continue Reading
Yesterday, hip-hop artist So Called released The So Called Seder, his solo debut on JDub Records. Just as with his previous outing with Klezmer fiddle player Solomon, Hiphopkhasene followed the format of a Jewish wedding, The So Called Seder follows the order of the Haggadah, and many of the familiarContinue Reading
Whether it is the music of Jewish composer Bernard Herrmann heard in the films of Alfred Hitchcock, Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” performed at sports stadiums around the country, or Leonard Bernstein’s classic theatrical urban tragedy West Side Story, the Jewish musical influence in America is as homegrown as Hollywood,Continue Reading
As host of weeknight music on KING-FM (98.1), it’s been my good fortune to share, on recent Monday evenings, selections from the radio series “American Jewish Music from the Milken Archive.” In addition to the music—some of which isn’t yet released commercially—the series often includes commentary from the Milken Archive’sContinue Reading
Paula Heil Fisher’s feature-length documentary film Finding ElÈazar will air as part of the American Jewish Committee’s Seattle Jewish Film Festival this March. A special guest panel called “Staging the Jew” will take place after the film. The film, a story within a story, chronicles the journey of American tenorContinue Reading
Tollbooth cute but trite Poor Sarabeth (Marla Sokoloff, “The Practice,” Dude, Where’s My Car?) is only trying to find her place in the world. Having just finished art school, she’s got the whole world available to her, but she doesn’t want to compromise her values for the safety of herContinue Reading
Who is Bel Barrett? Is the fictional detective, star of her own series of mystery novels actually their author, Jane Isenberg, in disguise? I had to consider the possibility. The sun was slanting through my office windows, almost down. It was now or never, in another hour it would beContinue Reading
If Seattle is the second most literate city in the United States—as a University of Wisconsin researcher reported in 2004—it’s no surprise that literary events are abundant fixtures in the Puget Sound Region. This weekend, book enthusiasts can enjoy a different spin on the ubiquitous author reading/signing, when Town HallContinue Reading
The American Jewish experience is impossible to narrow down because each of us has had a somewhat different view of it. Has your family been here for three centuries, or just three decades? Did your ancestors sail into Ellis Island or fly into JFK? Did they abandon their religion orContinue Reading
Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism Howard Schwartz (Oxford University Press, cloth, $45) Does Judaism have a mythology? Most would say no, but folklorist Howard Schwartz has compiled a 586-page collection of them, culling Jewish literature to illuminate its often-denied mythological tradition. Here are tales on various subjects withContinue Reading
As the Seattle Jewish Film Festival gears up for its 10th anniversary of showing Jewish-interest films, the American Jewish Committee’s sister program, FilmTalks, is getting ready as well. Now in its eighth year, FilmTalks brings 10thñ12th graders from high schools around the Puget Sound area to spend a day watchingContinue Reading
“It seems to me the world needs this story right now,” says adapter/director Aaron Posner about the upcoming Seattle premiere of The Chosen at The Seattle Repertory Theatre. Posner adapted Chaim Potok’s now-classic 1967 novel with the author.Continue Reading
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