Bereaved Parents
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Jewish Author Book Fair- November 15, 2026
Version 1.0.0I’ll be signing books and reading from Pine Melody at the Jewish Author Book Fair on Sunday November 15, 2026 at Congregation Mikveh Israel, 44 N 4th St., Philadelphia, PA. The bookfair runs from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. and I’ll be reading at 2 p.m. This event is FREE and open to the public. Please join me and 29 other Jewish authors representing a wide range of genres, backgrounds and perspectives. This event brings together novelists, memoirists, historians, rabbis, journalists and children’s authors for an afternoon celebrating Jewish literature, ideas, and storytelling.Attendees will have an opportunity to meet authors, purchase books, attend readings and engage in discussions about history, faith,…
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Jonah as Grief Myth
Today I indulged in one of my favorite Sunday past times, reading Irish poet Padraig O’Tuama’s excellent substack. Today’s essay was “London and the underworld.” As he does each week, he invited readers to submit comments to a question. Today’s question is “what myths have helped you make sense of your lives?” I immediately knew my response: Jonah in the clouds. My response appeared to resonate , so I’m posting it in full here: “My eldest son Jonah died in 2013 following a car accident. I wrote a grief memoir about our special relationship, and Jonah as my Spirit Guide, called “Pine Melody.” I see him in the Great Expanse,…
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Missing Jonah on Every Holiday
I had a fabulous 4th of July celebration with my family–my 3 granddaughters romping in the pool with their parents, discovering all the toys in the playroom I furnished for them from FB Marketplace, eating takeout that Todd prepared from the inimitable Starving Artist Cafe in Stockton, NJ. And yet, Jonah was missing. He is the tiny hole in the fabric of my joy. And it will always be this way. My joy is always tinged with sorrow.There is a Japanese concept known as wabi-sabi. It is a term that acknowledges the impermanent and the incomplete. My joy is wabi-sabi, but so is my grief.