This morning I filmed a show on the KPIX set for MOSAIC. MOSAIC interviews explore how Bay Area people’s lives are enriched by diversity of cultural and faith perspectives. The show, “Book Chat,” was hosted by Rabbi Eric Weiss. Guests included myself, Howard Freedman (Director, Jewish Community Library) and Michael David Lukas (Author, The Oracle of Stamboul). The episode will air Sunday October 9th at 5am. The show is divided into four segments. I am in the final two segments. The show is unlikely to be archived online, so if you want to watch it, and don’t plan to be up that early, you can certainly record it!

I did a Q&A with Deborah Kalb. My favorite question? How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you? Read the answer here.

My book with jacket arrived this morning on my doorstep! I love the way it looks, particularly the art on the spine ❤️

In bookstores September 6th!

www.ChasingPortraits.org

I recently signed 50 Chasing Portraits bookplates! There’s still time to get yours if you pre-order before August 15th. Details

The first book review of Chasing Portraits is a starred review from Kirkus!

A page-turning personal history of Rynecki’s search for her great-grandfather’s legacy.

Moshe Rynecki (1881-1943) was a Polish artist whose work “detailed the everyday lives of Polish Jews in the 1920s and 1930s.” His singular oeuvre shows the culture and quotidian activities of his people, and his very identity was intimately tied to his Jewish heritage, even to the point of following them into the Warsaw ghetto. He was an ethnographically inspired painter and thought abstract styles would detract from the world he was portraying. He and his wife, Perla, operated an art supply store—or she did while he painted. By the time of the Nazi invasion in 1939, he had 800 works that needed to be protected. With his son George’s help, he took paintings out of frames, rolled them up, and put them into piles. Moshe also made a list of which pieces went into each pile, but, unfortunately, the list was lost. The works were entrusted to friends to be retrieved after the war. When the Nazis moved the Jews into the ghetto, George refused to take his family, hiding their Jewishness with new identities. Because Moshe would not deny his heritage, he and Perla entered the ghetto. In 1942, George got his mother out, but his father felt that he had to go “where brothers and sisters go. And if it’s death, so be it.” The last they heard was that he was on his way to a death camp. After the war, Perla found a bundle of more than 100 paintings and gave them to her son, who moved to the U.S with his wife. That much of the story is fascinating, but it’s only the beginning, as the author discovers her grandfather’s memoir and begins her search for his paintings.

A wonderful story beautifully told. Rynecki’s yearslong search, successes, frustrations, and failures are a study in perseverance.

Pre-Order Chasing Portraits and get a signed bookplate and bookmark!

Here’s the scoop: If you pre-order the print edition of Chasing Portraits and email a copy of your receipt to ChasingPortraits@gmail.com, I will send you a signed bookplate (it has an adhesive backing) and a cool bookmark!

Why pre-order? Frankly, because it helps me. Pre-ordered books count towards first week sales numbers which gives the book the best chance of hitting best seller lists. Plus, strong pre-order numbers can inspire my publisher to print more books, which focuses both the publisher and booksellers on the book’s prospects and raises awareness for the documentary. So, if you can pre-order, I’d really appreciate it!

Where to pre-order? Some retail suggestions: your local independent bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Penguin Random House

The fine print: Forward an email receipt or a photo of a paper receipt for the print edition only to ChasingPortraits@gmail.com by August 15, 2016. Be sure to include your mailing address.