Spring 2006
Hi!
Spring-like weather has finally arrived here on Long Island, and it surely feels good. But then again, we have been “on the go” since January, having been in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, Alabama, and of course, in our own New York State. And next week, the flight up to Vermont will make 27 states in which I have presented, plus Germany & Israel! It has been strenuous, but also gratifying, especially when I receive so much positive mail from students, parents and educators. This is what keeps me going.
The rest of the Spring includes Illinois (again), Texas, and the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. Please check my schedule, and if I will be near you, please come and say “hello.”
It is hard to believe that Four Perfect Pebbles was published 10 years ago this March, and I thank Lila Perl, my co-author, for helping me get my story into “book” form. I had been speaking of my experiences ever since 1979 when first asked to do so by the rabbi of the synagogue of with which we were then affiliated. Lila, thank you so very much!
The Dutch translation should be out this April, and is entitled Vier Gelijke Stenen - Op de Vlucht Voor de Holocaust. I thank the publisher, Gerton van Boom of Holland, for his efforts to bring my story to so many Netherlanders. Gerton’s 13 year old daughter, Lizette, read the translation to ensure that it is completely understandable for students her age.
I have several other important people that must be thanked for their unending help in spreading the legacy of the Holocaust to so many.
Gary Durbach , Hayley Jossel and Anthony Lipschitz of Advanceware Solutions, a complete inventory management software and e-commerce web services for small to mid-sized business owners. They do beautiful web sites. These are terrific folks, and in fact, just recently created a wonderful web site for the Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island, Ira M. Birns, president. Their web site is http://www.holocaustcommitteeli.org.
Advanceware Solutions can be contacted by calling 416-361-0638, or E-mailing Info@AdvanceWare.net.
Oh yes, the latest innovation to the fourperfectpebbles.com web site is a new link tab titled Teacher Resources which will include links to other Holocaust related sites to help teachers and students to do further study about the Holocaust, and a page named FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions, containing some of the questions posed to me mainly by elementary, middle and high school students, either at a presentation, or as a result of reading my memoir. The questions asked are often repetitive; I hope that this page will help many in completing their school projects and reports.
Featured on the teacher resource page are 2 new middle school teacher guides. One is a WebQuest written by Jan Brennan, a teacher in the Avon Middle School in Avon, Connecticut, and the other guide was written by Laura Patton, a middle school teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas, and sponsored by The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.
I have a brand new, wonderful friend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, John Holt. I first “met” John at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC in 1999 when I signed a copy of FPP for him. Then last April, after Marion’s Triumph was shown on Public Television in Pittsburgh, I received both an e-mail and telephone call, wanting to know if it would be okay to do a musical about Four Perfect Pebbles. He said he would be careful to ensure that his music and lyrics would be in good taste. John spent a couple of days with us as our house guest. He got to know both my mother and me so that he could better write the lyrics, and played some of his music for us. He is certainly a talented individual. John did finish his musical, and did a production. To us, the music sounds sensational. His song, Four Pebbles, really got to the essence of my “game” and it was sung beautifully by 2 young girls, one an eleven year old, Lyric, and the other, a ten year old, Michelle. Many thanks to the other 14 cast members who sang so beautifully. But, John couldn’t get the commitment and/or funding needed to do a trial season in Pittsburg.
If you are a music buff, and might have a high interest in helping John pursue his dream, you can contact him at FLEEMAC38@aol.com. I know he would be grateful for any help you might be able to offer.
I have another John to thank, and that is Dr. John Chua, Yes, John was awarded his PhD in English Literature from the University of Illinois last year, and John, of course, is the producer of Marion’s Triumph – Surviving History’s Nightmare. Debra Messing is the narrator. Marion`s Triumph played on many public television stations nationally last spring. It is being aired again this year. It was recently aired in Tampa, and all of Utah.
In April, it will be aired by Boston & New York World PBS on their digital cable outlets.
On regular PBS, it will be aired as far as we know as follows:
San Antonio, Texas Public Television KLRN Thursday April 13 at 2:30 pm and 9 pm (Monday April 17 at 4 am)
Buffalo, WNED New York Public Television, Wednesday evening, April 19 at 10 PM
Austin, Texas KLRU 2, Thursday evening, April 20 at 11 pm
Iowa Public Television, Thursday evening, April 25 at 8 pm
Alabama Public Television Thursday April 25 at 10 pm
Tempe, Arizona Channel 8 KAET TV Tuesday evening, April 25 at 10 pm
Orlando, Floria PBS Thuirsday Evening (check time)
Vermont Public Television, Thursday, April 25 at 10 PM
There will be additional stations airing the program. Please call your local station to inquire, and suggest that they do so, if not already programmed. Tell them that it is Marion’s Triumph, distributed to public television stations nationwide by American Public Television (APT). WILL-TV, Champaign-Urbana, was the original sponsoring station.
Now I thank the many teachers and others who have acted as “contact” people to bring me to their school and community. Not an easy task, I am sure. It is this group of individuals who truly are passing the legacy of the Holocaust on to future generations, and for their help and efforts, I will be eternally grateful. Thank you, one and all!
I wish all a successful, productive and happy spring, in a world of love and peace. And, yes, a very happy Easter to many of you, and a joyous Passover to many others.
Fondly,
Marion
PS - 61 years after the Second World War has ended, this e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain. It is being launched during Passover, the Jewish Holiday of Freedom, and will continue until Holocaust Memorial Day, in memory of the six million Jews who were massacred during the Holocaust. This e-mail is intended to reach six million people around the world! Join in and be a link in the memorial chain and to help distribute it around the world. Please send this e-mail to 6 people you know and ask them to continue this memorial chain. Thank you!
