Author Reading, David Laskin

Author David Laskin writes about ordinary people whose lives are forever changed due to cataclysmic events in history.   Perhaps the most fascinating story he has written to date is his own.  Laskin’s  newest book, “The Family: Three Journeys Into the Heart of the Twentieth Century”, focuses on the story of his own family: those who perished in the Holocaust, those who immigrated to America and those who relocated to Israel.  

Pieced together from letters his family saved for over six decades, we follow the branches of close relatives through the early 1900’s to shortly after WWII.  Laskin provides stark contrast to each group’s story - while one family perishes in the concentration camps of Nazi-controlled Europe, those who left for America become wealthy manufacturers.  His Aunt, the matriarch of the family, was the inventor of the Maidenform bra.

Laskin will read from “The Family” at 7pm on June 14th at Havurat Ee Shalom.  This program will explore how his family dealt with being Jewish in the 20th century, about displacement and immigration, about the importance of telling the stories of our families, and about the indispensable importance of memory.  

This event is free and open to the public, although donations are gladly accepted.  For more information, visit www.vashonhavurah.org.