Today I
have the pleasure to introduce on Center Stage Jeannette Katzir
| Jeannette Katzir |
She is
someone who made me emotional after reading her book. I remember not
immediately being able to say anything. I had taken a cursory look at the first
page intending to read it later as I was just finishing a screen play and felt
I should rest for a few hours at least. It was a mistake opening that first
page. I was tired, needed to make dinner and I had Jeannette to thank for
sleeping hungry and exhausted at the end of the read some eighteen hours later.
My neck was stiff and I had lived through a thousand agonies of pain, fear,
hurt and exasperation. In fact at the end of my reading I had to send Jeannette
this short instant poem:
Channa.
Just
one bird,
it flew
the skies
on one
broken wing
as her
dream died at dawn
unable
to feel the heat of the sun
the
caress of the winds
the
soft murmur of a fresh spring
for as
a broken bird she flew the skies
pain
and fear through her soul
Channa
oh Channa.
I am
sure when I sent it to Jeannette she must have blinked and wondered what kind
of person I am. I was that affected and immersed. Before I bring on my guest I
would most earnestly recommend her book,”Broken Birds”. To anyone who has been
at the receiving end of injustice through racism. Let me share a few of the
comments that this book has elicited, so you will know why you ought to get a
copy soonest
“ . . . The final
hundred pages of "Broken Birds" are thrust and parry, insult and body
blow. It's nasty, nasty stuff, and yet I didn't turn away. And not because I'm
a voyeur; in that game, I'm an amateur. But stories are life, distilled; as a
collector of stories, I'm All Pro, and so, I'd bet, are most of you. And when
the storyteller is gifted, our capacity to hear them expands.”
-Jesse Kornbluth,
The Huffington Post
& HeadButler.com
“ . . . Katzir’s pacing was impeccable .
. . I could not put it down from the first day I began reading it . . . I truly
felt as if I, too was hiding from the Nazis and running for my life . . . [The]
realistic portrayal of her beloved parents really added
depth and complexity to this memoir. . . ”
-BookClubClassics.com
Let us now return to Jeannette, please enjoy
the interview.
Please tell us a bit about yourself
I'm a fifty-
plus year old wife, mother, grandma-ma, author, equestrian, photographer
and travel-aholic. I started seriously writing after my mother's death
and haven't been able to stop. I'm putting the finishing touches on book #2 and
am co-writing a children series with two of my riding buddies.
2. Broken Bird is a very powerful story but it is a family
story, is it personal? Your name is Jeannette and not the name of the author.
It is a
non-fcition memoir about myself and my family. It can't come any more
personal than that.
3. You have explored several themes in the story, particularly
about racism, and parenting, which one of the themes has impacted on you
most?
Being jewish in a
predominately non-jewish world and suffering from the racism it invokes has
instilled a wariness in me. Parenting is something i have dealt
with since i was old enough to care for my younger siblings. It is
something i enjoy, but not nearly as much as grand-parenting. It has all
the best parts of parenting - with none of the worry.
4. Channa’s story has made a very powerful impression, what
would you say was the Achille’s heel that finally defeated her?
I don't feel Channa was ever defeated, if
anything the history of her youth and she herself were her worst enemies.
5. Parenting and family values also seem to have been given a
lot of consideration in Broken Birds, both Nathan and Channa missed the point,
didn’t they and why do you think so?
I think their
time in the war jaded them, and although they both tried very hard, parenting
didn't come easy to them.
6. Please why did you opt for Broken Birds as an Ebook? Is Ebook
now gaining the upper hand over traditional publishing?
Broken birds is
available in both ebook format and as a paperback, but i think traditional publishing
will go the way of the 8track.
7. Who are your favorite Authors?
DAN BROWN,
JEANNETTE WALLS, KATHRYN STOCKETT AND J.K. ROWLING.
8. You mentioned in your book that there grew a systemic denial
of the holocaust, what is the situation now?
I was in
germany in 2005 and sadly found holocaust denial and anti-semitism
flourishing.
9. Distrust, has had a devastating effect on Channa’s marriage
and ultimately destroyed a close knit family, do you think the story would have
been different if Channa had received some counseling?
I don't know if counseling could have fixed
her. The demons that surrounded her were profound and ever present. When
she died she carried those fears with her.
10. Why do you call her Momila? What does it mean and signify?
Momila is a Yiddish
word for mother, it is a term of endearment and my mother was very dear to
me.
11. What were the lessons you learned from the story of Channa?
I learned
that if you have children, and you do have a favorite try with everything you
have not to show it. And if you are going to be anything but fair in the
handling of issues such as money, property, etc., don't be secretive, or leave
the discoveries for a time after you're gone. The children deserve to be
told while you are alive so issues can be discussed. If fairness is
something you feel is unwarranted, at least tell the children to their face,
because once you're gone they are left with an open wound and no way to heal
it. (i am not saying you have to be fair, it is after all your right to do as
you wish, but have the backbone to tell the child to his/her face).
12. What genre of writing do you prefer?
Writing broken
birds, the story of my momila, a memoir, was cathartic and i'm glad i wrote it.
My second book is a fiction - and i have enjoyed writing it
very much. The children's book is also fictional and writing this one as
a group effort is a lot of fun. If i had to select a genre, i think i only had
one non-fiction in me, so i'd pick fiction as my favorite.
13. Who would you recommend this book to? What has been the
response to this wonderful book?
I would recommend
this book to parents, so they'll understand the harm in favoritism. To
grandparents, so they will know that if they leave money, property, belongings,
remembrances unevenly those left behind are left with a question in their
hearts that will never be answered. I also think anyone who wants to know
what it was like to be the child of someone who suffered through such an
atrocity would gain great insight after reading this book. Brothers, sisters,
aunts and uncles or/and world war ii adicts would find it a fascinating read.
14. Share your writing day with this blog
Unfortunately i wish i was able to write
all day, but i can not, so i write whenever i have a couple of peaceful
moments, sometimes very early in the morning and sometimes very late at night.
15.Please
give links to anyone interested in buying Broken Birds.
It is
available on my websitewww.brokenbirds.com, on amazon.com. Barnesandnoble.com andsmashwords.com,. A number of small bookstores also
carry them on their shelves.
Thank you for coming on Center Stage.
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