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Harriet Zaidman to launch new novel at McNally Robinson on November 20
By MYRON LOVE Local author Harriet Zaidman’s new novel, “What Friends Are For” – which is scheduled to be launched Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers – delves into the fraught issue of abortion from the point of view of a fifteen-year-old – Leesa – who is facing the question whether or not to have an abortion after finding out that she is pregnant.
Adding an additional element to her quandary, the teenager – even while preoccupied with typical rites of passage, such as school and crushes, and thinking ahead to getting her first job and a driver’s license – has been encouraged by her mother to join the campaign against abortion.
The novel is set in 1983 in Winnipeg at the height of the controversy over Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s newly-opened abortion clinic here . Leesa and her zealous friend Jenny are part of the movement to shut it down.
According to the book jacket write-up, “Leesa is certain in her convictions until life suddenly merges with the headlines of the day. Now she is the one dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, and everything she thought she believed is turned upside down. As she marches along the sidewalk, carrying her picket sign and her secret, she struggles to make a decision that could determine her future. Leesa comes to realize that the only person who has the right to make the choice is her. But will opening up to her family and friends mean losing them forever?”
As per an earlier interview with Zaidman in this paper three years ago, the retired teacher/librarian has been turning out children’s books and novels for about a dozen years. “I had been writing book reviews since the 1990s,” Zaidman noted in that earlier interview. “I have always had a lot of ideas for stories. I finally decided that I should take a chance and turn them into stories.”
In 2020, she was short-listed for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers for her novel, “City on Strike” relating to the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.
Three years ago, she was again nominated for the award – and won – with her second novel, “Second Chances”, which takes place against the background of the polio epidemic.
She says that she was inspired to take on the issue of abortion by the decision of the American Supreme Court to turn the legal question of abortion back to the individual states after several decades of abortion been having made legal in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
“The situation in the States – with each state having different laws – has become chaotic,” Zaidman observes. “In some states, it can be dangerous to become pregnant.
“Most people have forgotten what happened here around the opening of the Morgentaler clinic,” she continues.
Among the negative reactions, a sniper shot and killed a doctor in New York who was performing abortions while he was relaxing in his home in 1998 while a second doctor, Jack Fainman of Winnipeg, was seriously wounded in 1997.
As part of her research, she interviewed a couple of people who were intimately involved with the clinic. Ellen Kruger was the clinic’s director, and Suzanne Newman was a volunteer at the clinic and has since become a family physician herself.
“I deeply appreciate that our own Supreme Court has ruled that the question of abortion is strictly a decision between a woman and her doctor,” Zaidman comments, “as it should be.”
She points out that with more education and the general availability of birth control, abortion rates have noticeably declined in recent years.
Another entry in her resumé this year is a her new role writing a column about children’s books the third Saturday of every month in the Free Press, a task she took over in the spring from the late Helen Norrie. She also contributes articles to “The Cottager: Lake Country Living and Lifestyle.”
“I am always considering new projects,” Zaidman says. “I try to spend two to three hours a day doing research, writing and staying abreast of different topics. I like to have something challenging to work with.”
Readers who may be unable to attend Zaidman’s book launch in person can follow the event online on the McNally Robinson website. The launch will be hosted by Shelagh Rogers, former host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter.
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Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
Local News
Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.