A
The nation's oldest
and largest Jewish Book Fair
has a volume for everyone.
AMY MINDELL
Special to The Jewish News
aking a
cue from the diver-
sity within the local Jewish
community, this year's
Jewish Book Fair offers
something for everyone, including a
Nobel laureate, a sex doctor, a fashion
diva and paper dolls for the kids.
At 47, it is the nation's oldest
Jewish book fair — and the largest.
The fair has grown tremendously from
10/30
1998
22 Detroit Jewish News
when founder Irwin Shaw traveled to
New York to convince publishers to
provide books on consignment for his
fledgling event.
Shaw, then executive director of the
Jewish Community Center, had want-
ed to induce local readers to try Jewish
books, then in meager supply, and cre-
ated the Jewish book fair genre.
"People thought it was a crazy
idea, mostly because no one had
done it before," Shaw recalled. "The
most we had was 'book week' where
we'd have a single author
visit – good years, we'd
have two."
In the five decades that
followed, the fair grew
from .a single author to a
12-day extravaganza with
some 45 events and
10,000 books for sale. But
the mission remains the
same: putting Jewish
books in Jewish homes.
Beginning with fashion
designer Diane Von _
Furstenberg, who kicks off
the fair on Saturday, Nov.
7, featuring Dr. Ruth
Westheimer on Monday,
Nov. 9, and closing with
former Israeli Prime
Minister and Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Shimon
Peres on Sunday, Nov. 15,
the fair literally runs the
gamut.
"This year we have a
great variety," said Book
- Fair co-chair Sylvia Gotlib.
"And we also attracted a
lot of star power."
The Detroit fair is one of 150
book fairs nationwide. Because it is
more well-established and better-run
than many others, authors readily
agree to the Detroit stop. The size and
strength of the local Jewish communi-
ty also makes Detroit an attractive
venue for authors, according to
Gotlib.
In fact, she said, the venue was so
popular that organizers initiated "pre-
events" for the first time this year to
meet the demand of authors wanting
to visit, although it meant extending
the fair from its traditional nine days
to 12. Pre-events begin Wednesday
night, and all events are free to the
public and will be held at the Jewish 11
Community Centers in West
Bloomfield and Oak Park.
Visiting authors are not paid to
speak, Gotlib said, and not paying an
honorariiim can make attracting top
names tricky. She said she counts on
personal appeal and good luck to
secure writers. "Shimon Peres is not
on a national book tour, but we want*
ed him to come to Detroit and we
called. By pure chance, his agent said
yes. It helped that he has connections
to Detroit and friends here," Gotlib
said.
However, it was the Peres sponsor,
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, that set the ball in motion.
The federation put in a request for
Peres, and Gotlib got lucky with a s
well-placed call.
Like Peres, all authors are spon-
sored by local organizations. The orga-
nizations can suggest authors which
Gotlib's team tries to secure with vary-
ing success. Sponsors pay all related
transportation and lodging costs and
provide hospitality and a gift for their
authors, who receive no other pay-
ment for their speech.
Fair diversity is attributed to the
variety of sponsoring organizations,
some 60 in total, which include
Zionist groups, synagogues, women's
groups, a country club and a funeral
home.
For example, the Children of
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