* ORDER EARLY! For All Of Your Rosh Hashanah Dinners Prepared By Our Fabulous Chefs! nal paintings that impress themselves on the way we see, also our own com- mentaries on what we're doing — while we're talking," he notes. Writing Blue was an 18-year process. While at Harvard Law School, Zucker, a Yale graduate, aspired to become a novelist; he wrote his version of the great American novel but couldn't get it published. He went on to get a degree in English at New York University, and then he was convinced to join the fami- ly precious gems business. His grandfather, a descendent of 13 generations of rabbis, was "one of the greatest jewelers in Antwerp before World War II and a great talmudist." Zucker, who was born on the French Riviera, seems to enjoy his chosen pro- fession, particularly the stories he hears from clients and colleagues as well as from the stone cutters, miners and mer- chants he deals with around the world. A man who appreciates beauty, the resident of New York's Upper West Side has been collecting Judaica for 35 years; his family has a large collection of ketubot, on display and stored at the Jewish Theological Seminary. While stalled on completing this novel, he published four nonfiction books about jewelry. On the cover of Blue is a photo- graph of a 204-carat star sapphire. The title has much resonance for the author, who delights in finding coinci- dences that perhaps were intended and connections between things that don't ordinarily seem connected. "Blue runs through so many mar- velous causeways of the artistic and lit- erary mind that I thought it should be the focal point of my novel," Zucker says. He notes that the word for sap- phire in Hebrew is sapir, the word for story is separ, and the word for count- ing is mispar. Blue was chosen for the Israeli flag, a sapphire was supposed to have guided Noah's ark and the Ten Commandments were supposed to have been written on sapphire. Not surprisingly, blue is the favorite color of the author, who's wearing a blue tie. He says that it was "very much Vermeer's color" and Joyce's too. He goes on to explain the Spaniards called someone with neither Jewish nor Muslim blood "blue-blooded," and that Yale graduates are called "Old Blues." "I definitely thought that blue would pursue me if I didn't pursue it," he says. "Naturally I felt all these things together led me to be a pen moving but perhaps guided by very much more than myself." In putting this creative work togeth- er, he first wrote — in longhand, in blue ink —the central text, and then assembled voices of people who influ- enced and intrigued him. In some cases the commentaries are actual words or quotes from the commentators, and those lines appear in italic type. More often, their comments are as imagined by Zucker. Among his inspirations in writing Blue were a Talmud teacher he has tried to meet with weekly over many years at the Harvard Club, and Elie Wiesel, whose lectures he has attended for more than 25 years at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. There, he first heard many of the Chasidic stories and talmudic tales that appear in the commentaries. Citing the saying from Pirkei Avot that one who quotes something in the name of the person who said it has- tens the coming of the Messiah, he said that he was very careful in attributing the quotes. An index at the back identifies the speakers, refer- ence works and art sources. While writing, he had Xeroxes of some of his favorite paintings and photographs, slated for the book, around him, "a bit like canasta cards." For Zucker, the pictures and text are "full partners" in the novel. The artist most represented is Vermeer. "I think his paintings are among the most mag- ical in the world of art. They are very much the glasses through which I see the world," says Zucker. Indeed, the light-filled paintings infuse the text. Zucker describes his fiction as a blend of fact and fiction. "It is quite extraordi- nary to me that some of the characters in my book that I created as fictional characters, based rudimentarily on gem dealers I have met over the years but didn't know much about, have turned out to be more truthfully and historical- ly portrayed than I ever imagined." He cites the ending of Isaac Bashevis Singer's story "Gimpel the Fool," when Gimpel muses that what some people think are dreams and lies turn out be true in other parts of the world. Asked about the connection between jewelry and writing, Zucker notes that in writing, "one has the sense of polishing the words, or cut- ting and inserting the words as an enameler would do into a bracelet or ring." Secondly, he points out that in Blue, the "colors of jewels are reflected very much in my text." Is Blue, the story of a spiritual gem dealer, autobiographical? "Much more than an autobiograph- ical book," says Zucker, "it's about things that didn't happen, that I think in a mystical way will happen in future generations." ❑ Pick up our convenient Menu Order Form or We'll Even FAX It To You! Complete Rosh Hashanah Dinners From Appetizers To Our Fabulous * Desserts! Rosh Hashanah Dinners! We Carry A Complete Line Of Rosh Hashanah Foods, Desserts and Candies * * * * * * * * MoVee's Restaurant and Lounge Open Monday thru Saturday, 11 a.m. til 2 a.m. GOOD FOOD GOOD DRINKS • GOOD TIMES Appearing Sat., Sept 16 NOMADS QUINTET Appearing Sat., Sept 16 CHARLIE LATIMER SUNDAYS AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE PARTIES CALL MICHAEL OR RICHELE 23380 TELEGRAPH, BETWEEN 9 AND 10 MILE • Southfield (248) 352-8243 REMBRANDT WILL SKETCH YOUR PICTURE FOR YOU! UNBELIEVABLE! 4 Quarters Free! 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