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SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
A
youngster discovering love letters, a
woman visiting Israel and a World
War II veteran worshiping in a
French synagogue have some things
in common with 49 other people tracked down
by writer Debra Darvick.
All have gone through life-altering experiences
that intensified their positive feelings toward
Judaism and are the subjects of essays in Darvick's
first book, This Jewish Life: Stories of Discovery
Connection, and Joy (Eakin Press; $19.95).
Samantha Ashley, of Huntington Woods, dis-
closes how a packet of letters gave life to a
murdered Holocaust victim she would never
meet. Kay Harris, also of Huntington Woods,
explains why a trip to the Middle East affirmed
her decision of years earlier to convert to
Judaism. Jules Doneson, of Farmington Hills,
tells about the significance of receiving the
cloth, six-pointed star that a young French girl
no longer was forced to wear.
While Darvick's book holds many stories of
people living in Michigan, there also are many
essays about individuals based elsewhere, from
a Midwest farm to the Vatican.
"I was browsing in a bookstore a number of
years ago and came across a book called Family:
Everyday Stories About the Miracle of Love,"
Darvick, 47, explains about the origin of her
anthology. "That book is a collection of stories
told by people transformed by kindness, pro-
tection or intervention.
"I wondered why there wasn't a book with
similar, life-affirming stories from a Jewish
viewpoint. Eventually, through a series of coin-
cidences, I found a person with an interesting
story, and that got me hooked."
Darvick, a Birmingham freelance writer
whose articles regularly appear in the Detroit
Jewish News, collected tales from people she
knew and found others through the Internet
and periodicals. Seven years passed from the
time she began her project until the day of
publication.
The book begins with Darvick's description
of the bris of her son, Elliot, now a college stu-
dent at Washington University in St. Louis.
The event took place in Michigan, where she
and her husband had recently moved, and the
family was elated at how many new, Detroit
friends became involved in their celebration.
"I would interview a subject and re-create the
story in the first person," Darvick says. "When
I felt the story was ready, I would call my sub-
ject and read the story over the phone. I went
after the truth of each piece and tried to repre-
sent that accurately."
While Darvick took some literary license in
retelling experiences, she also decided that she
would divide them into chapters according to
holidays and life-cycle events. With this for-
mat, she could simultaneously introduce the
stories and provide information about Judaism
to help readers understand the religion.
"I feel honored to be part of this book," says
Ashley, a Wisconsin college student who used a
relative's letters as the basis of her bat mitzvah
presentation. "I believe telling the story of my
great-uncle gives him the voice silenced by the
Nazis when he was a young man."
While Darvick learned about Ashley through
a newspaper article, she knew Harris personally.
"We talked several times about my [Israel] trip,
and the first go-round of writing was very differ-
Debra Darvick:
"I thought that if
I could just show
readers, via moving
testimonies, what
they could be a part
of, then maybe, just
maybe, some would
be spurred to check
out this world
called Judaism."