n A Family Way

The Travel
Mom shares
vacation
tips in a
new book.

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

PLANNING, SURVIVING,

AND ENJOYING YOUR

VACATION TOGETHER

Emily Kaufman

provides checklists
for every kind of trip.

Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

Cohen Alert

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, a
documentary about the famous
Jewish-Canadian singer-songwriter -
poet, debuted in June to very good
reviews. It is scheduled to open July
14 at the Main Art Theatre in Royal
Oak (for a review, see next week's
Jewish News).
The documentary includes foot-
age of Leonard Cohen
in concert, interviews
and performances of
Cohen's songs by many
artists, including U-2.
Cohen, 71, never
Leonard
became as famous as
Paul Simon and Bob
Cohen
Dylan. However, in the
eyes of his peers, no one is more
respected. He has a truly world-
wide following, and his diverse fans
include Mel Gibson, Prince Charles
and Ariel Sharon.
Gibson, whose last movie, The

Passion of the Christ, also was about
a Jew, is the executive producer of
I'm Your Man. A couple of years ago,
Prince Charles spoke about his love
of Cohen's songs.
When the Yom Kippur war broke
out in 1973, Cohen flew to Israel and
offered his services. He was assigned
to entertain the troops. Reportedly,
he shared a cognac with Ariel Sharon
on the Sinai front, and Sharon told
him he was a longtime fan.
The songwriter is a religious and
personal puzzle, in that he is a Zen
Buddhist monk but denies that his
practice and belief means he has left
Judaism. And being a monk has not
stopped Cohen from romancing one
fabulous woman after another.
Early last month, Cohen's current
lover, jazz singer Anjani Thomas, 42,
released Blue Alert, a CD of songs
with lyrics by Cohen. A lyric from the
title track explains what a blue alert
is: "You know how nights like this
begin/ The kind of knot your heart
gets in/ Any way you turn is going to
hurt/ Blue alert."

Emily Kaufman has built a
career around family travel, but
this summer will be the first time
she gets directly involved with
specific plans for Jewish travelers.
Kaufman, author of The
Travel Mom's Ultimate Book
of Family Travel: Planning,
Surviving, and Enjoying Your
Vacation Together (Broadway
Books; $14.95), is working with
a committee to provide upbeat
experiences for young people
competing in the August Maccabi
Games in Vancouver, British
Columbia.
"We're planning to meet the
needs of the kids who follow
dietary laws and are Shabbat
observant," says Kaufman, whose
daughter, Gabby, 14, will be in the
soccer matches. "When you travel
with a group of Jewish athletes,
the Jewish comes first:'
Kaufman, 43, married and the

Classy Guy

The handsome Jon Tenney, 44, has
bounced around TV series (includ-
ing Brooklyn South) since the early
1990s. He began appear-
ing as a police detective
last season on TNT's
The Closer, and his role
has been enhanced this
year. Tenney was named
Jon Tenney one of Hollywood's most
eligible bachelors in a recent issue
of People magazine. Formerly mar-
ried to Desperate Housewives actress
Teri Hatcher, Tenney shows class and
refuses to answer personal questions
about his former wife (with whom he
has a daughter).

Zapped Out

In 2004, two of Frank Zappa's (non-
Jewish) sons, Ahmet and Dweezil,
were involved with Jewish women.
Dweezil had been living for several
years with singer Lisa Loeb, and
Ahmet was dating actress Selma
Blair, who grew up in Southfield
and attended Hillel Day School in

mother of two teenagers, started
her professional life as a parenting
teacher and moved into local TV
segments about parenting issues.
After she was asked to report on a
family ski trip, she started pursu-
ing more opportunities with the
focus on travel, entering the world
of magazine writing and becom-
ing the travel contributor for
ABC's Good Morning America.
Kaufman's book, which
stretches from practical planning
routines to dream destinations,
is based on extensive experiences
she shares with her immedi-
ate family, extended family and
friends.
"I'm from Toledo and grew up
without travel;' reveals Kaufman,
a Californian who makes time for
some separate trips with her hus-
band, Sid, who works in entertain-
ment marketing, and each child.
"My parents were divorced, and
our income was very modest. We
didn't have a lot of money to travel

In A Family Way on page 46

Farmington Hills.
Blair surprised many by marry-
ing Ahmet in February 2004, after a
six-month romance. Meanwhile, Loeb
broke up with Dweezil about two
months after Blair married.
In Loeb's recent E! TV
reality series, #1 Single,
she made it very clear
she wanted to marry
a Jewish guy, and the
A series ended with her
Selma Blair involved with one.
Now comes news that
Blair has filed for divorce from Ahmet
Zappa. Will Blair follow Loeb again
and fall in love with a Jewish guy next
time? Stay tuned.

Spelling Notes

The obits on mega-producer Aaron
Spelling, who died on June 23 at age
83, noted that he grew up in Dallas,
Texas, the son of poor Jewish immi-
grants, and that he experienced a lot
of anti-Semitic bullying as a child.

Celebrity Jews on page 46

July 6 • 2006

45

