Introducing Kimberlee Auerbach
W
elcome to Kimmiland. A
sense of humor and hon-
esty are mandatory; oth-
erwise, anything goes.
Kimberlee Auerbach is a former
news producer, now storyteller, come-
dian and author, who bares her soul,
and heart, to her audience. Her new
book, The Devil, the Lovers and Me:
My Life in Tarot (Dutton: $24.95),
chronicles her search for happiness,
which takes her to a very wise Tarot
card reader named Iris. The answers,
though, seem to have been with Kimmi
all along.
Q: Tarot cards, of course,
feature prominently in your
book, and you mention that
you have been reading them
yourself for more than 12
years. How did you become
interested in Tarot, and what
do you see as their value?
A: I became interested in Tarot for
the same reason I liked the Magic 8
Ball. I liked playing with chance. I liked
to think I could talk to the universe
with the flip of a card. I soon came
to realize that Tarot was more like a
Rorschach inkblot test than a tool for
divination. I now use the cards to talk
to myself, to take my life seriously, to
slow down and get quiet. They help me
create a sacred space.
0: You tell a number of
extremely private details
about yourself in The Devil,
the Lovers & Me, a move
inspired, in part, by your
mother's abuse as a child.
She was forced to keep quiet;
you want to be open and hon-
est. But did you ever hesitate
in revealing so much about
your life?
A: There's nothing I wouldn't reveal
about myself. I am a very open person.
I think it's my life mission to be open,
to connect with other people through
my honesty. My only hesitation had to
do with what to write and
card reader like Iris,
what not to write
what advice would
about the people
you offer them about
in my life. I gave
beginning their own
my mother, father,
journey to happi-
brother and boy-
ness?
friend (now ex) veto
A: I would say honor your
rights. I took out
needs; stop people-pleas-
or edited anything
ing; only say "yes" and
that made them
"no" when you really mean
t
my life in taro
feel uncomfortable.
it. I would tell someone
There is also a lot I
to embrace their journey,
their own unique, amazing
didn't reveal, a lot
I safeguarded. My
journey. I would say this
intention wasn't to
moment, this very moment,
out anyone but to
is all that matters.
Sure, therapy and other modalities,
simply tell my story.
I had to be careful and considerate
like Tarot, can help you process the
past and present, which is great; but
where my story butted up against
someone else's.
it's important to learn how to trust
yourself in the moment, to hold onto
Q: Many women will be able to your power, to figure out who you want
identify with your experienc-
to be in life, separate from your story
es: the insecurities, the men
and your parents' story. Oh, and it's
mistakes, the need to feel
always good to laugh at yourself.
safe. Short of finding a Tarot
- Elizabeth Applebaum
Introducing Diane Ackerman
T
he Zookeeper' s Wife (W.W.
Norton; $24.95) is the story
of a Righteous Gentile and his
family who saved the lives of hundreds
of Jews by hiding them in an extraor-
dinary way.
Jan Zabinski was the head of the
Warsaw Zoo, which the Nazis emp-
tied when they took control of the
city. Zabinski decided to move Jews
into the now-vacant animal homes.
Together with his wife, Antonina, who
left a diary recounting some of their
adventures, Zabinski selflessly cared
for men, women and children who oth-
erwise would have been murdered.
Q: How did you learn about
this extraordinary story?
A: Decades ago, I heard about ancient
animals in a primeval forest skirting
Poland's border with Russia, and I
wondered how they got there. Over
the next 15 years or so, miscellaneous
facts, lore, insights and other fare
began to accrete until I rejoined my
quest where I'd left it, in the hoof
prints of horses and Nazis; and layer
by layer, a bizarre story began emerg-
ing that's as heartfelt as it is unlikely,
a little-known drama of World War II.
Q: You describe Jan and
Antonina as always having a
cyanide pill available, yet at the
same time passionate about liv-
ing — and even happy. As one who
has written extensively about
human nature, can you imagine
living such a life yourself?
A: Antonina and I are alike in many ways,
especially when it comes to her love of
animals and nature. She wrote children's
books from the point of view of animals,
and I can easily imagine doing that. But
would I have found the courage and
compassion to risk my life repeatedly for
friends and neighbors? Would I have sur-
vived all the adventures she did with so
much grace? I wonder.
Q: As part of your research,
you went to Poland and
retraced many of Antonina's
steps. What do you remember
best about this? Is the zoo
still in exis-
tence?
A: Visiting the
Warsaw Zoo and
Antonina's villa
(which still stands),
I was able to meet
her son (now in his
70s), lie down in her
bedroom, view Old
Town from her bal-
cony and retrace her
footsteps along the
streets of Warsaw.
It was poignant
and thrilling to find
myself in her world.
Q: You write
poetry, fiction
and nonfiction. Aside from
research necessary for nonfic-
tion, is the process of writing
the same for all three? Do
you have one you like best?
A: Among the many kinds of nests
writers create for the feathered mys-
teries that live inside them, I find
poems more like
an arrangement
of nesting stones,
and prose more
like woven mud-
and-twig nests.
The architecture of
each is slightly dif-
ferent and has its
own rules, but both
are good places to
hatch ideas and
both now feel like
home.
Q: How is it
that you came
to have a mol-
ecule that bears your
name?
A: The "dianeackerone" is a sex phero-
mone in crocodilians. I once sexed alli-
gators as part of a research study, and
let me tell you: That isn't easy! I think
the scientists found it very sporting
of me.
- Elizabeth Applebaum
October 25 • 2007
B13