The Jewish Ensemble Theatre presents...

A Rainbow Of Books

Ann Arbor Book Festival features
author-son of Wizard of Oz lyricist.

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Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor

I

n between writing two books
about his dad — famed Wizard
of Oz lyricist E.Y. (Yip) Harburg)
— Ernie Harburg has put together a
book about some of his own experi-
ences living and working in Ann
Arbor.
Harburg, a University of Michigan
social scientist at the same time he
was part owner of a bar, will discuss
his latest writing project at the 22nd
annual Jewish Book Festival, running
Nov. 3-15 at the Jewish Community
Center of Washtenaw County.
Liberty, Equality, Consensus and All
That Jazz at the Del Rio Bar (Huron
River Press; $17.95) will be the topic
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11. A panel
of four will join Harburg to discuss
the management style based on mutu-
al agreement.
"We had an adventure at that bar for
35 years," says Harburg, 83, now living
in New York. "We started it in 1969;
and after it closed in 2004, it became
clear that it should go on record.
"The idea was to create a free and
equal type environment in a standard
business environment. That's a very
heavy proposition to work out with 35
people or more
Harburg, as author of Who Put the

Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz?: Yip
Harburg, Lyricist, has documented his
dad's life and work. The next book will
concentrate on the lyrics themselves.
Some 20 authors will join Harburg
at the festival. Special programs spot-
light the American Girl Rebecca book
series (Nov. 8) and baseball books
(Nov. 9).
"Yip's life in being a fighter for
social justice did influence my life,'
says the author in the 70th anniver-
sary year of The Wizard of Oz. "His
was the Jewish immigrant's cry for
justice."
Harburg's trip to Ann Arbor will be
the first since the bar closed. Recalling
two visits his dad made to the Del Rio,
the author thinks that musicals and
the bar gave the two a common bond
in the field of entertainment.
"A musical show is for some kind
of uplifting experience that can make
people laugh and cry," he says. "A bar
is for the comfort of the people who
inhabit it:'

By Kitty Dubin

54'

With the deadline for her second novel
looming, a creative writing professor is
mired in self-doubt while work, family and a
gifted new student threaten to drag her under.
As she struggles to finish the novel, conflicts
erupt with her husitand, her best friend and
her oh-so-talented student. Michigan
plaryriatt and prqesvr Kitty Dubin explores
theilipoicesit 4ye*aoin creating our own
stogies with I Irsertratlemark wit, compassion,
and razor sharp dialogue.

ca

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(ATP( ri)

6600 West Maple Road
West Bloomfield. MI

Located on the corner of
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1

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❑

CONTEMPORARY

The Jewish Book Festival
runs Nov. 3-15 at the Jewish
Community Center of Washtenaw
County, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr.,
in Ann Arbor. Programs are free.
Lunch costs $10 in advance and
$12 at the door. (734) 971-0990.
For a full schedule, go to
www.jccannarbor.org .

DELICIOUS

;44

$5.00 Gift Card

Toward the purchase of
one entrée

thru 11/15/09
(Entrée's starting at $8.95)

One gift card per table
Not good with any other offers

Other authors speaking at the Jewish Book Festival, many of them
overlapping with those appearing at Detroit's Jewish Book Fair, are:

Nov. 3: Jeff Zaslow, Girls From Ames
Nov. 4: Dan Senor, Start-Up Nation, and Jonathan Cohn, Sick: The
Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis and the People
Who Pay the Price
Nov. 5: S. J. Rozan, Shanghai Moon, and Abigail Pogrebin, One and
the Same
Nov. 6: Michael Rosen, What Else But Home
Nov. 8: Michael Tucker/Jill Eikenberry, Family Meals
Nov. 9: Howard Blum, American Lightning
Nov. 10: Kurt Roberg, A Visa or Your Life! A Boy's Life and the
Odyssey of His Escape From Nazi Germany, and Chris
Bohjalian, Skeletons at the Feast
Nov. 11: Steve Luxenberg, Annie's Ghosts
Nov. 12: Carol Leifer, When You Lie About Your Age, and David Liss,
The Devil's Company
Nov. 13: Nick Dubin, Asperger Syndrome and Anxiety: A Guide to
Successful Stress Management

.

Fresh Guacamole
Prepared Tableside

TWELVE MILE CROSSING AT
FOUNTAIN WALK
44375 TWELVE MILE RD IN NOVI
248-374-4600

ROJOMEXICANBISTRO.COM

October 29 - 2009

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