This article appeared in the Jan. 29,
2004 Jewish Advocate.
By Susie Davidson
Advocate Correspondent
Publisher and editor Sondra Zeidenstein,
who appeared along with contributors to her latest collection on Tuesday, Jan.
27 at 7 p.m., at the Newton Free Library, didn't begin writing poetry until she
was in her 50Õs.
In 1987, noting a lack of published works
from mature, honest and bold writers, she founded Chicory Blue Press, an
organization which focuses on broad and heartfelt offerings of women over the
age of 60. ChicoryÕs latest effort, ÒFamily Reunion: Poems about Parenting
Grown Children,Ó grew from a now-healed personal chasm between she and her
grown daughter, during which she realized that the painful experience of
separating from grown children was largely uncharted in literature. She went on
to solicit and release the new volume, which features 65 contemporary American poems by such authors as Maxine Kumin, Raymond
Carver and Grace Paley. The book also includes local poets Betty Buchsbaum,
Deborah DeNicola, Kinereth Gensler, Nancy Kassell, Myrna Patterson and Judith
Steinbergh, who will appear at the Newton reading. Its subjects, Zeidenstein
cites in her introduction, range from "the perils and joys of
connection" to "pain for terrible misfortune. fear for what might
happen, and acknowledgement of our own imperfections and helplessness.Ó
A Connecticut resident, Zeidenstein has
previously authored the poetry collection ÒA Detail in That Story,Ó and edited
ÒA Wider Giving: Women Writing After a Long Silence,Ó ÒThe Crimson Edge: Older
Women Writing,Ó and ÒHeart of the Flower: Poems for the Sensuous Gardener.Ó She has also published the short stories
ÒFull MoonÓ by Tema Nason, and ÒBreathing Like a Jew,Ó poems by Florence
Weinberger, among other works. ZeidensteinÕs poems about growing up in
Pittsburgh reflect Jewish themes; one received an award in a competition from The
Judah L. Magnes Museum in California. The title poem of her most recent
collection, ÒResistance,Ó is about Daniel Pearl and his wife Mariane.
ZeidensteinÕs family belonged to BÕnai
Israel Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where she attended its Sunday School and was valedictorian
of her 1949 confirmation class. ÒThis was the first class that had a female as
valedictorian, which I believe was somewhat controversial,Ó she recalled.
Zeidenstein left Pittsburgh for Cambridge when she married her husband George in
1953; the couple then lived in Kathmandu, Nepal where he
was Director of the Peace Corps, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he was Representative
of the Ford Foundation. Zeidenstein taught English and American Literature in Master's
Degree programs at both locales. Later, they resided in New York, where George
was President of the international organization Population Council.
She holds a bachelor of arts degree from
the University of Pittsburgh, a master of arts from Harvard University, and a doctorate
from Columbia, all in English and American Literature. The ZeidensteinÕs
daughter Laura is a midwife and painter, son Peter is a compositor and
novelist. They have two grandchildren.
ÒIn the last thirty years, poetry has
explored and transformed our complicated relationships with our mothers and
fathers,Ó said Library Program Director Beth Purcell. ÒBut rarely does one read
poems by the mothers and fathers of grown children.Ó
The reading, which is free, will take place
at 7 p.m. at the Newton Free Library, Newton Centre. For further information,
please call the Library at 617-796-1360 or email bpurcell@CI.NEWTON.MA.US. For
information on Chicory Blue Press, please visit http://www.chicorybluepress.com.