Arts & Entertainment

Award-Winning Author Aaron Lansky Visits Medfield

The following press release is from the desk of Andrea Fiorillo, Medfield Public Library Adult Services Librarian.

A lively audience greeted Aaron Lansky, author of the title Outwitting History, when he spoke at the on March 12. He was warm, engaging, funny and inspiring.

Recounting many of the stories detailed in his book, Lansky made them come alive with humor and feeling. He told of how he came to his life’s work collecting and promoting Yiddish literature and how that work continues today at the National Yiddish Book Center (NYBC) which he founded in Amherst.

The NYBC is more than a home for Yiddish books; it is a vibrant cultural center, with language courses, galleries, a theater, and interactive exhibits. Its architecture is modeled on intricately hewn Polish wooden synagogues. The work of preserving the past while looking to the future is evidenced from the display of old Yiddish printing presses and typewriters to the cutting edge Steven Spielberg Digital Library, which gives the literature a whole new life on the internet. A trip to this national treasure is just a few hours away and well worth the time.

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As in Outwitting History, the most moving stories told were those of the elderly Yiddish speakers who trusted their books to Lansky. Lansky’s ability to honor the culture of an older generation by telling their stories with compassion and hilarity is his most endearing trait as a storyteller. Attendees responded enthusiastically to his lecture, asking thoughtful questions and staying to meet the author and have copies of Outwitting History signed.

If you missed the presentation, Medfield.TV will be rebroadcasting it shortly (follow this link: http://medfield.tv/content/medfield-tv-channels). If you haven’t yet read Outwitting History, you can stop by the or and pick up a copy today. The library is planning a group tour of the National Yiddish Book Center on Sunday May 6, if interested, please contact Librarian Andrea Fiorillo at (508) 359-4544 ext 8002 or afiorillo@minlib.net.

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Medfield Reads is federally funded with LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.


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