Miriam Hoffman Will Read Selections From Her New Book 'A Breed Apart,' at Books & Books in Coral Gables

Miriam Hoffman, author, scholar, playwright & survivor will be reading selections from her new book A Breed Apart: Reflections of a Young Refugee, on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, at 8pm at the Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave ~ Coral Gables, Florida. She will be joined by her son, Avi Hoffman, the award-winning actor & performer, with special musical guest, Randi Fishenfeld. The evening will include a multi-media presentation, discussion, Q&A & book signing. The event, which is co-sponsored by the University of Miami/Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, will be FREE & open to the public.

Published by YI Press (a division of Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc.), A Breed Apart is an engaging non-fiction tale of war & survival, seen through the eyes of a young Miriam Hoffman & her father. Hoffman's personal tale captures the beauty & importance of keeping the Yiddish language & Jewish culture alive during the twentieth-century, despite countless attempts to destroy it. A Breed Apart follows Miriam Hoffman's emotional journey from a young refugee girl growing up in a post-war DP (Displaced Person) camp to her new life in the United States.

Miriam Hoffman is an author, scholar & survivor of the Russian gulag & the post-World War II DP camps, who has spent her life preserving the Yiddish language & culture that she cherishes so dearly. Her accomplishments in education, arts & literature have impacted both Jews & non-Jews alike. From her time as a child in the post-war DP (Displaced Persons) refugee camp in Ulm, Germany, she brought with her an album of pictures of life in the camp, as well as a journal she kept of over 80 songs in four different languages - Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian & Polish. The Ulm Album has been shared with the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. She has also written over a dozen plays which have won awards & have been produced all over the world. Hoffman recently retired after 25 years as professor of Yiddish Language & Culture at Columbia University. She has published over 2,000 weekly columns in New York's Yiddish Forward Newspaper as a feature writer. Recently inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame, Miriam has written university textbooks & is the founder of the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theatre, with the world-renowned Broadway impresario. www.YiddishkaytInitiative,org

Avi Hoffman is an actor, writer & director who was nominated for a NY Drama Desk Award for his Yiddish language portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Recently inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame, Avi is the founder of the Yiddishkayt Initiative, the producing artistic director of the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theatre & is known for his award-winning PBS one-man shows Too Jewish?, Too Jewish, Too! & Still Jewish After All These Years (Performer of the Year '95 - NY Press Magazine; L.A. OVATION award - Best Actor In a Musical 2001; NY Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle award nominations). On TV, he was featured as Sid Raskin in the Starz TV series "Magic City," as well as on Netflix's "Bloodline," A&E's "The Glades" & NBC's "Law and Order." He starred in the motion picture, The Imported Bridegroom & appeared in the PBS documentary They Came for Good: A History of the Jews in the US. Avi has performed all over the world & has numerous acting & directing credits, garnering multiple awards & nominations.

RANDI FISHENFELD, violinist for The Wildfire Band, has been described as a "Tornado on the violin who can bow life into the dead." This New York born & raised classically trained violinist, turned "bombshell electric violinist," began studying violin at a very young age & quickly showed that she had that certain combination of hunger to learn the instrument, as well as that innate quality of talent, that her teachers knew she would go far in music.

Randi studied with various teachers until she finally met & began to study with her mentor - Professor Sylvan Schulman, from the Juilliard School of Music. At the same time, Randi continued her academic studies & went on to pass the bar exam & became a licensed attorney! Music had always been her first love though & in 1995, she decided to devote all her attention to music.? Since then, she has played with the L.I. Symphony Orchestra, international recording artists Air Supply, Foghat, BB King, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Journey, Kansas & with Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) & his band, The Temple of Soul, among others. Randi's energy & movement on stage is the engine that drives Wildfire's very exciting show.

DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 @ 8pm

PLACE: Books & Books ~ 265 Aragon Ave ~ Coral Gables, FL 33134

INFORMATION: (305)442-4408 ~ FREE & open to the public

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