Once we were settled into the show, the amount of attention “the book” was getting was phenomenal. There were very few people who walked by the booth who didn’t stop and look at it. The title is definitely an attention-grabber. It isn’t always positive attention, but there’s nothing wrong with that if we have the opportunity to then talk to someone about the book. There were many people from the Jewish book council event who stopped by to look, more than I expected were initially positive, and some came by to blast the author for her insensitivity, only to wind up a few minutes later, understanding, crying and hugging her, and most importantly, wanting to buy the book. This phenomenon continued throughout the day.
As the day came to a close, we were exhausted, it was raining, cabs were nowhere to be found, and the lines for the shuttle buses were miles long. We arranged for a limo and with a two hour minimum, decided to take advantage of the time. We had the driver take us back to the hotel, changed and went out to find a great deli. We ended up at Carnegie, and the route we took to get there could be fodder for a 1920s silent film, or a Benny Hill sketch.
We were seated between an older couple and a mother and daughter. The older gentleman was singing songs, and his wife was saying, “Oh the kids loved that one.” We asked him to sing louder and told him how much we were enjoying his song. We struck up a conversation and they asked where we were from and we said LA. The woman had lived in Santa Monica when she was growing up, and worked as a secretary for Walt Disney (himself, not the company). They went on to explain that she was able to work for Walt Disney because she hadn’t known she was supposed to write “Jewish” under nationality, and wrote “American.” Her maiden name was French and no one ever knew she was Jewish. (Sad to think it was that way, but I guess it was.) They asked why were in town and we told them about the book, and the title. They did not react in a negative way, but rather, laughed and asked questions about it.
The mother and daughter, to my left, asked again what they title of the book was, and the daughter asked if she thought it was okay to make fun of the Holocaust. We went on to explain the stories of her family from the book, blah, blah, blah. Thus ensued a two-hour conversation about the book, the Holocaust, families, Isreal, Palastine, Europe--between the six of us, but rather I should say the five of them, because I did quite a lot of quiet listening. The older couple said goodnight, and asked us to please come and visit them at their store before we left town. They were the Lees, and own “Lee’s Art Shop, the largest art supply store in New York, four floors on 57th.” They also asked about getting a copy of the book, wished us much success and said they knew the book would be successful.
We continued talking to the mother and daughter and the conversation turned more toward editing and book design. As it turns out, the mother has written a book and had many questions for me about publishing a book. It also turns out the mother had just flown in from Europe and the daughter had just flown in from Isreal. The mother asked for my card. She gave me her card and she was Graciela Vaserman Samuels, Ph.D., Chargee de Mission, Organisation des Nations Unies, pour l’education, la science et la culture, in Paris. She asked too, that we send her a copy of the book so she could give it to her husband, and then told us that he is Dr. Shimon Samuels, Director for International Liaison, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, France. As they left, Graciela Samuels hugged me and wished us much success with the book.
The reactions have been amazing, surprising, but amazing.
Saturday
Saturday was another day of much positive attention for the book and another busy, busy show day. Othello Bach and her husband, Don, asked us to join them for dinner and we met at Frankie and Johnnie’s steakhouse. The food and service were both fantastic and it was such a pleasure to spend time with Othello and Don, who are two of the most gracious and warm people I’ve ever met.
Exhausted after a long, long day at the show and eating too much dinner, I decided that it was time to go home. Literally. Nothing much happens at the show on Sunday, and I was missing my husband and boys way too much to stay in New York City for two more days without good reason. I called the airport, packed and left first thing the next morning for home. There’s far more to the story, but in a nutshell, this is the important part.
I learned a great deal about people during this trip, learned to trust my instincts and learned what I’m capable of. I’m thankful for all that happened during the trip, even the unpleasant parts, because it led me to spend time on my own, time reflecting and time appreciating who I am and what my life is all about so much. This quote was in the blog a week or so ago, and it comes back to me now in summation:
No pleasure philosophy, no sensuality, no place nor power, no material success can for a moment give such inner satisfaction as the sense of living for good purposes, for maintenance of integrity, for the preservation of self-approval.
- Minot Simons
Sunday
Exhausted, I slept much the first leg of the trip, had a long and delayed stopover and then a very enjoyable last leg of the trip. There are times you are fortunate to sit next to someone who is a pleasure to meet and talk to, and I did. We had great conversation throughout, it was easy and relaxed and neither seemed to mind when we weren’t talking and then conversation started up easily again a little while later. It isn't often either that you run into someone with such impeccable and gentlemanly manners. We ended up walking to the baggage area together, just because, and he actually helped me get my luggage, which was not necessary, but very kind of him to do. We said goodbye at the curb and I waited with eager anticipation for my boys to pick me up.
I knew from cellphone conversations that they were right around the corner and I simply couldn’t wait to see them. A couple minutes later, there they were! Frank was sound asleep because cousin Quentin and Uncle Jeff had come over the night before for a sleepover and he had very little sleep. Beckett and I played and played and played the whole way home and his smile filled me with such love and happiness to be home.
When we got home, I saw the boys had made a banner welcoming me home, complete with their handprints. We sat on the bench in the foyer and Beckett kept pointing to the banner and laughing and giggling, he was so proud of his work. Throughout the afternoon he would lead me back to it again and again to point and show me, again beaming. I got a thousand hugs and kisses Sunday afternoon and he wouldn’t ever let me out of “touch” range. Frank was tired and sullen, and I imagined I would be on the receiving end of emotions he didn’t understand that were left over from a week of my being gone. It was easy to be patient and understanding, and to simply be there for him whenever he felt the urge to come over and sit with me.
After the two of them were in bed, I fell into a deep, contented, and comfortable for the first time in a week, slumber.
No comments:
Post a Comment