By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — One of the most stellar line-ups of poets since” Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices’” inception a decade ago, the Tuesday, January 8, at 7 p.m. program in the Lawrence Family JCC’s Astor Judaica Library will feature two local literary celebrities, Richard Lederer and Nina Garin, as well as Abigail Floto.
Richard Lederer is well-known in the San Diego community as the co-founder of the popular KPBS program, “A Way With Words.” He is the author of 50 books on language and writes a syndicated column, “Lederer on Language,” which appears every Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune. He received his PhD from the University of New Hampshire and taught at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire before moving to San Diego. He is proud of his Jewish identity, “the way we have respect for learning and knowledge…the love of language and the love of people.”
Nina Garin worked for nearly 20 years as a reporter at The San Diego Union-Tribune. Currently, she is the producer and editor of KPBS’ Arts Calendar, writes their weekly Arts Newsletter and produces arts segments for Midday Edition. A native San Diegan, Nina attended SDSU, where she participated in poetry readings and covered local music for The Daily Aztec. Her poetry has been published in Kowit’s poetry text book and in the Third Coast literary magazine.
She lives in La Jolla with her husband, Matthew Hall, who is also a writer, and her two daughters, who are members of the JCompany, the Youth Theater at the Lawrence Family JCC
Abigail Floto writes poetry, plays the violin and does oil painting. Born before WWII in a small town outside of Karlsruhe, Germany, she discovered, after the war, that she had Jewish antecedents. Many years later, when she came to the San Diego area, she underwent a formal Orthodox conversion and is a member of Congregation Beth Israel. She has read Torah and given Drashes for CBI’s Saturday morning Minyan. While living in Germany, before coming to the United States, she worked as a geriatric nurse. Abigail lives with her dog and cat in a hillside home in La Mesa.
After the three featured poets present their poetry, there will be a half hour of open microphone when members of the audience are welcome to read one or two selections each. The evening will culminate with a reception where the audience can interact with the presenters. There is no charge for this program, however, RSVPs are requested because of tighter security policies. Please register with Melanie Rubin: She may be reached via her direct line (858) 362-1141 or via the Main desk (858) 457-3030. Her email is Melanier@lfjcc.org.
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Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com