Oliver B. Pollak, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and a lawyer, is a correspondent now based in Richmond, California.
His books, available on Amazon, include:
*A State of Readers: Nebraska’s Carnegie Libraries
* A Year at the Sorbonne: A Proustian Life
*Conflict in Vietnam: An Historical Perspective
*Empires in Collision
*Jewish Life in Omaha and Lincoln: A Photographic History
*Nebraska Courthouses: Contention, Compromise and Community
*Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe
*Theses and Dissertations on Southern Africa
*To Educate and Serve: The Centennial History of Creighton University School of Law, 1904-2004
*University of Nebraska at Omaha (With Les Valentine)
*Welcome to Omaha
He also contributed to
*Journal of Burma Studies Vol 3: Rise of a Mainland Trading State
*Western States Jewish History, Vol XXXIII, Number 2
A friend recommended the eight-part PBS Masterpiece series Atlantic Crossing written and directed by Norwegian film maker Alexander Eik. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Historiography of ‘Atlantic Crossing’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Oliver Pollak, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
My mother read me Curious George, I read it to my children and grandchildren. The earliest books in my library were gifted and inscribed midcentury. My uncle, Eric Bonner, an antiquarian book dealer in London, gave me Speed, one of my sons added his book plate. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe came from Leslie who I do not remember. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Becoming a Bibliophile, 1950-1970 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Oliver PollakConversations Between Colleagues has a personal, useful and informative festschrift flavor that honors the profession of American Jewish History, which in 50 years grew from a minor field of study in a handful of universities to a burgeoning academic growth field. [Oliver B. Pollak]
Scholars Detail Growth of American Jewish History Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USAStansky’s autobiographical preface attempts to answer, “what may have led [him] …to become a historian of Britain.” The answer is warm, funny and human. Twenty five essays written in the last 20 years provide an interesting and informative narrative and further autobiographical insights. [Oliver Pollak, Ph.D]
Jewish Historians of England Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver PollakOrwell wrote with precision, “Good prose is like a window pane.” He described four motivations for writing: Sheer egoism, esthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse and political purpose. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D., J.D]
Why We Write: Author’s 100th SDJW Story Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Oliver PollakI woke up Wednesday gratified. An African American and a Jew had won the two Senate runoffs in Georgia. The Democrats would dominate the Senate. Mitch McConnell would be minority leader. Chuck Schumer would be the majority leader. I was working in the garage converting wooden wine boxes with my new Dremel saw into whatever. My wife said, “come up stairs, you’ve got to see this.” The elation was short lived. I watched television from 10 am to 11 pm as I flipped between CNN, MSNBC and FOX, which dropped its “Fair and Balanced” motto in 2017. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Historians Will Grapple With Events of January 6, 2021 Read More »
Oliver Pollak, USAThis striking coffee table book is a mix of Architectural Digest treatment visiting homes with gorgeous interiors, and crucial space dedicated to books, and brief philosophical blurbs about loving books. Thirty-two vignettes with lush photography reveal volumes owned by book collectors, authors and bookstore owners, and with a little help from a magnifying glass, the authors and titles on their shelves. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D, J.D]
Bibliophilia, Bibliomania and Bookworms Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Oliver Pollak
The Reader’s Digest in July 2019 highlighted one quirky museum per state: the Alaska Hammer Museum; the Banana Museum in Mecca, in California’s Riverside County; Colorado’s Washing Machine; Mississippi’s Apron; Iowa’s Matchstick; and Ohio’s Pencil Sharpener museum. These are brick and mortar museums with street addresses, not the burgeoning online website museum. The author, Marissa Laliberte, overlooked the venerable Kool-Aid Museum in Hastings, Nebraska, in favor of the Klown Doll Museum in Plainview. I’ve been to the Mustard Museum in Horab, Wisconsin, and Idaho’s Potato Museum in Blackfoot. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
There are museums for so many interests Read More »
International, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food, USA
My wife and I may have set a new Contra Costa County U.S. mail record. We sent 55 Hanukkah cards with real postage stamps to friends, relatives, and acquaintances. It was more fun than instant email cards. But it gets rarer than that, which is why it may make the record unbreakable for a while. All the cards were recycled from previous years. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Recyling Chanukah Cards Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Oliver PollakIn the early 1970s while teaching at the University of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe since independence in 1980), I interviewed African labor and farmer union leaders while researching the 1948 General Strike and the African Farmers Union. The interviews were in English, Shona, and Sindebele. I hired two undergraduate history majors to assist me with the African languages and cross-cultural social protocols. One of them, Misheck Sibanda completed a Ph.D. in History at Birmingham University and returned to Zimbabwe, served as the Chief Cabinet Secretary to President Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa, and recently retired after 17 years of service. The second student, Kevin Gumbo, became a teacher. [Oliver B. Pollak]
The Personal Power of History Read More »
International, Oliver Pollak, Science, Medicine, & Education, USAIn September Dorothy L. Parker, President of San Diego Independent Scholars and project editor, reached out and invited likeminded independent scholar organizations to participate in a writing and art project about Covid-19 experiences. The result is a collection of 31 essays about pandemic experiences, thoughts, impressions and history. The writers represented a range of backgrounds, academic disciplines, and perspectives. They were seasoned and experienced, most over 65. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Independent Scholars Offer 31 Essays on the Covid Pandemic Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lifestyles, Oliver PollakBy Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — I owned a Kodak Brownie, 16 mm Minox, Petri, Minolta, film in a box, Cannon and a Polaroid. Karen had an Olympus and a Fuji. Between us we have owned three Cannons. Fabled German Leica, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex were beyond financial reach and skill set. I’ve known several
Downsizing generations of family photos Read More »
Lifestyles, Oliver PollakBy Oliver B. Pollak. Ph.D RICHMOND, California — The 1918-1919 “flu” epidemic took between 2,800 and 7,500 Nebraska lives, 974 of them in Omaha. On July 4, 1919, the weekly Omaha Jewish Bulletin published “Breaking Lives and Homes for Profit.” It read: Fanny Skulke came with her husband to the United States from Lomas, “a
Following up a 101-year-old tragedy Read More »
Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USAOur editor has opened SDJW pages to contributors of fiction. What follows is true, but has the hallmarks of incredulity. We are wending our Pandemic way from August in Wyoming with the lowest Covid rate in the nation, to Richmond with a detour staying with my sister and brother in law in Laguna Woods. It is 2 pm and 104 degrees outside, and today, Sunday, is predicted to be 108 with “Very Unhealthy Air Quality.” [Oliver B. Pollak]
Food, pandemics, and heat waves Read More »
Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food, USA