Lawrence Baron

Laurie Baron

Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, now retired, served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History at San Diego State University. He served from 1988 to 2006 as director of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies. He was the founder in 1995 of the Western Jewish Studies Association.

He writes two satire columns for San Diego Jewish World: “Humoring the Headlines” under his byline, and “Hounding the Headlines,” under the byline of his dog Elona.

Books to his credit, available on Amazon, include:

Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema

The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema

The eclectic anarchism of Erich Muhsam (Men & movements in the history & philosophy of anarchism)

His most recent articles are:

“Making Room for the Jews: The House I Live In (1945),” AJS Perspectives, Summer 2023, 86-88.  

“The Revolt of Job: Salvaging the Lost World of Rural Hungarian Hasidim,” Journal of Jewish Identities, 16:1-2 (January/July 2023), 181-198.

“Persistent Parallels, Resistant Particularities: Holocaust Analogies and Avoidance in Armenian Genocide Centennial Cinema, in Armenian and Jewish Experience between Expulsion and Destruction, ed. Sarah M. Ross and Regina Randhofer (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2021), 267-296.

“The Pioneering American Jewish Women Directors from Elaine May to Claudia Weill,” Jews and Gender (Studies in Jewish Civilization), ed. Leonard Greenspoon (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 217-243.

If dogs could vote

100 years ago American women received the right to vote.  I think it is time to consider canine suffrage.  For those who scoff at the idea of letting a domesticated animal with limited intelligence vote, consider that nearly 63,000,000 US citizens voted for the Golden Deceiver to be president, a man who has never read the Constitution or anything but his clippings as far as I can tell.  [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

K9fulness

My owner suffers from insomnia.  It has become so bad that he has begun seeing a Behavioral Therapist to teach him proper sleep hygiene.  I felt hurt that he didn’t consult with me first.  After all, I sleep most of the day and never had a problem with falling asleep or waking up at night.  Sometimes I sleep so deeply that I twitch my legs as if someone was rubbing my stomach.  Since he hasn’t heeded my barks of sleeping advice, I am writing this column to share some of my tips.  If it works, he can fire his therapist and give me bone. [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, The World We Share, Trivia, Humor & Satire

A dog’s thoughts turn to Halloween

Walking around the neighborhood, I have noticed that many houses bedecked with Halloween decorations. When I see bones scattered on lawns, I wag my tail and chew on them, only to be disappointed when I discover they’re plastic! Humans, if you’re really are my best friends, go to the butcher and buy some real meat bones to scatter on your property. If you leave such a delicious treat, I will never pee or poop on your lawn. [Elona as told to Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Hounding the Headlines: October 10, 2019

Once upon a time, there was group of Kurdish Kangals who wanted to control the areas where they resided.  Since those enclaves were located inside other countries, their rulers perceived these dogs as a threat, mistreated them, and derogatorily called them Curs. One of these countries was the land of the Turkeys.  It once had reigned over a large empire.  (To read more of this satire, please click the headline.)

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Down Under they don’t trust U.S. media

I have a few email addresses from congressmen and senators in Washington. I sometimes get responses to what I send or have to say to them. Some of them have read the SDJW and have seen Alon Ben-Meir’s article entitled ‘Repercussions of Israel’s Fractured Democracy’ (nothing wrong with that article) and Bruce S. Tickers story ‘Impeachment unlikely to affect Democratic control of the House’???. So I won’t send Joel Cohen’s item entitled “Trump seeks Israel’s help in Election” because one or more dopey members of Congress might take it seriously and make an issue of it. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Alon Ben-Meir, Bruce Ticker, International, Joel H. Cohen, John McCormick, Lawrence Baron, USA

Humoring the headlines: October 7, 2019

Rudy Giuliani finally recognized that admitting the crimes the president is accused of is not a good legal strategy.  Therefore, he is concocting more subtle ways of conveying to foreign leaders that they should investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter for corruption.  Here’s a draft for a future call he plans to make to the Chinese Embassy. (To read more of this satirical column, please click the headline.)

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Hounding the headlines: October 4, 2019

Until I was adopted by the Barons, I didn’t know much about cats.  To be sure, when I was on the street, I saw more of them than stray dogs.  While I couldn’t wait to find a home, the cats who prided themselves on being feral relished their freedom.  The Barons owned two cats, both of whom ignore me.  Their vacant stares can only be described as catatonic. (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, The World We Share

Humoring the Headlines: October 2, 2019

Foecabulary: Donald’s Dictionary of Demonization By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Donald Trump released the latest edition of his Dictionary of Demonization. Here’s some of the new entries: Spy=a whistleblower who follows protocol in filing a report. Presidential Harassment=Constitutional Congressional Oversight over the Executive Branch. Perfect=Incriminating. Scum=Fake News wasn’t sufficiently polarizing. Coup=Impeachment Inquiry. Favor=Extortion. A Civil War

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire