Jewish Life Digital Edition September 2015 | Page 36
I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH AN ACTIVE, VIVID
IMAGINATION, AND THIS HAS SERVED ME WELL AS A WRITER,
AS IT ENABLES ME TO WEAVE FICTION WITH FACT.
fair hair worn in two braids. The illustrations of Liba were actually modelled on
the very few pictures I have of my grandmother as a young girl.”
Miriam intertwines historical fact with
her fictionalised girls, some of them born
out of real people just like Liba, all of which
make for an intriguing read. Her latest
characters in the series are Mindel Rappaport, who lives in the city of Prague in the
1590s, during the time of the famous Maharal, and Esther Bueno, who lives in the city
of Amsterdam in the 1670s and whose
family fled there from Portugal, where they
had to live secretly as Jews, even lighting
Shabbos candles in a cupboard.
“I have been blessed with an active, vivid
imagination and this has served me well as
a writer, as it enables me to weave fiction
with fact. I so enjoy the process of creating
and developing characters and then placing them in actual settings, in the midst of
historical events. As always, the biggest
challenge for me is finding the time to
write. In order for me to be truly productive, I must write on a daily basis. If I’m interrupted for any period of time, be it a
few days or a few weeks, it’s very difficult
for me to regain my focus, to get back in
the zone and get started again. Upon the
completion of a new work, I am always infused with a sense of gratitude to Hashem,
Who sustains me and guides me and has
given me the ability to write these books.
And, I’m always very relieved that the book
PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED
some Jews had gone to the small town of
Oudtshoorn, attracted by the then booming trade in ostrich feathers. I was certain
this would capture the interest of my
readers. It had immediately captured
mine. I also learned that most of these
immigrants had been Yiddish speaking,
hailing from shtetls in Lithuania. My paternal grandmother had come from there,
too, having left Europe around the same
time. I started to imagine what my grandmother’s life would have been like if she
had gone to South Africa instead of Toronto. In this way, Liba Miller was ‘born’.
Just like Liba, my grandmother had been
the oldest of four children. Just like Liba,
her father had worked in his shtetl’s lumberyard, and just like Liba, she had long,
ORT JET’s 10th Birthday Celebration
2015 Awards Evening
at the
Date: 27 October
Join in the celebration of ORT
JET’s 10 years of service
to the community and the
announcement of the prize
winners of the Eureka 2015
Entrepreneurial Competition, where
you can be witness to business
ideas coming to life.
Time: 18h30 – 22h30
Venue: HOD Hall,
58 Oaklands Road, Orchards
R250 per person
To book, email [email protected]
Prizes to be awarded:
• Eureka Entrepreneurial Competition
Concept Winner
• Eureka Entrepreneurial Competition
Start-Up Winner
• ORT JET Mentor of the Year
• ORT JET Business of the Year
Ilan Smith.
Since 2005 ORT JET has had
an enormous impact on small
businesses in the community
and we invite you to joi n us
for a l’chaim in honour of this
important milestone.
Be amazed and mystified by Ilan Smith’s combination of
enchantment and humour. Ilan is a popular entertainer and
illusionist who has wowed audiences both locally and overseas.
We’ve got a good feeling about this one!
Proudly supported by
Liberty Group Ltd – an Authorised Financial Services Provider in terms of the FAIS Act (Licence No. 2409).
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