Life in a Jar
“Kansas teenagers rediscover a forgotten Holocaust
heroine in this moving historical drama. . . Mayer’s superb
novelization of her exploits elevates social work to the
intensity of a spy thriller. . . Writing in vivid but restrained
prose, Mayer describes this agonizing situation with
understated pathos. . . his rendition of Irena’s story has an
inspirational power of its own. A gripping real-life tale of
extraordinary courage that had an enduring impact.”
~ Kirkus Review
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Jack Mayer
Before the Court of Heaven
“This is a brilliantly-written tale of internal
struggle and redemption in a time of great
social and political upheaval. The author does
a chillingly good job of illustrating just how
seductive the nationalist message was in a
beaten and humiliated Germany, how it used
and twisted values like patriotism, loyalty and
honor to win over people who otherwise might
have lived out their lives as ordinary, decent,
humane people. Before the Court of Heaven is
a powerful, intensely vivid look at Europe
between the World Wars, and one man’s
attempt to make sense of his life, his deeds,
and their meaning, to himself and to others.”
~ IndieReader
Jack Mayer, MD, MPH
Jack Mayer is a pediatrician and a writer. He began practicing pediatrics in 1976 in Enosburg Falls, Vermont, a
small town in eastern Franklin County on the Canadian border. His was the first pediatric practice in that half of the
county. He was a country doctor there for ten years, often bartering medical care for eggs, firewood, and knitted
afghans. From 1987 – 1991 Dr. Mayer was a National Cancer Institute Fellow at Columbia University researching
the molecular biology of childhood cancer. Most of his scientific writing was done during those four years. He was
also an academic pediatrician at Columbia University’s Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Mayer returned to
Vermont in 1991 and established Rainbow Pediatrics in Middlebury, Vermont where he continues to practice
primary care pediatrics. He is an Instructor in Pediatrics at the University of Vermont School of Medicine and an
advisor for pre-medical students at Middlebury College. He lives in Middlebury, Vermont.
www.jackmayer.net