Vermont Magazine Fall 2019 | Página 40

A Family Tree
Built of
Words and
Music
Benjamin’s great-grandfather, Irving Berlin, famously
composed the music and wrote the lyrics to such iconic songs
as “God Bless America” and “White Christmas”.
Benjamin’s maternal grandmother, Mary Ellin Barrett,
is a classically-trained pianist, has served as an editor at such
magazines as Vogue, Glamour, and Cosmpolitan, and wrote
several novels, including Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir.
Benjamin’s maternal grandfather, Marvin Barrett, was an
American author, lauded educator, journalist, and
contributing editor to TIME and Newsweek magazines.
Benjamin’s father, Steve Lerner, is a world-renowned writer
who focuses on environmental justice.
Benjamin’s mother (Irving Berlin’s granddaughter) Mary Ellin
Lerner, is a journalist and musician. Her newest book, Sober
Heart: Life and Love in Recovery will be available September
16th from Opus Self-Publishing – a division of Politics and
Prose. The book is a humorous and candid collection of
essays about her experiences as an addict in recovery. The
book narrates Lerner’s adventures getting over her addictions
to “love and fine white wine” with the help of AA’s twelve-
step recovery program. Lerner, whose writing has appeared in
Smithsonian, Audubon, McCall’s, Self and USA Today, among
other publications, offers a courageous and colorful account
of the challenges and rewards of giving up her chemical and
behavioral crutches and attempting to cope as a newly-sober,
single mother.
Photo by Bryce Boyer.
To purchase Sober Heart:
politics-prose.com/opus/bookshelf
“Looking back we were just using substances to escape our
realities. Her trajectory was different than mine. But now
- more than anything else - it’s incredible to be able to just
draw on each other for strength and understanding. When
you see someone who’s that close to you go through similar
struggles and come out the other side, that’s really pretty
incredible.”
- Benjamin Lerner, on his mother’s addiction
Photo courtesy of Mary Ellin Lerner
38 VERMONT
VERMONT
Magazine
42
magazine
FALL 2019
Top: “Irving Berlin” © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org