Peninnah's World: A Jewish Life in Stories

by Caren Schnur Neile, Dan Ben-Amos (Foreword by)

Overview

She’s an iconic Jewish storyteller. She’s a widely acclaimed professor and folklorist. She’s the one and only Peninnah Schram, and Peninnah’s World: A Jewish Life in Stories is her authorized biography, told through individual stories.

What is a biography told through stories? Because Schram’s art form is storytelling, Peninnah’s World dramatizes in vivid scenes her extraordinary trajectory from the New London, Connecticut-born child of immigrant parents steeped in Jewish tradition in the 1930s and ‘40s to award-winning, New York-based performer, writer and scholar. The book features landmarks such as the old Mohican Hotel in New London and Stern College for Women in Manhattan. Along the way, Schram enjoys close encounters with such luminaries as Noble Laureates Elie Wiesel and Isaac Bashevis Singer, as well as famed Yiddish-theater actress Molly Picon, actor Jeff Goldblum, singer/ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin and others.

Written by storytelling studies professor and performer Caren Schnur Neile, the stories are in a form tailor-made to enjoy and share aloud. At the same time, theyserve as models for all those interested in creating their own life and family stories, whatever their background, whether on the page, on the stage, or among neighbors and loved ones.

Welcome to Peninnah’s World. Prepare to explore your own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761872917
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	10/07/2021
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 8.54(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Caren Schnur Neile has taught storytelling studies at Florida Atlantic University for more than two decades. A performance storyteller, she co-hosts The Public Storyteller on South Florida public radio WLRN.

Table of Contents

Foreword

“The Storyteller” by Peretz Kaminsky

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Telling the Human Story

Timeline

Part I: In the Beginning… 1934–1952

Chapter 1: The Pearl

Chapter 2: The Elijah Story

Chapter 3: Piano Lessons

Chapter 4: The Book of Leaves

Chapter 5: The Farm

Chapter 6: Onstage

Chapter 7: The Only Jews

Chapter 8: What Joe Wants

Part II: A Woman in the World 1952-1967

Chapter 9: Shooting Star

Chapter 10: Higher Learning

Chapter 11: Tallulah Bankhead and Other Fallen Women

Chapter 12: Leaving Home

Chapter 13: Paris, By Way of Manhattan

Chapter 14: Coming Home

Chapter 15: Peklach of Joy

Chapter 16: Peklach of Sorrow

Part III: A Woman of Valor 1967-present

Chapter 17: Those Who Can…

Chapter 18: Kaddish

Chapter 19: The Storyteller

Chapter 20: The Joy of Teaching

Chapter 21: The Station That Speaks Your Language

Chapter 22: In Print

Chapter 23: Strengthen Yourself

Chapter 24: Here I Am

Chapter 25: Ever After

“My Storyteller’s Prayer” by Peninnah Schram

Glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew Terms

Selected Publications and Recordings by Peninnah Schram

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Caren Neile waves a magic wand over interviews with the much-loved doyenne of Jewish storytelling, transforming them into story: scenes rendered in sharp prose that make the events walk right off the page into the reader’s heart. Peninnah’s World uses a novelist’s technique to recreate Peninnah Schram as vividly as if she had stepped out of a Jewish version of Little Women.

Steve Zeitlin

This nimble biographical writing offers an authentic view into the inner and outer worlds of one of our most important contemporary storytellers. Peninnah’s World is a compelling reading experience, rich with intimacy and vivid dialogue. Neile’s illumination of Peninnah’s artistic journey to becoming an esteemed leader in her field is inspiring and adds pivotal detail to stories of the early days of the American storytelling renaissance.

Heather Forest Ph.D

Through her dedicated scholarship, compelling performances and irresistible charm, Peninnah Schram single-handedly revived the Jewish oral storytelling tradition in America. This touching, intimate biography offers an album of vivid anecdotes conjured from Schram’s recollections. Like Peninnah’s name, it is a precious string of pearls.

Ellen Frankel

This nimble biographical writing offers an authentic view into the inner and outer worlds of one of our most important contemporary storytellers. Peninnah’s World is a compelling reading experience, rich with intimacy and vivid dialogue. Neile’s illumination of Peninnah’s artistic journey to becoming an esteemed leader in her field is inspiring and adds pivotal detail to stories of the early days of the American storytelling renaissance.

Heather Forest