Brandeis Magazine

Retired NYC teacher Deborah Beck had a solo exhibition, “Bountiful Nature: Land and Seascapes,” at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, in Montrose, New York. The show featured both plein-air and studio paintings. In December 2015, Deborah performed in the Spotlight Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Carol” as Mrs. Mops, housekeeper to Scrooge, and in the UFT Players’ production of “Simon Sez” (an evening of Neil Simon) as Jeanette in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” The story of Paulette (Noble) Cooper’s 15-year effort to expose Scientology, along with her Holocaust past, is chronicled in “The Unbreakable Miss Lovely,” a book written by Tony Ortega, former editor of The Village Voice. “Miss Lovely” was Scientology’s code name for Paulette. After many years in education research and nonprofit management, Liz (Freund) Fideler turned to writing books about older workers bypassing retirement in favor of staying on the job: “Women Still at Work” and “Men Still at Work.” A research fellow at Boston College’s Center on Aging and Work, she presented a talk on her work for the Norwegian Ministry of Labor’s Center on Senior Policy. Paul Goldstein’s third novel, “Havana Requiem,” received the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. His fourth, “Secret Justice,” was published in February. He continues teaching full time at Stanford Law School and practicing copyright law at a large international law firm. David Kann’s chapbook of poems, “The Language of the Farm,” won a contest sponsored by Five Oaks Press. Mike Oberman reports that he joined John Levin, Arnie Kanter, Mike Freed, Phil Paul, Lenny Oshinsky and Mike Lewis for their 19th annual scuba-diving vacation in Grand Cayman (only two of them still dive). Steve Wangh lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he attempts to be retired (arts professor emeritus, NYU). He is the author of two books about acting and teaching. Liz Lapidus Zelvin published two novels in 2015: “Journey of Strangers,” her second historical novel about the Sephardic diaspora, and “Death Will Pay Your Debts,” the fifth in her New York mystery series featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler. Liz is a psychotherapist who sees clients online and a doting grandma to Katie, 12, and Danica, 9.