Hi Mary-
I am writing to you from Charlotte, NC where I am a member of Temple Beth El, a large Reform congregation.
Last evening our CHAPTERS book group met to talk about your book, Home in The Morning. We had a lively and memorable discussion- thank you! Among the points we discussed concerns the ending of the book. As last evening’s discussion leader, I was prompted by our members to ask you if my interpretation was correct. (In all honesty I do think you want each reader to draw her own conclusion!) Since the word ‘hopeful’ was used in the last few pages, I personally had the sense that Jackson would be successful in getting his childhood friend released. To support that, I downloaded a spiritual version of Going Home on the Morning Train for us all to hear. In the rendering of this moving spiritual is included a phrase about ‘all my sins being forgiven.’ One of our members said that was all well and good but that ‘L’il Bokay’s only sin was being black. For the benefit of our group, can you share your thoughts about the ending? Thank you, in advance, for your consideration.
Hello, Lynne,
Thank you for having such interest in Home in the Morning. As to the end: one of the reasons I didn’t resolve the issue of what happens to Mombassa is because I envisioned the story as a relationship novel examining the relationships of Jackson and the women in his life. By the end of the novel, these relationships are resolved, I think you’ll agree. But a curious thing happened on the way to the final chapter. Mombassa became a strong character, beloved by many readers. To be honest, I didn’t anticipate that people would be so invested in what happened to Mombassa. If I’d known, I might have given stronger indications as to his future in one more chapter or two. But I didn’t want to turn a relationship novel into a courtroom procedural which would have disturbed the entire balance of the piece. Instead, I figured that people would make their own decision about what happened to him. On a personal note, I’ve always liked books that gave me something to chew on at the end. I find it pleasureable to think about what might have occurred after the author left his or her people wherever he or she did! Whether this is pleasureable for others or not is subject to conjecture.
Anyway, I think Mombassa stayed in prison. You don’t bomb or attempt to bomb post offices, have anger problems while incarcerated and ever see the light of day again. For me, Mombassa is a tragic figure and representative of those men who never had a chance in life or who ruined the chances they did have. All that being said, the only way for Mombassa to get out of prison would be a presidential pardon. Maybe Bill Clinton would have pardoned him?
I do suspect that the film in development will answer this question. I have no control over that script and I’m most curious to see what director/writer Jim Kohlberg will do! We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I find your interpretation of the spirituality of the title fascinating. It’s often said that once a novel is published, it doesn’t belong to the author anymore but belongs among others to the readers. I think such ingenious interpretations as yours is part of what people mean. Wish I could say I thought of it!!
Keep those face book comments coming…
And my biggest complaint about Shades of Grey: it is so poorly written, and with a lousy ending, although I admit to finding it very sexy.
Best,
Jacqui
I was alerted to your work by Carol Wise, a board member at the Jewish Women’s Archive (http://jwa.org), where I am the Director of Public History. Carol thought we should know about you because we at JWA have developed a new online educational project called Living the Legacy (http://jwa.org/livingthelegacy), which focuses on the history of Jews in the Civil Rights and Labor Movements. Like you, we were interested in complicating the narrative about Jews and the Civil Rights Movement, showing the challenges faced Southern Jews and providing a more nuanced picture of the experience of Northern Jews, as well. The curriculum is based on a rich and diverse array of primary sources, which bring this little-known history to life.
We were thrilled to discover your books and are adding them to the resources listed in Living the Legacy. We are also interested in featuring you on our blog, Jewesses with Attitude (http://jwa.org/blog), in some manner. Our blog intern, Gabrielle Orcha, will be in touch with you soon to discuss what that might look like.
We look forward to hearing from you soon and to exploring the synergies in our work.
Best,
Judith Rosenbaum, PhD
Director of Public History
Jewish Women’s Archive
Dear Judith,
What a delight to hear from you. I\’d be very happy to do whatever I can for the Jewish Women’s Archive. I LOVE the idea of being a part of Jewesses With Attitude. I look forward to hearing from Gabrielle!
THANKS!
Mary,
I learned about your publishing experiences with Open Road Integrated Media by accident through another website. I have a story that I want to tell about the lies, cheating and deception that my now ex husband put me through that lead up to our divorce. It wasn’t all as bad as it sounds as there were some humorous parts like when I looked up floral purchases for his girlfriends using the same email password he had given me for a login to our medical insurance website. That password was still the one he was currently using for his email hence I was able to retrieve emails that he had written to friends, mostly female, about the problems he was having with our marriage. Who knows if he had shared those troubles with me if we would still be married instead of divorced. All this happened during our midlife years but to this day he denies that he was having a midlife crisis even though his second wife is twenty years his junior.
I’m looking for words of encouragement to finish this project not just so others can read my story but also as a cleansing of myself from the experience I lived through.
There are many ways to write, Carol, and as many ways for people to experience the act of writing. It sounds as if you need to write your story as a means of therapy and release as much as to enlighten others. I’d investigate a writing course and self-publication as alas your tale is an old one. You’d have to find a really unique way to tell it to interest a traditional publisher. Best of luck!
Just a quick note to say it was great meeting you today, and I feel very lucky to have had such a warm, friendly person sitting beside me. Best of luck with Marching To Zion – I’m really looking forward to reading it. Warm regards,
Oh, Nora! A thousand apologies! I just discovered this note. I’m such a bad social media person. I rarely check this and my email account was not notified. So – sorry for the delay in responding. I enjoyed meeting you as well and I’m very curious about your book and its thesis, as you well know. Field of Exile sounds like a novel I would have loved to write. It’s in my queue and I hope to read it soon. Such an important subject. . .
Mary, I’ve read two of your books and would love to see/meet you at a Michigan event. I know I’ve mentioned this to you before, but it was a couple of years ago. The Jewish Community Center in both Oak Park and West Bloomfield, Michigan has the best days-long book event in my area, with several author events. Why haven’t you been there? Shame on them if they haven’t contacted you.
I can email them, but I don’t know how much weight it will hold; I’m not a member. Still, you never know. Maybe next October or November I’ll see you there.
Beth, I don’t know why, but good old WordPress never mentioned to me that I’d a message from you, so this has gone unanswered! I apologize!
You know, I’ll go anywhere and everywhere I’m asked to talk about my books, but the JCC in Michigan has not yet invited me. I don’t see how it would hurt for you to contact them and plead my case! :-). In the meantime, thanks so much for enjoying my books, for “getting” them, and I do hope you keep reading. I’ve got another half-done right now which I hope to finish and deliver to my publisher next year. It goes back farther in time than the others, back to 1829-1835, and covers my usual themes from the vantage point of the Trail of Tears. I think you’d like it.
Blessings!
Browsing Amazon, your book, Marching to Zion that it was publish in 2013 November, caught my eye. The cover and the description are really interesting and I would like to include your work in the launch of a new website called The Books Machine that aims to solve the two main challenges faced by authors today: lack of visibility on Amazon and scant reviews. The Books Machine is an innovative platform that connects authors and readers as we hope to incite a major change in the way books are presented to the public.
Before our launch in a few weeks, we are personally reaching out to authors whose work we admire. We believe that your book meets the quality standards we’ve set for our site which is why we would like to offer you a FREE premium membership for a period of six months so that you can try out our new platform at no cost to you.
You can access your free membership here http://www.thebooksmachine.com/invitation.aspx , where you will also find information about how your work can benefit from your participation in The Books Machine. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the rest of the site before it’s launched.
Spaces in our free membership program are numbered so this opportunity will only remain active for a limited time. We hope that you will accept our invitation.
We so enjoyed meeting you tonight at the Pat Conroy event! Thanks for trying to get us that picture and we look forward to reading your books!
Kim, Jan, Kath,Julie and Julie
We read your book ‘An Undisturbed Peace’ this month in our book club. We all, without exception loved it. Your attention to detail and the research undertaken to produce such a novel is truly remarkable.
I believe that we came to understand the characters and their evolution throughout this sad part of American history as related by your writer’s voice. I do have one question for you.. How did you choose the title of the book?
Carol, I’m so gratified that your book club read An Undisturbed Peace to such universal appreciation! I would love to know where your book club is. . .
In answer to your question, the title of the novel comes from the epigraph that appears before the text. It’s often missed, apparently. You’re not the first to ask this question.
The epigraph is a quote from the Cherokee Legislative Council at New Echota, July l,1830. It avows that the Cherokee love their land and will never let go of it, to let it go would be “like throwing away our mother that did give us birth”. The quote goes on to say that the only way they will move from the land is to sleep under the ground “which the Great Spirit gave our ancestors and which now covers them in their UNDISTURBED PEACE.
We all know how that worked out.
Thanks again, for all your close and empathetic readings
The Official Site of Mary Glickman 
Hi Mary-
I am writing to you from Charlotte, NC where I am a member of Temple Beth El, a large Reform congregation.
Last evening our CHAPTERS book group met to talk about your book, Home in The Morning. We had a lively and memorable discussion- thank you! Among the points we discussed concerns the ending of the book. As last evening’s discussion leader, I was prompted by our members to ask you if my interpretation was correct. (In all honesty I do think you want each reader to draw her own conclusion!) Since the word ‘hopeful’ was used in the last few pages, I personally had the sense that Jackson would be successful in getting his childhood friend released. To support that, I downloaded a spiritual version of Going Home on the Morning Train for us all to hear. In the rendering of this moving spiritual is included a phrase about ‘all my sins being forgiven.’ One of our members said that was all well and good but that ‘L’il Bokay’s only sin was being black. For the benefit of our group, can you share your thoughts about the ending? Thank you, in advance, for your consideration.
Hello, Lynne,
Thank you for having such interest in Home in the Morning. As to the end: one of the reasons I didn’t resolve the issue of what happens to Mombassa is because I envisioned the story as a relationship novel examining the relationships of Jackson and the women in his life. By the end of the novel, these relationships are resolved, I think you’ll agree. But a curious thing happened on the way to the final chapter. Mombassa became a strong character, beloved by many readers. To be honest, I didn’t anticipate that people would be so invested in what happened to Mombassa. If I’d known, I might have given stronger indications as to his future in one more chapter or two. But I didn’t want to turn a relationship novel into a courtroom procedural which would have disturbed the entire balance of the piece. Instead, I figured that people would make their own decision about what happened to him. On a personal note, I’ve always liked books that gave me something to chew on at the end. I find it pleasureable to think about what might have occurred after the author left his or her people wherever he or she did! Whether this is pleasureable for others or not is subject to conjecture.
Anyway, I think Mombassa stayed in prison. You don’t bomb or attempt to bomb post offices, have anger problems while incarcerated and ever see the light of day again. For me, Mombassa is a tragic figure and representative of those men who never had a chance in life or who ruined the chances they did have. All that being said, the only way for Mombassa to get out of prison would be a presidential pardon. Maybe Bill Clinton would have pardoned him?
I do suspect that the film in development will answer this question. I have no control over that script and I’m most curious to see what director/writer Jim Kohlberg will do! We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I find your interpretation of the spirituality of the title fascinating. It’s often said that once a novel is published, it doesn’t belong to the author anymore but belongs among others to the readers. I think such ingenious interpretations as yours is part of what people mean. Wish I could say I thought of it!!
Keep those face book comments coming…
And my biggest complaint about Shades of Grey: it is so poorly written, and with a lousy ending, although I admit to finding it very sexy.
Best,
Jacqui
Hi Mary,
I was alerted to your work by Carol Wise, a board member at the Jewish Women’s Archive (http://jwa.org), where I am the Director of Public History. Carol thought we should know about you because we at JWA have developed a new online educational project called Living the Legacy (http://jwa.org/livingthelegacy), which focuses on the history of Jews in the Civil Rights and Labor Movements. Like you, we were interested in complicating the narrative about Jews and the Civil Rights Movement, showing the challenges faced Southern Jews and providing a more nuanced picture of the experience of Northern Jews, as well. The curriculum is based on a rich and diverse array of primary sources, which bring this little-known history to life.
We were thrilled to discover your books and are adding them to the resources listed in Living the Legacy. We are also interested in featuring you on our blog, Jewesses with Attitude (http://jwa.org/blog), in some manner. Our blog intern, Gabrielle Orcha, will be in touch with you soon to discuss what that might look like.
We look forward to hearing from you soon and to exploring the synergies in our work.
Best,
Judith Rosenbaum, PhD
Director of Public History
Jewish Women’s Archive
Dear Judith,
What a delight to hear from you. I\’d be very happy to do whatever I can for the Jewish Women’s Archive. I LOVE the idea of being a part of Jewesses With Attitude. I look forward to hearing from Gabrielle!
THANKS!
Mary,
I learned about your publishing experiences with Open Road Integrated Media by accident through another website. I have a story that I want to tell about the lies, cheating and deception that my now ex husband put me through that lead up to our divorce. It wasn’t all as bad as it sounds as there were some humorous parts like when I looked up floral purchases for his girlfriends using the same email password he had given me for a login to our medical insurance website. That password was still the one he was currently using for his email hence I was able to retrieve emails that he had written to friends, mostly female, about the problems he was having with our marriage. Who knows if he had shared those troubles with me if we would still be married instead of divorced. All this happened during our midlife years but to this day he denies that he was having a midlife crisis even though his second wife is twenty years his junior.
I’m looking for words of encouragement to finish this project not just so others can read my story but also as a cleansing of myself from the experience I lived through.
There are many ways to write, Carol, and as many ways for people to experience the act of writing. It sounds as if you need to write your story as a means of therapy and release as much as to enlighten others. I’d investigate a writing course and self-publication as alas your tale is an old one. You’d have to find a really unique way to tell it to interest a traditional publisher. Best of luck!
Dear Mary,
Just a quick note to say it was great meeting you today, and I feel very lucky to have had such a warm, friendly person sitting beside me. Best of luck with Marching To Zion – I’m really looking forward to reading it. Warm regards,
Nora (Gold)
Oh, Nora! A thousand apologies! I just discovered this note. I’m such a bad social media person. I rarely check this and my email account was not notified. So – sorry for the delay in responding. I enjoyed meeting you as well and I’m very curious about your book and its thesis, as you well know. Field of Exile sounds like a novel I would have loved to write. It’s in my queue and I hope to read it soon. Such an important subject. . .
Mary, I’ve read two of your books and would love to see/meet you at a Michigan event. I know I’ve mentioned this to you before, but it was a couple of years ago. The Jewish Community Center in both Oak Park and West Bloomfield, Michigan has the best days-long book event in my area, with several author events. Why haven’t you been there? Shame on them if they haven’t contacted you.
I can email them, but I don’t know how much weight it will hold; I’m not a member. Still, you never know. Maybe next October or November I’ll see you there.
Beth
Beth, I don’t know why, but good old WordPress never mentioned to me that I’d a message from you, so this has gone unanswered! I apologize!
You know, I’ll go anywhere and everywhere I’m asked to talk about my books, but the JCC in Michigan has not yet invited me. I don’t see how it would hurt for you to contact them and plead my case! :-). In the meantime, thanks so much for enjoying my books, for “getting” them, and I do hope you keep reading. I’ve got another half-done right now which I hope to finish and deliver to my publisher next year. It goes back farther in time than the others, back to 1829-1835, and covers my usual themes from the vantage point of the Trail of Tears. I think you’d like it.
Blessings!
Proposal for your book Marching to Zion
Dear Mary Glickman,
Browsing Amazon, your book, Marching to Zion that it was publish in 2013 November, caught my eye. The cover and the description are really interesting and I would like to include your work in the launch of a new website called The Books Machine that aims to solve the two main challenges faced by authors today: lack of visibility on Amazon and scant reviews. The Books Machine is an innovative platform that connects authors and readers as we hope to incite a major change in the way books are presented to the public.
Before our launch in a few weeks, we are personally reaching out to authors whose work we admire. We believe that your book meets the quality standards we’ve set for our site which is why we would like to offer you a FREE premium membership for a period of six months so that you can try out our new platform at no cost to you.
You can access your free membership here http://www.thebooksmachine.com/invitation.aspx , where you will also find information about how your work can benefit from your participation in The Books Machine. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the rest of the site before it’s launched.
Spaces in our free membership program are numbered so this opportunity will only remain active for a limited time. We hope that you will accept our invitation.
Warm regards,
Meryl Wright
Site Administrator
The Books Machine
http://www.thebooksmachine.com
Copyright 2014
We so enjoyed meeting you tonight at the Pat Conroy event! Thanks for trying to get us that picture and we look forward to reading your books!
Kim, Jan, Kath,Julie and Julie
We read your book ‘An Undisturbed Peace’ this month in our book club. We all, without exception loved it. Your attention to detail and the research undertaken to produce such a novel is truly remarkable.
I believe that we came to understand the characters and their evolution throughout this sad part of American history as related by your writer’s voice. I do have one question for you.. How did you choose the title of the book?
Carol, I’m so gratified that your book club read An Undisturbed Peace to such universal appreciation! I would love to know where your book club is. . .
In answer to your question, the title of the novel comes from the epigraph that appears before the text. It’s often missed, apparently. You’re not the first to ask this question.
The epigraph is a quote from the Cherokee Legislative Council at New Echota, July l,1830. It avows that the Cherokee love their land and will never let go of it, to let it go would be “like throwing away our mother that did give us birth”. The quote goes on to say that the only way they will move from the land is to sleep under the ground “which the Great Spirit gave our ancestors and which now covers them in their UNDISTURBED PEACE.
We all know how that worked out.
Thanks again, for all your close and empathetic readings