I just got back from my first public appearance sharing material from both my book and the associated podcast. What a blast it was! And the location could not be beat – Kutsher’s Country Club, in the heart of the borsht belt.

The event was LimmudNY, which describes itself as:

“We are a conference, a festival, a gathering of hundreds of Jews from all walks of life, all Jewish backgrounds, all lifestyles, and all ages. Limmud is four days of lectures, workshops, text-study sessions, discussions, exhibits, performances and much more – all planned by a community of volunteers.
In Hebrew, Limmud means “learning” – and that’s what it’s about. An opportunity to craft your own Jewish world. Explore your connection to Jewish ideas and tradition. Meet people who share your curiosity and enthusiasm. Relax, reflect, and celebrate.”

I found it to be a cross between a Jewish Chautauqua and summer camp. In any case, it gave me the opportunity to pitch my own presentation, which was listed as:

Spritzfest 2006 – Seltzer story telling
Seltzer and Jews go together like Chinese food and Christmas. While researching the first definitive history of seltzer, the stories have bubbled up from every corner of the Web. Seltzer in the south. Seltzer at War. That seltzer delivery man… Come hear some of the best and be prepared to share your own. Come make history! And, as always, keep it seltzer.

Orignally, our location was a freezing cold room – this place is NOT winterized – which actually worked to my advantage, as it allowed us to move to another room, the Stardust Lounge. But more on the lounge in a minute.
The opportunity to visit, let alone speak, at Kutsher’s is very moving to me. My grandfather, Isadore Seigel, was responsible for food purchasing there in the late 70s/early 80s. I have very fond memories of taking family trips to visit them, playing in the pool with my dad, running down the endlessly-long tacky-carpeted halls, taking those cool photos them would give you as key-chains and need to be held to the light to view, seeing Buddy Hacket in their space-themed nightclub the Stardust Lounge… on and on, my memories going.
Visiting the place, for the first time after more than 20 years was a bitter-sweet experience. On one hand, visiting the locations of my memory – which are almost like dream memories, not sure if they actually happened – often left me teary-eyed. On the other hand, we had to have our room moved twice due to uninhabitable conditions (one was infested with mildew), while taking a break to swim with my dad we literally watched a 3X3 block of the ceiling collapse due to water rot, and the imminent demise of the building was clear.
So, anyway, above the Stardust Room is the Lounge, a triangle of a place, designed in the 50s or 60s, to serve as the intermission spot for a quick drink. So what a perfect place to talk about seltzer.
Very friendly and generous people attended. I played music and excerpts from interviews from my iPod. I read stories sent in to their very blog. And, most exciting to me, I read the first draft of my chapter about Israel and seltzer bombs, which was very warmly received. My dad was there and, afterwards, he told me that my language no longer sounded like I was trying to sound smart – in other words, he liked it. The people in attendance laughed throughout and many stayed after to ask me questions or tell me stories. I not only had a great time it help me think about different ways to approach the book.
Throughout Limmud I kept my recorder by my side. The only two beverages served at every meal was Pepsi and Seltzer. Whenever someone at our communal tables asked “Please pass me the seltzer” it was an opportunity I could not miss. AILS o had the honor of interviewing Ruth Messinger, one of my political heros, and Mrs. Kutsher as well. I look forward to putting these together for a future Podcast.
My dad also had another piece of advice: don’t wait any longer and send the draft, warts and all, to my patron. He felt it worked so well on it’s own there was no reason to wait. I think he might be right. As I put my three chapters together, at her request, I will start by sending her a shaped-up version. This will be the first time she has seen anything I have written on the subject. And after the reading this weekend I now have the confidence to send it to her.
Thanks Limmud!