They Called Me Mayer July

"This book is a treasure!" ...stunning and a joy to behold"

Customer reviews on World Buyer Guide:

They Called Me Mayer July is a beautiful book, both in the written word and the art work. It details the day-to-day lives of the Jewish people who lived in their 'schtetles' before the Holocaust and it goes into the various personalities, nick names, and jobs that were done during those years. Artistically, the detail is stunning and a joy to behold. For those of us whose ancestors came from these places, it gives us the opportunity to see and read what life was like, both the good and the difficult. I was so impressed that I bought a book as a gift for a friend and have recommended it to others. We owe a debt of gratitude to the author and his daughter for giving us this wonderful gift."

The Shtetl - You Are There
This book is a treasure! It provides reminiscences in text and in paintings of a Polish Jewish shtetl, Apatow or, as the Jews called it, Apt. Like Grandma Moses, Kirshenblatt began painting late in life and, like her, has produced primitive, lively, intimate illustrations of his remembered world. The text is equally intimate describing the people, their nicknames, and their lives. Anyone interested in furthering his or her knowledge of the shtetl, as told by one of its last living inhabitants, must read this book."

"...inspired detail...remarkable freshness...This book is a treasure."

When he was 73, Mayer Kirshenblatt was encouraged by his family to start painting. He says, “Regrettably, I have very little imagination.” But he had a phenomenal memory, and in THEY CALLED ME MAYER JULY (Univ. of California, $39.95), he has recalled in inspired detail his childhood village of Apt in pre-war Poland. His objective here was to remember how people lived (and not how they died). The text is a collaborative effort between the artist and his daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Professor of Performance Studies at NYU. She began taping her father’s memories forty years ago, and the resulting text has a remarkable freshness, well matched with Mayer’s colorful and closely observed paintings. This book is a treasure. Carla Cohen. Politics and Prose

"...embodying the essence of 'listening with love,'" Liisi Laineste, American Folklore Society Annual Meeting in Quebec City, October 2007

"There were also several social events, the most fulfilling of which was the Daniel Crowley Memorial Storytelling Concert and book signing presented a unique experience of doing and viewing folklore at the same time. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett interviewed her father Mayer Kirshenblatt on stage, presenting the auditorium a book with his memory drawings from Poland before the Holocaust. This academic interview and simultaneous storytelling event, embodying the essence of “listening with love”, at times claimed to be the definition of folklore studies." "News in Brief," Folklore [Estonia] 38 (2007): 151.
http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol38/

Ett barns minnen och målningar av det judiska Polen: They Called Me Mayer July

Vad som har gjort Europa så framgångsrikt är alla de folkgrupper och kulturer som har stötts och blötts och assimilerats och korspollinerats under århundradenas lopp.

En av dessa kulturer är den judiska som har spelat en betydligt större roll i Europas historia än vi tidigare har insett.

Jag har tidigare recenserat Paul Kriwaczeks mästerfulla bok om den Jiddischspråkiga judiska kulturen i Europa:De europeiska judarnas historia och när jag var på biblioteket tidigare idag så hajade jag till när jag såg en stor och riklitg illustrerad bok i samma anda: Mayer Kirshenblatt och Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimbletts magnifika They Called Me Mayer July. Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland before the Holocaust.

Contest: Opatów high school students take photos or paint pictures of current view of places Mayer painted

Leszek Tybon just Skyped to say that a competition is being organized for students of the high school in Opatów. Teodora Pawelko Kwiatkowska came up with the inspired idea that students should take a photo or paint small pictures of a current view of places in Opatów that Mayer painted. The award presentation is scheduled for 19th October, 2008. Mayer has been asked to lend his name as Honor Auspices to the competition. The competition is being organized by a terrific team: Miroslaw, Teodora,  Malgorzata, and Darek. We are very excited.

Spotkanie z kulturą żydowską | Mayer's exhibition in Opatów schools

15 września 2008 roku zostało zorganizowane spotkanie na temat kultury żydowskiej.

Do naszego liceum przybyli zaproszeni goście: Miriam Gonczarska, Leszek Tyboń - członkowie Polskiej Rady Chrześcijan i Żydów, oraz Dariusz Sobczyk - zainteresowany tematyką Żydów opatowskich. 

Podczas spotkania Miriam Gonczarska zaprezentowała temat: "Między religią, a tradycją. Obraz Żyda".

Pan Leszek Tyboń przedstawił prezentację na temat Żydów w Opatowie od XII do XXw. 

Przez pana Dariusza Sobczyka zostaliśmy zaproszeni na uroczystą Mszę Św. która odbędzie się 19 października o godz. 12:00 w klasztorze Ojców Bernardynów w kolejną rocznicę wyprowadzenia Żydów opatowskich do obozu zagłady w Treblince.

W drugiej części spotkania obejrzeliśmy prezentację fotografii z otwarcia wystawy przygotowanej przez Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Geodezyjnych i Kartograficznych "GEOCENTRUM" oraz Starostwa Powiatowego w Opatowie pt. "Stary Opatów" Obrazy Mayera Kirshenblatta. Otwarcie wystawy miało miejsce 28 czerwca 2008 roku w Muzeum Geodezji. Obrazy przedstawiają Opatów we wspomnieniach z lat młodzieńczych Mayera Kirshenblatta, który mieszkał w naszym mieście. Na zakończenie spotkania została uroczyście odsłonięta wystawa "Stary Opatów", którą możemy obejrzeć w naszej szkole. Dziękujemy władzom Stowarzyszenia "GEOCENTRUM" za udostępnienie nam obrazów. Do odbioru dzieł artystycznych przygotowała nas, dzieląc się swoimi wrażeniami pani Teodora Kwiatkowska.

Całość spotkania przygotowała pani Małgorzata Grządziel.

Zdjęcia z tegorocznego spotkania z kulturą żydowską, które odbyło się w naszej szkole dnia 15.09.2008  Click link--kliknij tutaj--for photos of the exhibition and event.

We just won the J. I. Segal Book Award!

We just got the news that They Called Me Mayer July just won the J. I. Segal Book Award. We look forward to attending the award ceremony in Montreal in November during Jewish Book Month. Details to follow.