Appearances

SUGGESTED TOPICS

NET OF DREAMS , a memoir, is a family history that follows Julie’s parents journey from Eastern Europe to the Appalachian foothills of southernmost Ohio. It is a Holocaust story but also a story about the American heartland, that raises questions about what we are as a country and who we are as a people. In this divisive political moment,  this story of a Jewish immigrant family that found a home in a rural, largely fundamentalist Christian town takes on new relevance.  It’s a story that looks beyond stereotypes and conventional wisdom, that evaluates the ties that bind us together and the issues that continue to tear us apart.

 Click here for May 14, 2020 talk between Julie and her mother Lilly Salcman at the Peninsula Library in  Lawrence, New York. This was supposed to be a live presentation, turned virtual by the Covid pandemic. It was an extraordinary experience to share the screen with my 97 year old mother. Also, watch for the audience member who ironed throughout the lecture. Loved the useful multi-tasking! Click here for “Keeping A Lost World Alive,” Julie’s rumination on her mother’s cooking.

AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER, published in June, 2019 [paperback April, 2020], revisits a shocking act of international terrorism—the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and murder of Leon Klinghoffer, a disabled Jewish-American from New York. What transpired on the Achille Lauro left the Klinghoffer family in the grip of irredeemable sorrow, while precipitating tragic reverberations for the wives and sons of Abu al-Abbas, the Palestinian mastermind behind the hijacking, and the family of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian-American murdered in Los Angeles in a brutal act of retaliation. This story offers numerous speaking topics for a variety of audiences. What are the repercussions of terrorism for the children and grandchildren of perpetrators and victims? What does it mean to be a victim of terrorism and how the Klinghoffer sisters came to terms with their family legacy. Salamon’s experience reporting the book, as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, required her to confront the humanity of the Palestinians while understanding the existential issues confronting Israel. The book also contends with the story of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” the controversial opera that provoked a culture war that reflects on today’s fractious political and cultural climate. Salamon can also speak to today’s geopolitical climate through the lens of the Reagan administration’s response to the Achille Lauro hijacking.

WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS is the New York Times best-selling biography Wendy Wasserstein, an emblematic playwright of the baby boom generation. Wasserstein’s life encompassed the transformational years of the Sixties and the devastation of September 11; she wrote about it all. Her story speaks to how the shifting role of women in American society affected the meaning of family. Her years in the theater provides fascinating discussion of what has changed for women in the arts, and what has remained the same. Her struggle to find artistic and personal identity still resonate, offering valuable life lessons.

Click here to watch the author’s presentation of Wendy and the Lost Boys at Manhattan’s Society Library.

HOSPITAL resulted from the rare opportunity Julie Salamon was given to spend a year observing the inner workings of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, a large, urban hospital where sixty-seven languages are spoken. She came to understand the multiplicity of demands on the system and on the people working within it: technological, cultural, spiritual, psychological, financial, bureaucratic–and, yes, medical. Even as she learned about factionalism and petty quarrels, as well as the industrial nature of modern medicine, she was struck by the desire of the doctors, nurses, social workers, administrators, cooks and janitors to find meaning in their work–and by their desire to make the system better. Salamon addresses crucial questions about modern medical care, including: Is there a way to foster respect between medical professionals, and between doctors and nurses and their patients? How can hospital management help people working in the hospital improve systems that will make the experience less frightening and frustrating for patients and their families? The book has renewed relevance in the current debate over Obamacare and its legacy.

RAMBAM’S LADDER provides thought-provoking questions about the nature of giving. Maimonides, the 12th century scholar and physician known as Rambam, became Salamon’s guide in navigating the complexities of the contemporary world of giving. Faced with an onslaught of requests, how do we decide who to give to and how much? How do you instill the urge to give in your children? What is the difference between philanthropy and charity and does it matter? The book has been used by leaders in the non-profit world and clergy of different faiths to explore the intricacies of the deceptively simple-seeming concept of generosity. In her lectures, Salamon adapts Rambam’s eight-step plan of giving for today. She has addressed groups around the country—including Silicon Valley philanthropists, museum and hospital boards, religious and non-profit organizations.

THE DEVIL’S CANDY: This 1991 behind-the-scenes reportage about the making of Brian De Palma’s film version of Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities became an international best seller and remains a classic of film literature. Judd Apatow has called it one of his favorite books about Hollywood, and the New York Times listed it as one the 14 best business books ever written. The book’s cast of characters include Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Morgan Freeman. Salamon has discussed the film’s legacy at universities and library film series.

Schedule of Appearances