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Debra Darvick: “I
thought that if I could just show readers, via
moving testimonies, what they could be a part
of, then maybe, just maybe, some would be
spurred to check out this world called
Judaism.”
The Details
Debra Darvick will sign copies of This Jewish
Life 7:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at the
Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park. (248)
968-1190. Books may be ordered at http://www.debradarvick.com/
or by calling (800) 880-8642.
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All have gone through life-altering
experiences that intensified their positive
feelings toward Judaism and are the subjects of
essays in Darvick’s first book, This Jewish
Life: Stories of Discovery, Connection, and Joy
(Eakin Press; $19.95).
Samantha Ashley, of Huntington Woods,
discloses how a packet of letters gave life to a
murdered Holocaust victim she would never meet.
Kay Harris, also of Huntington Woods, explains
why a trip to the Middle East affirmed her
decision of years earlier to convert to Judaism.
Jules Doneson, of Farmington Hills, tells about
the significance of receiving the cloth,
six-pointed star that a young French girl no
longer was forced to wear.
While Darvick’s book holds many stories of
people living in Michigan, there also are many
essays about individuals based elsewhere, from a
Midwest farm to the Vatican.
“I was browsing in a bookstore a number of
years ago and came across a book called Family:
Everyday Stories About the Miracle of Love,”
Darvick, 47, explains about the origin of her
anthology. “That book is a collection of stories
told by people transformed by kindness,
protection or intervention.
“I wondered why there wasn’t a book with
similar, life-affirming stories from a Jewish
viewpoint. Eventually, through a series of
coincidences, I found a person with an
interesting story, and that got me hooked.”
Darvick, a Birmingham freelance writer whose
articles regularly appear in the Detroit Jewish
News, collected tales from people she knew and
found others through the Internet and
periodicals. Seven years passed from the time
she began her project until the day of
publication.
The book begins with Darvick’s description of
the bris of her son, Elliot, now a college
student at Washington University in St. Louis.
The event took place in Michigan, where she and
her husband had recently moved, and the family
was elated at how many new, Detroit friends
became involved in their celebration.
“I would interview a subject and re-create
the story in the first person,” Darvick says.
“When I felt the story was ready, I would call
my subject and read the story over the phone. I
went after the truth of each piece and tried to
represent that accurately.”
While Darvick took some literary license in
retelling experiences, she also decided that she
would divide them into chapters according to
holidays and life-cycle events. With this
format, she could simultaneously introduce the
stories and provide information about Judaism to
help readers understand the religion.
“I feel honored to be part of this book,”
says Ashley, a Wisconsin college student who
used a relative’s letters as the basis of her
bat mitzvah presentation. “I believe telling the
story of my great-uncle gives him the voice
silenced by the Nazis when he was a young
man.”
While Darvick learned about Ashley through a
newspaper article, she knew Harris
personally.
“We talked several times about my [Israel]
trip, and the first go-round of writing was very
different from what was published,” reveals
Harris, a CPA who had doubts about practicing
Judaism after getting divorced from her Jewish
husband. “I gave her a long story, and she
refocused the information in a very significant
way. She captured what I couldn’t express.”
One subject referred Darvick to Doneson.
“While I was in the military, I was
introduced to the French underground, and that
[cloth] star was a badge of courage,” says
Doneson, a retired travel agent who keeps a book
of war memorabilia. “I have two daughters and
five grandchildren, and I’m glad they can read
about this experience.”
Darvick, who grew up in an assimilated
household in Atlanta, always had a strong Jewish
identity.
Forced to sing “Jesus Loves Me” every morning
in public school, Darvick initiated a private
rebellion in first grade by avoiding red and
green (the colors of Christmas) crayons for her
pictures.
In her teen years, Darvick’s paternal
grandfather sent her on two trips to Israel, and
she began incorporating more religion into her
everyday world.
A lifelong member of Hadassah, she attends
services at both Congregation B’nai Moshe in
West Bloomfield and Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township to honor the different beliefs within
her family, which includes daughter Emma, a
student at the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan
Detroit.
“Bringing Jewish ritual and learning into my
life had so enriched my world that I was
determined to find a way for others to connect
to a tradition that is sadly lost to too many
Jews,” says Darvick, who also has included a
community prayer experience of fellow Torah
student Batya Berlin of Bloomfield Hills.
“I thought that if I could just show readers,
via moving testimonies, what they could be a
part of, then maybe, just maybe, some would be
spurred to check out this world called
Judaism.”
Darvick’s writing and editing career began
shortly after her graduation from Kenyon College
in Gambier, Ohio, where her love for languages
motivated her to earn a bachelor’s degree in
Spanish and French. She moved to New York,
worked in successive jobs in publishing houses
and wrote for a financial publication.
Darvick and her husband, Martin, a General
Motors attorney, met in New York, with a friend
suggesting Darvick call her brother. The couple
moved to Michigan because of his work
transfer.
The author, who put together news bulletins
for the Jewish Community Center and Temple Beth
El, kept a journal and began her freelancing by
turning her notes into lifestyle articles for
Jewish and secular publications, including the
Detroit News and Antaeus, a literary
magazine.
When Darvick was at two critical junctures
with This Jewish Life, she went to summer
retreats in Illinois, where a writers’ colony
provides space and atmosphere for working
without interruption.
Just returned from a college reunion, Darvick
was thrilled to see her book in a section of the
library exclusive to alumni authors.
“I’ve never had any negative associations
with Jewish life,” says Darvick, who chose
Atlanta artist Flora Rosefsky’s Simchat Torah
III as the cover image for her book because it
projects a feeling of joy.
“I hope people are moved by the book and
inspired to know and do more about religion.”
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