Phyllis Houseman was born in Detroit and received degrees from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. She served in the Peace Corps, Ecuador, and then taught Biology and Physical Science in Detroit and California schools. In a step into another career, Phyllis has published several novels and short stories.
Kathy Miller is a retired educator/counsellor who lives with her husband and two black cats in upstate New York. Kathy started writing poetry as a teenager and returned to creative writing with retirement in 2018. Kathy’s work has appeared in the online version of The New York Times’ Tiny Love Stories, Persimmon Tree, Writer’s Club, and The Ponder Review.
Janet Garber is the author of the award-winning Dream Job, Wacky Adventures of an HR Manager and writes across many genres, from light horror to Jewish humour. She lives in the lower Hudson Valley and enjoys hiking in the Gunks, frequenting live music venues, and teaching her rescue cats how to make friends and eat their food before the other comes in to finish it off.
Michèle Huppert was born to Austrian parents in a small fishing village in the north of France at the beginning of World War II. Despite the deprivations of war, and the dangers to her family as both foreigners and Jews, Michèle has fond memories of her early years and she remains proud of her role as a child decoy in her mother’s Resistance missions.
In 1952, Michèle and her mother Ruth immigrated to Australia to rebuild their lives. After completing her schooling at Mac. Robertson Girls’ High School, Michèle attended Zercho’s Business College where she developed the skills to build a successful career in the fashion industry and to manage the family finances.
Michèle met her husband Paul Huppert in 1960 and together they built a happy home for their three children and many grandchildren. After Paul’s early death, Michèle felt blessed to enjoy a 17-year partnership with the late Eric Taft AO.
Michèle and her mother remained extraordinarily close until Ruth died in 2007. More than a decade later, Michèle embarked on the significant task of writing Malou – French Resistance Fighter to share her mother’s remarkable story with the world.
Esther is an award-winning author of three books, a child and adult psychologist, the founder of ‘My Journey to Hospital Land’ – a therapeutic program for children, and an emerging filmmaker. Her documentary ‘The Narrow Bridge’ will screen at JIFF next Feb/March.
Carmella Rose lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Ittay Flescher, and their two children. Carmella works at The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (www.pardes.org.il), an open, inclusive, diverse and intellectually challenging Jewish learning community based in Jerusalem with programs worldwide, including Australia. Carmella is unceasingly amazed by the many happenchance events that unfold in vibrant Jerusalem and loves recounting them through storytelling. Reach out if you’d like to learn more about Pardes for Aussies online, or come visit Carmella and family in Israel one day carmella@pardes.org.il
Deborah Wiener is a Melbourne barrister, writer and human rights advocate. She also has a passion for taking pictures of lions, which sadly, is on hold for the moment.
Rebecca Bender is co-author with her father, Kenneth Bender, of the book Still (North Dakota State University Press, 2019), Independent Press Award Winner (Judaism category, 2019) and Midwest Book Award Gold Medal Winner (Religion/Philosophy category, 2020). Still is a biography/memoir of five generations of a Jewish family on three continents, overcoming challenges and living their lives with tradition and faith.
Rebecca practiced law as a securities litigator in Minnesota for 18 years, after graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School. Her prose and poetry have appeared in the Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Paper Brigade Daily (Jewish Book Council), North Dakota Quarterly, The Jewish Veteran, and the Forward, and she recently completed a screenplay for Still. Still, the book, is available through NDSUPress.org, Amazon.com or can be ordered through any bookstore.
