Bel Kaufman, writer, b. 1911.

A warm wonderful and with-it lady who is 100 years old/young. She lives on upper Park Avenue in a light-filled modern apartment, with her husband (a younger man of 94). She has every honor a writer can have and then some, and a bookcase filled with every book by Nabokov, in every language.

photos © ellen wallenstein 2011

herbert j. wallenstein (1917-1996)

today would be my father's 94th birthday. happy birthday, daddy.

last pages from "book of my ancestors" 1985

i miss him a lot, if not daily; from time to time; often. i wish i could give him a hug, show him my pictures, read him my writing, ask for advice.

last time i saw him was about a week ago: he appeared in my dream holding his hands out and shrugging his shoulders, as he did in life.
i wish i knew the question he wasn't answering.