Author Archives: Chuck Gregory

The Rabbi and the Painter by Shoshana Weiss

Based on stories handed down from the past, The Rabbi and the Painter by Shoshana Weiss and illlustrated by Jennifer Kirkham (9/21/21; ISBN: 978-0-9988527-8-2; Hardcover $19.99; Ages 6-11; 32 pages) tells of the unique relationship between the sixteenth-century Venetian painter Tintoretto and Rabbi Leon of Modena, also known as Rabbi Judah Aryeh. Tintoretto breaks all the artistic rules of the Renaissance with his mannerist painting style while Modena’s interests extended far beyond the typical confines of the ghetto’s synagogue life to the secular world around him. In The Rabbi and the Painter we are transported to a place where cultures mixed to create a breathtaking masterpiece.

Jennifer Kirkham’s colorful illustrations bring Renaissance Venice to life. At the same time, the expressive texture evokes those brush strokes of Tintoretto’s own masterpieces.

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My Israel and Me by Alice McGinty

Coming this fall:
Kalaniot Books will be publishing My Israel and Me by Alice McGinty and illustrated by Rotem Teplow (9/21/2021; ISBN: 978-1-7350875-3-5; Hardcover $19.99; Ages 4-11; 32 pages). In recent history, Israel’s role in the world’s consciousness has been one of conflict, but over the centuries, millions of people have also traced their history, culture, and religion back to this tiny desert land. The result is a country with an incredible variety of peoples and traditions, and a diaspora that still feels connected to that homeland, thinking of it as “My Israel.”

Told in verse, the book introduces readers to the diversity of Israel’s people from a child’s perspective. Explanatory text sheds light on the varied cultures and traditions that inspire the special connection many feel with “their Israel.” Though coincidental, this book has arrived at a critical time and Kalaniot Books hopes it proves useful to parents and educators in starting thoughtful conversations and sharing their own insights about the complicated feelings surrounding modern day Israel.

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8th Annual The Americas Film Festival New York Virtual Cinema

Monday, June 21 to Sunday, June 27

8th Annual The Americas Film Festival New York Virtual Cinema Opens Monday, June 21 with box-office hit THE WEASELS’ TALE by Oscar-award-winning director Juan José Campanella

In partnership with Instituto Cervantes New York

The Festival closes with award-winning dramatic feature MONKEY BEACH by Loretta S. Todd on Sunday, June 27

In partnership with the National Museum of the American Indian

Special guests include filmmakers Loretta S. Todd, Grace Dove, Deirdre Fishel, Campbell Dalglish, Henrietta Mann, Marta Hincapié Uribe, Catherine Murphy

All screenings are free of charge and available online to audiences in NY, NJ and CT

For more information click here

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OF WOMEN AND SALT by Gabriela Garcia -book club event

OF WOMEN AND SALT is the sweeping, masterful debut by Gabriela Garcia — about a daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born.

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals — personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others — that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women.

A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

For more information click here

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Coke 400 at Daytona

Saturday, August 28 to Saturday, August 28
Daytona International Speedway

Get outside this summer and spend time with the whole family while experiencing the thrill of NASCAR racing in person at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday August 28.
From exploring the Midway to the spectacle of pre-race festivities to the excitement of drivers going all-out in this final chance to make the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, you’re bound to create memories that your family will cherish for a lifetime.

Find your tickets now while the best seats are available!

For more information click here

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Rolex 24 – 2022 at Daytona

Thursday, January 27 to Sunday, January 30
Daytona International Speedway

The historic 60th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA, North America’s most prestigious sports car race that is the ultimate test of endurance, speed and skill for world-class competition, will be held on Jan. 29-30, 2022 at Daytona International Speedway to open the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

“We are excited to celebrate 60 years of memorable, iconic moments, and the continuation of a rich legacy with the 2022 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA,” said Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelleher. “We are looking forward to hosting fans from across the globe at the World Center of Racing for 24 hours of the most incredible sports car racing, along with an unforgettable experience at this diamond event in sports.”

The inaugural Rolex 24 was a three-hour event in 1962, initially known as the Daytona Continental, with Hall of Famer Dan Gurney taking the checkered flag. Held on Daytona’s world-famous 3.56-mile road course, the event has become renowned for annually attracting many of the world’s finest race car drivers – from various racing disciplines – to make history against the world’s best sports car racers. Historically, drivers from NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1 and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) have joined forces for the chance to win the coveted Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona.

Daytona International Speedway will pay tribute to noted Rolex 24 Champions with names like Andretti, Haywood, Pruett, Gordon, Foyt, to name a few – as well as the magnificent machines that carried them to victory (Porsche is the all-time overall wins leader with 18 triumphs). Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Acura quartet of Filipe Albuquerque, Helio Castroneves, Alexander Rossi and Ricky Taylor are the reigning Rolex 24 At DAYTONA Champions.

The 2022 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA will again open the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, which currently features competition in five classes: the headlining Daytona Prototype International (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP2), the new GTD PRO class making its world debut with factory teams and divers, and GT Daytona (GTD) for customer racing programs.

The Rolex 24 weekend kicks off on Thursday, Jan. 27 with practice sessions in all classes. On Friday, Jan. 28 – prior to the Saturday-Sunday, twice-around-the-clock Rolex 24 – the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season will begin with the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge.

Like 2021, the track actually will host back-to-back racing weekends with the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 preseason test sessions on Jan. 21-23 (Friday-Sunday). Qualifying to determine the starting lineup for the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA will take place on Sunday, Jan. 23. Scout Days, a longtime tradition during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 that didn’t occur earlier this year because of the pandemic, are set to return in January.

Select tickets are currently available for the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA and can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. They include both 2- and 4-day infield admission packages: 2-day pass – $60 (includes free admission to the Roar); and 4-day pass – $110 (includes garage access and free admission to the Roar). Kids 12 and under are free. Returning guests from 2021 may also log into their account to view their renewal and take advantage of special pricing and no-interest payment plan options.

The Taste of the 24, held annually on the Saturday evening after the drop of the green flag to the Rolex 24, will once again be held with the proceeds benefitting the NASCAR Foundation. It features unrivalled dining experience featuring local restaurant fare in the Midway Suites as part of the frontstetch seating.

For more information click here

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THE BREAK-UP BOOK CLUB

On paper, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara have little in common – they’re very different people leading very different lives. And yet at book club meetings in an historic carriage house turned bookstore, they bond over a shared love of reading (and more than a little wine) as well as the growing realization that their lives are not turning out like they expected.

Former tennis star Jazmine is a top sports agent balancing a career and single motherhood. Judith is an empty nester questioning her marriage and the supporting role she chose. Erin’s high school sweetheart and fiancé develops a bad case of cold feet, and Sara’s husband takes a job out of town saddling Sara with a difficult mother-in-law who believes her son could have done better – not exactly the roommate most women dream of.

With the help of books, laughter, and the joy of ever evolving friendships, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara find the courage to navigate new and surprising chapters of their lives as they seek their own versions of happily-ever-after.

Wendy Wax, a former broadcaster, is the author of sixteen novels and two novellas, including My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding, Best Beach Ever, One Good Thing, Sunshine Beach, A Week at the Lake, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, The House on Mermaid Point, Ocean Beach, and Ten Beach Road. The mother of two grown sons, she has left the suburbs of Atlanta for an in-town high-rise, that is eerily similar to the fictional high-rise she created in her 2013 release, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey.

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MONSTERS OF ROCK CRUISE 2022

Wednesday, February 9 to Monday, February 14
sailing from Miami

The annual Monsters of Rock Cruise, the world’s premier hard rock/heavy metal experience at sea, is returning in 2022 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Departing out of Miami, Florida, promoter On The Blue announced the five-day/five-night full ship charter cruise will set sail February 9-14 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, visit two ports in CocoCay, Bahamas and Labadee, Haiti, and features performances from rock icon Alice Cooper, along with performances from over 35 artists.

For more information click here

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Forces of Fashion – Vogue

Wednesday, July 7 to Thursday, July 8

As the world starts to reemerge, Vogue’s Forces of Fashion returns as a fully virtual event for its fifth year on July 7 and 8—again with scores of entertaining and thought-provoking conversations and experiences with designers, industry insiders, and cultural figures, and more opportunities than ever before to connect with your fellow attendees. And there’s a new aspect to this year’s installment: For the first time, you’ll hear from Vogue editors from around the world, who will bring a distinctly global outlook to Forces of Fashion. As we slowly reemerge from the last year or so, it will be the place to celebrate fashion’s welcome return—and to understand more clearly how fashion is transforming to reflect our new and very different world.

For more information click here

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Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny, by Sadhguru

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru, unravels the existential mechanism of karma. The popular misinterpretation of karma as a reward and punishment system leaves most people in despair as if nothing is truly in their control. Karma is a profound tell-all book on the word for the modern era and the most empowering tool for human wellbeing.

“People in civilized society carry a great deal of unexpressed emotion within. Now, if emotions never find full expression, the energy can turn around and become deeply damaging to one’s health and well-being. This accounts for the upswing of depression and mental illness across the world.” – Excerpt from Page – 84

“After years of polluting our planet and refusing to change lifestyles, is it any wonder that so many other diseases are rampant in our world today? Are we not collectively responsible for these?” – Excerpt from Page – 47

“Education, parentage, and pedigree were socially significant, but never existentially significant. What was valued was this profound innate intelligence – a capacity to perceive existence as is, rather than as we think it is or should be.” – Excerpt Pg 95

Reviews for the Karma book:

“Karma brings me to a place of peace within myself.”- Rosanna Arquette

“Karma is a thoughtful and life-affirming reminder of our vast capacity to effect positive change in our own life and in the life of others. A must-read for anyone feeling stuck and hopeless.”- Tony Robbins

“Full of valuable insights to guide you to live a life of fulfillment.”-Will Smith

“The key to unlocking your truth… to connect with your inner wisdom.” -HRH Princess Noor Bint Asem of Jordan

“At last a book about karma that can be trusted. I never found a book that explains and solves the mystery of karma with clarity and hopefulness of this book.” -Deepak Chopra

“This book will put you back in charge of your own life.”- Tom Brady

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