Q&A with Annette Libeskind Berkovits

Annette Libeskind Berkovits is the author of the new memoir Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator, about her experiences working at the Bronx Zoo over several decades. She also has written the memoir In the Unlikeliest of Places. Her work also has appeared in Silk Road Review and Persimmon Tree.

Q: Why did you decide to write this memoir about your work with the Bronx Zoo, and how did you become an "accidental" zoo curator?

A: As you know, Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator is my second memoir. You have already conducted an interview with me about my first memoir, In the Unlikeliest of Places: How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags, and Soviet Communism.

While I was anxiously waiting to hear from my editor, Bill Roorbach, about the final draft of my first book, my husband suggested that I start writing a memoir of my wild and crazy experiences working at the Bronx Zoo for 34 years.

At first, I wasn’t even sure I had an entire book in me, but my husband reminded me of the many humorous things that happened to me at the zoo and while I traveled to remote corners of the world as a part of my work.

After I began, the stories tumbled out. At first I thought of them as independent, but as the book unfolded, I began to see an arc of an unconventional career that few women had at the time.

It was very satisfying to see myself as an observer, looking at the changes in me and the world in which I worked. I began as an instructor, but I retired as a senior vice president responsible for education programs in the four New York zoos, an aquarium and all of our many national and international programs.

As for exactly how I became an accidental curator, one would have to read the book. It would be a spoiler for me to reveal it here. But I will only say that I grew up in a place and a family without any possibility of pets (the why is explained in my Author’s Note) making me truly the most unlikely person to work in the zoo in any capacity, much less a curatorial role.

Q: Of all the various animals you describe, are there a few that especially stand out in your mind?

A: I’d have to say that Carlos, the mountain lion is at the top of the list. I fell in love with him, head over heels. Once readers learn of my greatest fear (before landing the zoo job) they’ll be even more surprised that I list a powerful hunter like a mountain lion (also known as a puma) in response to your question.

I am also very fond of Claude, the fugitive pig at the zoo. Once readers learn of my family’s history, they’ll understand why. For total surprise, I’d have to mention the foul-mouthed mynah my department inherited, so to speak. I’ll never forget it, and neither would the readers.

Q: You traveled all over the world working on conservation issues. Was there one experience that you feel made the most difference?

A: Well…it’s hard to limit it to one, so let me briefly mention two. The first was working with African colleagues in Kenya to design a wildlife experience in Nairobi so Kenyan people, especially Kenyan children, could become familiar with their own magnificent wildlife heritage.

Most of the marvelous creatures Americans know, from gorillas to elephants, giraffes, lions and cheetahs are African animals, yet few Kenyans ever get to see them. So, making it possible by creating an interactive zoo, close to where most people live, was extremely rewarding. We modeled it after the Bronx Zoo’s Children’s Zoo concepts.

The support of Kenyans for conservation measures of their native wildlife depends on their having knowledge and awareness of their incredible animal species.

The other experience that made a difference was bringing science curricula based on wildlife into Chinese classrooms—from the elementary levels to secondary schools. We developed these curricula at the Bronx Zoo to teach basic natural science, but at the same time we married all the lessons to fascinating wildlife exploration games and simulations which kept the students fully engaged and excited about learning.

It was a major coup to get the Chinese authorities to allow our programs into China’s schools. Given the drastic decline of wildlife and depletion of wild habitats in China it is critical that new generations of stewards are interested in conservation. But for such interest to develop, young people need to be educated and made aware of what is about to be lost.

Q: How has the field of zoos and conservation changed over the course of your career?

A: There were three major changes that are obvious to me as I look back. The first is the growth of women in decision making positions in zoos. Many women now occupy director and curator positions.

When I entered the field in 1972, I doubt there was more than a tiny handful of women. Even in keeper positions there weren’t many women. Believe it or not, some male curators thought female keepers would not be effective during their periods! Doesn’t that sound medieval?

Another huge change is the overall professionalization of the entire field. 40-50 years ago, all one needed to work in a zoo as a keeper was to know how to use a broom, bucket and shovel.

Today most keepers have advanced degrees in zoology, ecology, animal behavior or conservation biology. You need some of these kinds of courses even to get an unpaid internship position! And most field scientists working in zoos have PhDs.

And finally, these days nearly all accredited zoos have substantial conservation and research departments as well as extensive education programs, many modeled on the Bronx Zoo programs.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: As of now I have published two memoirs and have one other unpublished coming-of-age memoir so I’ve written a lot of non-fiction. Now I am turning my attention to writing historic fiction and finishing a poetry chapbook. Your readers can keep up with my work on my website, and there they can also subscribe to my blog.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I’d really like people, particularly young people, to be open to pursuing unconventional career paths and not be tied to anyone’s notion of the “right” way to work or explore the world. There are many paths. If I had hesitated about accepting the zoo job, my life would have been infinitely poorer.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. For a previous Q&A with Annette Libeskind Berkovits, please click here.

Q&A with Annette Libeskind Berkovits

 

 

 

Annette Libeskind Berkovits is the author of the new novel The Corset Maker, which is based on her mother's life. Berkovits's other books include Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to write a novel based on your mother's life rather than a work of nonfiction?

 

A: There are several reasons for this. One is that I have wanted to write a novel for a long time. I had written two nonfiction books, both memoirs, and one poetry book. But I felt that as a writer I needed to flex my creativity muscles.

 

I undertook the challenge of writing a book of historical fiction because in this genre an author who has experience writing nonfiction has the historical facts to act almost like training wheels.

 

If I had more factual information about my mother’s fascinating life in which she fought female stereotypes and if I had more details about my mother’s close friends, likewise very unique individuals, I may have written yet another memoir with my mother as its centerpiece.

 

As is, I had just enough information to inspire me and to use it as a point of departure in a historical novel.

 

Second, I have long been fascinated with the violence of the WWII period and wondered about what it took to survive a time when 84 million lives were lost. What character traits would it take to survive, especially for a woman?

 

I felt that such moral issues are best dealt with in a novel. A single strong character, if well drawn, can elicit more understanding in a reader than mere statistics. One cannot get one’s mind around millions, but one memorable character can have powerful impact.

 

Third, I always see parallels in current society with events that have taken place in the past. History, if it doesn’t exactly repeat itself, carries echoes of the past. And I want to explore what we learn from experience… if anything.

 

Q: You write that as a child, you knew little of your mother's life story. How did you learn more about it, and what kind of research did you need to do to write the novel?

 

A: I believe that my mother may always have been an introverted person, but certainly after WWII when she learned of the huge losses in her family: her own mother, four younger sisters and countless aunts, uncles, and cousins, she became deeply depressed.

 

It wasn’t easy for me as a young girl or teen to get many details of her pre-war and wartime experiences.

 

After her passing, my father found scattered pages of a book she’d written that she’d discarded because she wasn’t happy with her facility in English.

 

When our family came to America, both my parents, but especially my mother, strove to learn the language. My mother had often said that one cannot participate fully in the life of one’s country if one doesn’t know the language.

 

She went to English as a second language evening classes after her job in a fur sweatshop and studied hard, bought all kinds of English-Polish dictionaries, but ultimately was not satisfied with her fluency.

 

This is why I believe she threw away what would have been priceless material for me.

 

From those loose pages my father found I learned a bit more.

 

Later, I met two of her close friends, one of whom was my mother’s teenage partner in her corset shop in pre-WWII Warsaw, Poland. The other was also a friend from Warsaw who as young woman went off to fight as a volunteer with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t meet the third friend, Raquela, who was also an inspiration for a character in the book. My mother always said that Raquela had saved her life in the Siberian Gulag. I must have seen her in Kyrgyzstan, but sadly I have no memory of her because I was very young.

 

Between these four women I had enough tantalizing tidbits to form the basis for the novel.

 

In regard to the rest of the book’s content, I did need to research the historical material, especially the Spanish Civil War battles and the activities of the French Resistance.

 

But the wonderful women who I have already mentioned were the primary drivers behind the book. The history material is easily available, but ways to connect actual historical events to particular individuals, to put human faces on these events, is rarer and in my view, more effective.

 

Q: What do you see as the relationship between your mother and your fictional character Rifka, and as a daughter as well as a novelist, was it difficult to separate the two as you wrote?

 

A: In the first part of the story, Rifka’s actions as a teen are very much my mother’s story. My mother opened her shop at age 17 on one of the most elegant Warsaw streets, something unheard of for a young woman coming from an Orthodox Jewish home, or any home for that matter.

 

The real flesh-and-blood corset maker behind the fictional one in The Corset Maker is my mother Dora Blaustein Libeskind.

 

Like Rifka, my mother entered Palestine illegally in the mid 1930s looking for her sister. Palestine had been under the British mandate in the period between 1917 and 1948 and severely restricted Jewish immigration during some periods.

 

From there on the story is entirely fictional until the reader gets to Spain. That portion of the novel is inspired by my mother’s friend Ruth, who in fact fought valiantly and returned from the Spanish Civil War with a Spaniard whom she later married.

 

The rest is where my imagination takes over and where I imagine what may have become of my mother if she didn’t end up imprisoned by the Soviets in a Siberian gulag.

 

Throughout the story, my mother’s courage and bravery inspired me and I lent my mother’s characteristics to my protagonist. That aspect wasn’t so difficult.

 

What was difficult was trying to keep reminding myself that my mother was a real woman, with flaws, and to caution myself not to place her on such a high pedestal that my protagonist would become unbelievable.

 

Rifka is courageous but she has flaws. She makes impulsive decisions, especially in her youth. I hope readers will relate to that.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: I hope, first and foremost, that readers will be fascinated by Rifka’s journey through such a tumultuous time in history and how she navigates the various challenges thrown in her path.

 

I hope readers will understand Rifka, that they will cry with her and revel in her successes.

 

I hope readers will see that even in the worst of times, there are good people who can positively impact the trajectory of one’s life.

 

Most of all, I hope that the book’s epigram will resonate strongly: “above all you shall not be a bystander.”

 

This is the last line of Professor Yehuda Bauer’s quote which in full reads as follows:

Thou shall not be a victim

Thou shall not be a perpetrator

But above all,

Thou shall not be a bystander.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: In the immediate time frame, I am finishing final edits on my coming-of-age memoir which will be released this fall.

 

Aftermath: Coming of Age on Three Continents shines a light on the impact of the Holocaust on children of survivors. How does growing up in a home burdened by terrible history affect the children’s spirit, motivations, and understanding of the world?

 

As soon as I send the manuscript to my publisher I’ll resume work on another novel. But, again, I like to challenge myself so I undertook to write a magical realism story.  It is a novel that deals with aging, with dreams, with unfinished business.

 

It takes place during the pandemic, not because I decided to write it during that terrible period, but because though I began it quite some time before the awful spring of 2020, as the story continued to unfold the pandemic was a fact all around me, so I had to include it. And despite the dire times, magical things did happen in the world.

 

My working title is The Great Conjunction which refers to a celestial phenomenon, but also to connections within and among families. Well, I am not finished with it, so I won’t say more because my characters may take me in different directions.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Yes, I’d like to add something about my historical novel The Corset Maker. I want to call your reader’s attention to the cover. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind, the renowned international architect.

 

Daniel is my brother and I felt very fortunate he momentarily set aside work on his projects to create the cover. His museums and landmark buildings around the world and the Master Plan for Rebuilding Ground Zero in New York keep him extremely busy so it was such a beautiful brotherly thing to do.

 

I think he did an amazing job capturing the key elements of the story using abstract images, something that is very difficult.

 

I am extremely fortunate to have family support in my writing life.

 

My daughter, Jessica Ursell, frequently does the copy editing and my niece, Rachel Libeskind, an artist in various media, is working on the cover for my upcoming memoir. My son Jeremy has always encouraged me to write a novel. Most of all, my husband David is a fantastic cheerleader and the first reader of all my manuscripts.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Annette Libeskind Berkovits.

Q&A with Annette Libeskind Berkovits

Annette Libeskind Berkovits is the author of the new book In the Unlikeliest of Places: How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags, and Soviet Communism. It recounts the story of her father's life. Her stories have appeared in Silk Road and Persimmon Tree. She worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society for more than 30 years in New York City.

Q: Why did you decide to write this book about your father, and how did you separate your feelings as a daughter from your role as biographer?

A: Since I was a young girl I was fascinated by my father’s stories about his life and what had happened to him.

As I grew older and began to understand how his attitudes and positivity affected me, I thought it would be good to share them with others, but of course, one’s life gets in the way. I had a demanding job and children so there wasn’t any “spare” time to write.

In any case, I did want to write, but knew that it couldn't be done as a side hobby. I always wanted to get deeply into it and give it my full, undivided attention.

So it wasn’t until I retired that I could think seriously about writing. When I found my father’s tapes—the ones where he had recorded his incredible life story—I knew that was the perfect subject for my first book. I took his tapes as my marching orders.

The second part of your question, Deborah, is quite interesting.

To begin with, I was very keenly aware that since my father was no longer with us that I had to be completely respectful to the way he told the story, because he wouldn’t be here to make corrections. No elaboration, no additions or deletions. I had to be faithful not only to his words, but to the spirit of the story he recorded.

I did a great deal of historical research to add context for the reader. It was especially important as my father was a man who valued historical accuracy and his tale spans nearly all of the 20th century.

I did in some sections include myself, but it was only as a contrast to my father’s interpretation of certain events. I worked hard to make it clear to the reader where my father’s story was being told and where I interjected myself.

Q: Your research included tapes your father made in which he told stories about his life. Did you know much of this information growing up, or was a lot of it new to you, and what do you feel you learned about your father as you wrote the book?

A: My father was one of a minority of survivors who had a true passion for telling what had happened to his community during World War II. Many survivors were so traumatized that they either couldn’t or wouldn’t speak of it for years, if ever.

In our own family, my father’s older sister was an Auschwitz survivor who lost her husband and child while in captivity, but she did not reveal any of it to the new family she formed after the war. They did not learn her story until after she had passed away.

To my father the telling was a sacred obligation, which is why I learned of it while still a very young girl. The tapes he recorded did provide some more detail and helped me remember each portion of the story with people’s names, dates, and places with the most accuracy, so I had a very fresh canvas from which to work.

As I wrote the book I not only learned the fine details, but gleaned a visceral sense of what it was like to have to abandon everyone who was nearest and dearest, the sense of statelessness and homelessness and unemployment that plagued my father during the entire war time period and unemployment later in Israel.

It was interesting to me that I wasn’t as distressed writing about all those forms of repression and imprisonment because I had read about the gulags. It was the sense of utter abandonment and loss of place my father experienced that affected me even more.

Most of all, I learned that with the kind of optimistic outlook on life and humanity that shone so brightly in my father, one can overcome almost any challenge in life. That lesson helps me everyday with the challenges in my own life.

Q: The book also includes examples of your father's art. What are some of your favorites?

A: Oh, goodness, that is a hard question. Since my father began painting at the ripe age of 72 he created well over 200 paintings. Amazingly, each is nearly completely different from the others, very unique, so it’s hard to have favorites.

My father didn’t want to sell his paintings. He called them his children, so if I pick one over another, I’d be slighting a sibling!

When I saw his first piece—a felt collage, titled “Lonely Bird”--I was stunned. It wasn’t only because of the colors and intricacy, but it was the startling modern style, a latter-day Picasso.

He painted many musical themes, wild imaginary instruments, otherworldly figures and flowers, dancers and young people and even events such as a rally at Union Square.

Of course, many are too abstract to be easily described. But all are exquisitely colorful in way that still radiates his upbeat persona.

My father was mainly interested in exhibiting his work so as to inspire other older people to pursue their interests. “It’s never too late” was his favorite saying.

For someone beginning art so late in life he managed to have dozens of exhibitions, including having his work shown in the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

If I am pressed to choose, I’ll pick “I Remember Zina,” an acrylic on canvas that was an homage to his second grade music and dance teacher, Zina. She opened a whole new world to him and even in his 80s he could not forget her indelible influence on him.

In this painting two abstract dancers fill the canvas, but one can easily tell which one is Zina—the one with the crown on her head. In my book I describe another painting that has made an enormous impression on me, but I’ll let the readers discover it.

Q: How would you describe your father's legacy?

A: I feel extremely fortunate to have had my father in my life long enough so I could get to know him on an adult level as a cherished and respected friend, not just as a beloved parent.

He taught me, and my husband (who called him his buddy) and our two children that everything in life can be overcome with a positive attitude and a belief in the goodness of people.

It is remarkable to me that given the traumas of his life, my father never abandoned his belief in the fundamental goodness of humanity.

He knew how to get along with and appreciate people that were completely different from him in terms of cultural, religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. He always said that everyone had some essential goodness in them and if you only listened to their life story, you’d discover it.

He also had intense pride of citizenship and voted in every single election, and taught us all to do the same. His patriotism and love of America translated into my daughter Jessica, his eldest grandchild, becoming a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force as part of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps after graduation from law school. 

One of his proudest moments was standing alongside her commander at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and helping to pin on her new rank when she was promoted to Captain.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I have several very different projects in the works.  My next book, Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator, will be published early next year. It is part memoir, part a collection of surprising and humorous stories of my 34-year career at the Bronx Zoo.

Next is a coming of age on three continents memoir (mine) titled Learning to Speak American. This one in some ways will be a sequel to In the Unlikeliest of Places since readers will find the young Annette and Daniel growing up under the tutelage of their father Nachman, the protagonist of the current book.

Simultaneously, I am working on a poetry collection, A Mother’s Lamentations, which deals with the trauma and pain of our son, a husband and father of two young girls, sustaining a devastating hemorrhagic stroke that left him a quadriplegic - essentially trapped inside his own body. Poetry is the only way I’ve been able to deal with the torrent of feelings about this tragic event.

Another project on my plate is a historical novel set in Europe and the Middle East in the 1930s. I am modeling some of the characters after people who have had influence on me, most notably my mother. This one is as yet untitled. It is nowhere near finished.

The readers of your blog, Deborah, can read excerpts from all of the books mentioned above on my website. They can also sign up to receive my blog entries and updates on my appearances and readings.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: My father’s artistic talents were transmitted to my brother, Daniel Libeskind, who is one of the foremost architects in the world.

Some of his many projects include his role as Master Planner for rebuilding Ground Zero in New York, the Berlin Jewish Museum, Imperial War Museum in Manchester and many other notable cultural sites.

My father’s youngest granddaughter Rachel, Daniel’s daughter, is at the tender age of 27 already an enormously successful artist and performer in her own right.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb