In 1967-68 while serving as a flight surgeon at Marine Air Group 13 (MAG-13) at Chu Lai, Vietnam, Lt. Bruce Mallin took numerous photographs to document his activities. In addition to the usual military duties, his group carried out informal medical “clinics” for several adjacent rural communities. These excursions were known as “MED-CAPS” (Medical Civil…
Jewish communities, large and small, have a long and storied history in the growth of Arizona. This was quite apparent in central Arizona between 1940 and 1960. Schoolchildren around the country at the beginning of the fourth decade of the 20th century learned some basic facts about Arizona. Called the Baby State, it was the…
Neale Perl grew up in Brooklyn assuming the world must be half Jewish and half Italian, as were his own immediate surrounds. His grandparents were of Russian and Polish Jewish descent, and his grandfather was an ardent Zionist. He grew up in a secular Jewish home where music was an important component of everyday life….
Have you ever had an inkling about something and just wanted to explore it? Like maybe you’ve always thought about painting with watercolors or taking an improv class. Here’s a story about why you should trust those impulses and follow your intuition. You truly never know where it might lead you. Eight years ago, Jacki…
Thou shalt love Chinese food as thou love thy bagel. I think it’s the 11th commandment, or at least it should be. There is an undeniable affinity for Chinese food among Jewish people. So much so, that there are jokes about it, and it’s a tradition for many on Christmas. Chinese food has much in…
It’s difficult to come home after a long exhausting day and ponder “What am I making for dinner?” When I arrive home, I have a checklist of to-dos before lights out. Preplanning my meals and using shortcuts to reduce my time in the kitchen is extremely valuable to my family. One of my favorite shortcuts…
Raise your hand if you’ve heard this one: A rescue ship stops at a nearly deserted island to find just one old Jewish man. They see three huts in the distance. “What are those?” they ask. “Ah,” the man says, “those are the temples I built.” “But why three?” they query. “Oh, that’s easy” he…
“There is nothing wrong with me. You are just making stuff up so I can die, and you can have my money.” This harrowing, paranoid quote is from the self-published book of Mesa resident Phyllis Palm, Ph.D. Put That Knife Away – Alzheimer’s, Marriage and My Transition from Wife to Caregiver describes the emotional and…
Judy Feldstein now has both feet firmly planted on the ground here in the Valley of the Sun. She and her physician husband, Murray, both Philadelphia natives, first developed roots in Flagstaff following the completion of Murray’s medical residency in urology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. They embarked on a family trip in…
When Ted and Shirley Century, both 82, decided to downsize their home, they looked for a place near family. With seven children and 14 grandchildren scattered around the country, they had many places to choose from, but they wanted someplace where they could continue their active lifestyle. Arizona won and they started looking for a…
