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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE CAREER OF LORE SEGAL NEE GROSZMANN
______
HON. JERROLD NADLER
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the illustrious
55-year career of acclaimed writer and Upper West Side resident Lore
Segal nee Groszmann.
Lore Segal was born to a Jewish middle-class family in Vienna,
Austria in 1928. Shortly after Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938,
she participated in the first wave of the Kindertransport which brought
thousands of children to safety in England. It was here she first began
writing: Segal penned impassioned letters to refugee committees and
potential sponsors advocating for her parents to be brought to England,
ultimately resulting in her parents' arrival a year later with domestic
laborers' visas. Although this effort reunited her family, her parents'
roles as domestic laborers required Segal to live with foster families
until she was eighteen. After earning her degree in English Literature
from the University of London, Segal spent three years in the Dominican
Republic, finally making her way to New York with her mother in 1951.
Segal's writing career began in earnest when she began chronicling
her experiences as a young emigre living with different families in
England in series of articles in The New Yorker, which later formed the
basis of her first novel, Other People's Houses, published in 1964.
Segal's other works include five novels, including Shakespeare's
Kitchen (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2008), eight
children's books including Tell Me a Mitzi, translations such as The
Juniper Tree, an adaptation of Grimm tales on which she collaborated
with her friend Maurice Sendak, and innumerable short stories and
essays. Lore Segal's most recent book is the 2019 collection of
published and unpublished works entitled, The Journal I Did Not Keep:
New and Selected Writing. Segal taught writing for almost thirty years
at notable institutions, including as a tenured professor at University
of Illinois at Chicago and Ohio State University, as well as Columbia
University, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence and the 92 Y. She has also been
recognized for her work with numerous awards and honors including a
Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants and O.
Henry awards.
What makes Segal's writing so enduring is the masterful way she
balances the themes of displacement and otherness, central to her
identities as a refugee and a foster child, with the emotions, humor
and conflicts inherent to the universal human condition. Her work
provides a unique insight into the immigrant perspective on the
American Dream and the Jewish diaspora. Segal's contributions to the
diverse community of immigrant voices who illustrate the complexities
and vibrancy of American life are well-deserving of tribute.
Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in celebrating the
55th Anniversary of Lore Segal's first publication, and in recognizing
the amazing achievements and continued impact of her work.
____________________