Published and Republished

Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West By Harriet & Fred Rochlin

By

Harriet Rochlin

 Early in 1980, Fred & I were in Boston, he to attend an architectural conference, I, to visit Robie Macauley, then an esteemed editor at Houghton Mifflin. In the late 1970s, I attended his week-long seminar on fiction. He deemed my first novel saleable, and my published articles on Jewish pioneering in the West intriguing. 

Upon arrival, Robie handed me a small publisher’s proposal for a book on the Jews of Arizona, to be written by my husband, an Arizonan. A year later, Houghton Mifflin embarked on the production of a region-wide social history on Jewish pioneering in the West. My husband and I were named co-authors, I, in charge of the text, he, of the photographs. 

  Create a full-length social history in two years for a prestigious publisher? Atremble, I hired two assistants to scour Los Angeles archives for Jewish pioneers. Two months later, I added six skilled researchers in other Western states. Robie, my editor, evaluated every word I wrote. 

 In 1984, the publishers introduced Pioneer Jews with a handsome hard cover edition of 15,000 words, priced at $17.95.  As positive responses from reviewers mounted, sales grew. Interest confirmed, Houghton Mifflin released 11 more editions in trade paper, totaling 47,492 copies. Then in December, 2010, they returned the rights to the authors. 

In May, 2012, I learned that the Authors Guild was accepting its members’ out-of-print books for republication. I’d been a member since 1984 when Houghton Mifflin released PJs. So I emailed Muse Ossé, Authors Guild, BackinPrint.com, to apprise him of my interest in republication. I received two pages of requirements. PJs met them all.  On July, 23, 2012, I submitted a 10-page application along with four official documents verifying me as the sole owner of the manuscript.  

My author’s copy of the republished Pioneer Jews arrived on February 3, 2014. My first impression was that the republished cover was an appealing bright yellow, but the large photograph of Charles Strauss, Mayor of Tucson, 1883, and, his son, Charles, Junior, is hazy. As I thumbed through the scanned book, my spirits rose. Most of the photographs were as sharply rendered as in the original.

Also included in the 2014 Authors Guild edition were new items I’d written. (1) A newly completed list of 64 updated photo courtesy lines. (2) Evidence that the near-nude photograph of a woman on page 172 was not, as I had long-reported, Josephine Marcus Earp. (3) Two new pages of excellent reviews. 

Pioneer Jews is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, iUniverse.com
 
Born and raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Harriet Rochlin attended schools with a wide ethnic and racial mix--Jews, Mexicans, Japanese, also some Russians, Greeks, Armenians, Italians, as well as a smattering of American Blacks and Anglos. In 1965, as the ethnic history movement grew, someone asked Harriet what she knew about Jews in the early West. "Nothing," was her response. In the next 30 years, she published 18 articles on the subject, delivered 152 speeches and co-produced the landmark illustrated social history, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West.

Finding Gold

by Doris McCraw 

In 1848 gold was found in California. Although there had been some placer gold found in the southeast, this was a game changer. When word arrived back east of the Mississippi the rush was on. Unfortunately many of the thousands who sailed around the southern tip of South America, crossed at Panama or traveled across country in wagons and carts failed to find enduring riches.

Then in 1859 another rush was on. There was gold found in Colorado and many who had missed the first rush headed west across the Great American Desert with Pike's Peak or Bust painted on their wagons. From 1859 on gold was found in most of the Western states, the Dakotas, Nevada, Montana, etc. The last rush was in the 1890′s in the Cripple Creek region of Colorado and in the Alaskan territory. Many people followed one rush after another, most to no avail.

In looking at the pattern, so many rushed over true wealth. In California some of the pristine areas were forever blighted. The Great American Desert was in reality part of the breadbasket of the nation. Forest, mountains, rivers all were all sacrificed to the need for quick wealth.

The quick wealth was another matter altogether. Some miners found gold nuggets just lying around, but most prospectors and miners worked hard, long hours and barely broke even. In the long run it was those who supplied the gold seekers, or processed the gold ore that won the prize.

Perhaps you are wondering why the history lesson. For me it is the lessons learned that make it worthwhile. Many times we search for the quick answer and the bonanza strike of gold in our lives and work. We dream of bestselling books, an easier life and more money. Those dreams can definitely come true. The thing we need to watch for; not rushing by and missing the true gold. Friends,family, home are the true gold. In our rush to find gold, savor the journey and those we share it with. In the end, they will be the ones who help us find our own gold.
written and copyrighted by Doris McCraw  http://renawomyn.blogspot.com/