Until the age of 13, I moved (almost) every year with my military family. School: Beverly Hills High School, University of Colorado (Economics and Business) and an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago.

My family has always been philanthropic. I was taught from a young age that one third of any money I earned (an allowance at that time) was to be given to charity (the other two thirds were for spending and saving). My parents not only supported a lot of organizations financially, but worked to raise money for many different causes and often opened their home for fund raising events. But this story started much earlier than that. Both of my grandfathers gave large amounts of their accumulated wealth to benefit others in the community and have been a powerful role model for me.

Even before this, my great-great grandfather set an example for his family by leaving an Ethical Will for his children, directing them to support charitable organizations, among other things. I have always known that giving back is an important part of being born into a privileged family. 

I began my career with Johnson & Johnson in numerous capacities and locations beginning in various accounting departments, ending at Corporate Headquarters in the Production Planning division. I traveled for 8 months in Europe and then came back to LA to work in the family business from 1982-1986 where I was responsible for the implementation of a new computer system which took the company from punch cards to desktop computer. that interested me. I worked flexible hours so that I could be available to my family. Our third child ended up being a bookstore … I need a lot of stimulation in my life so in 1993, two other booksellers and myself created Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore … a genre bookstore featuring books of Martians, murder, magic, and mayhem.

In 2001, we moved to Manhattan Beach where I immediately became immersed in the community, volunteering for the MBEF and becoming a board member at my synagogue. I was also a member of the Board of Overseers for Hebrew Union College in LA. At the same time I joined the board of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association where I was the president for three years. I started to think about opening a second bookstore in the South Bay and began creating programming around books and authors. From here Ladies, Lunch, and Literacy was launched, bringing debut authors to lunch and benefiting various literacy organizations. Our first beneficiary, WriteGirl not only received donations from LLL and from me personally, but acquired a significant grant, other donations, and some enthusiastic volunteers. In 2009, WriteGirl honored me with the Friend of WriteGirl award. Our 2009 literacy beneficiary for LLL is Wonder of Reading. They have also realized additional interest from the attendees of LLL.  

In additional to these local organizations, I also support Words Alive in San Diego and Monarch School where there are only two requirements to attend school: (1) you must be homeless and (2) you must want to attend school. In 2009 I joined EveryChild Foundation which gives a $1,000,0000 grant to child related causes each and every year.  

I have created and participated in a variety of other events in the South Bay that revolve around books and authors. We had an inaugural event for Breakfast, Business, and Books in June 2009 and I hope to do more programming with businesses and the Chamber of Commerce in the South Bay. I worked with Temple Menorah to create Authors, Books, and Conversations (ABC), a community wide event featuring Jewish authors for children and adults.

And I travel to almost any event or venue to sell books, support authors, and foster a love of literature.

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