Katrina and a Jewish Celebrity Cookbook

You don’t hear much about Hurricane Katrina anymore. However, whenever I do hear something in the news about someone continuing to help support clean up and rebuilding efforts in the New Orleans area post Katrina, my ears perk up. Why? Because I compiled  Jewish celebrity cookbook whose purpose was to help feed those affected by the hurricane. Prior to that, I had hoped to help feed those affected by the tsunami in southeast Asia. You see, I was going to donate a percentage (10%) of what I earned with the book to MAZON: A Jewish Response to World Hunger, a food bank feeding the hungry here in the U.S. and around the world. I now plan to give 25% to MAZON. If I get an advance from a publisher (or a backer of some sort), I may be able to give more.

I had a publisher for the book. Indeed, I managed to get 90 celebrities – large and small, from Hollywood to Washington to sports arenas –  to contribute one or two recipes plus an anecdote to my book when this publisher approached me and asked if I would compile and edit it. I agreed and spent a year doing just that. Just when the book was ready to be designed and printed, the publisher backed out. And I’ve spent the last two years looking for a new publisher.

Why am I telling you this? Because today I read this article about Jewish Federation members helping St. Bernard Parish in metropolitan New Orleans turn a school that was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina into a community sports center. It reminded me that a need still exists to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina, and that there are still hungry people all around the world who need food. Unfortunately, more people will be affected by hurricanes and by natural disasters. I’d still like to help, and the celebrities who contribute to my book would like their recipes and anecdotes to be a vehicle to help as well. That’s why they willingly offered their recipes and anecdotes for the cookbook.

Not long ago, I renewed my efforts to find a publisher, but I still have not found one. I’m about to send proposals to another batch of publisher before considering self-publishing this book. I could use all the support I can get. If you are interested in purchasing a Jewish celebrity cookbook, a cookbook that seasons its recipes with the stories told by those who offer the recipes, those who want to hand down their recipes l’dor v’dor (from generation to generation), just as they were handed down to them, then please let me know. You don’t have to buy anything now. Just send me a note at namir@purespiritcreations.com with the words “I’d buy your Jewish celebrity cookbook” in the message line. I’ll simply put your email address on a list of interested buyers. The bigger the list becomes, the more impressed a publisher will be with the potential market for this book. And that will help me sell it to a publishing house.

The celebrities who contributed to this book and I can’t help feed the hungry – can’t give fully – if this book never gets published. Please help us in any way you can. One way is by showing your support for the project with a simply promise to buy the book. (Later, it would be great if you’d follow through on that promise!) If you know of a publisher who might be interested in this project, or if you know of an organization that might want to help fund my self-publishing efforts and become a promotional partner for the project, please let me know about them as well.

If you’d like to know what celebrities are in the book, here’s the list: Jeff Agoos, Ed Asner, Natalia Baron, Justin Bartha, Sylvia Boorstein, Joan Borysenko, Art Buchwald, Amanda Bynes, Jack Carter, Mindy Cohn, Aaron Comess, Didi Conn, David Copperfield, Sara DeCosta-Hayes, Ervin Drake, Rachel Dratch,  Deborah Drattell, James Eckhouse,  Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Jesse Eisenberg, Nora Ephron, Cory Feldman, Tova Feldshuh, Barney Frank, Brian Friedman, Uri Geller, Jami Gertz, Joanna Gleason, Elon Gold, Judy Gold, Nina Gordon, Leslie Grossman, Annabelle Gurwich, Corey Haim,  Monty Hall, Daryl Hannah, Jessica Hecht, Peter Himmelman, Deena Kastor, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman, Heather Paige Kent, Richard Kind, Richard Kline, Sascha Knopf, Stephanie Kramer, Lenny Krayzelberg, Frank Lautenberg, Piper Lauri, Michael Lerner, Julius Lester, David Leventhal, Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, Wendy Liebman, Kate Linder, Jonathan Lipniki, Lisa Loeb, Joan Lunden, Melissa Manchester, Dinah Manoff, Cindy Margolis, Kitty Margolis, Bruce Morrow, Judd Nelson, Phyllis Newman, David Penzer, Roberta Peters, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Jack Plotnick, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Morgan Pressel, David Proval, Rain Pryor, Alan Rachins, Carl Reiner, Martin Richards, Saul Rubinek, Daryl Sabara, Evan Sabara, Neil Sedaka, Tiffany Shlain, Pauly Shore, Kerri Strug,  Michael Tucker, David Wain, Kevin Weisman, Carnie Wilson, Henry Winkler, Peter Yarrow, and Bernie Seigel.