title: A Woman of Uncertain Character: The Amorous and Radical Adventures of My Mother Jennie (Who Always Wanted to Be a Respectable Jewish Mom) by H
author:  Clancy Sigal 
description: <i>Starred Review.</i> Screenwriter Sigal (<i>Frida</i>), a Renaissance man blacklisted in Hollywood and active in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, draws from his tempestuous childhood in the 1930s in gangland/union-busting Chicago. This vivid, poignant and political memoir depicts his complicated, beloved mother, a "crazy bohemian" Russian Jewish migr immersed in the politics and mores of her time (she is now deceased). Jobless but never manless, Jennie Persily, youngest of 10, settled on Manhattan's Lower East Side, attended lectures given by John Reed and Emma Goldman, and fashioned her politics after theirs. An organizer for unions, she called her first strike at 13. An unwed mother at 31, she brought Clancy with her as she traveled the country by train, organizing. Along the way there were many men (and some women), and close calls with police and gangland hoods over her union activities. Clancy's childhood was peppered with characters like Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and the "abusive Swede," his favorite of his mother's lovers. Gritty prose worthy of any classic noir film propels this engaging, often tender memoir of a larger-than-life woman and her self-deprecating but accomplished son, who still misses their shared adventures. <i>(May)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  “Close Enough for Jazz:  My Life on Bass”
  
                                                         
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By Ron Roberts
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Haifisch Publications – Lenexa, Kansas
  
    
  In loving memory of
  
  
  
  Fern Slankard Roberts – 1923 – 2010
  
  
  
                                                          My mother
  
    
  
  
  
  Other works by Ronald Roberts
  
  “An Anarchist Lullaby” (A novel)
  
  “Meatball Sangwich” (Humor, memoirs)
  
  “Bloody, But Unbowed” (A novel)
  
  “Hollywood Grifter” (Non-fiction)
  
    
  
                                            Preface
  
  I was born into a world of turmoil and uncertainty, December 12, 1941, just
  five days after Pearl Harbor.  I was hesitant about the process, not sure of
  what I was getting into.  My mother was in labor for 23 hours, something she
  reminded me of for years every time she became angry with me.  I had longish,
  dark hair, even at birth, and Mom swore I even had sideburns. If I’d had my
  way, I would have had a beard.  (I’ve ha