Helen Zelon

New York magazine profiled New York City’s established and rising movers and shakers, including this short list of the most influential voices in public and private education.

From Dean Street’s cracked sidewalk, hard by Triangle Sports and Bergen Tile, number 475 looks nondescript. It’s a nowhere sort of place, six stories of squat yellow-brick symmetry with tidy window frames painted green. But on the fourth floor of this generic industrial building, Samuel Zygmuntowicz, world-renowned master luthier, is at work creating something extraordinary. “It’s an artist’s space on the outskirts,” Zygmuntowicz explains. He says it with a hint of a smile, after offering up a soft-skinned handshake that could crush a small bird. …

Everyone knows that Brooklyn is crawling with writers and other artistic types. What may be surprising is how many of these creatives are making children’s books–and how deep the roots of children’s literature run under the brownstone-lined streets. Read the story that ran in BKLYN magazine.

THE TRUE STORY of the only all-male, full-drag Shakespeare company in a medium-security mens’ prison in the U.S., first published in American Theatre, and later the basis for the prize-winning Sundance documentary Shakespeare Behind Bars. Read a related essay here.

The bond between grandparents and grandchildren is singular and precious. But as the older generation ages, youngsters can witness disturbing changes in their grandparents’ physical and cognitive abilities. Confusion, fear, and distaste for what they’re seeing can cause them to pull away. And ’sandwich generation’ parents can end up feeling torn.
This story, which was featured on CBS News and nominated for a Front Page Newswomens’ Award by Family Circle editors, explores how parents can keep kids and elders connected, when the double challenges of growing up and aging threaten to pull them apart.