Jack Mayer
pediatrician, writer of short stories, poems, and essays; author of a novel, a nonfiction book, and a collection of poetry; has received two Eric Hoffer First Horizon Awards, two Mom’s Choice Awards, a Readers’ Favorite Book Award, two IndieReader Discovery Awards, a Kansas Notable Book Award, a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, a Beverly Hills Book Award, and the Proverse Prize, among other awards and honors
Life In a Jar – a simple, some would say naïve, play – depicted Irena Sendler knocking on Jewish doors, asking mothers in the Warsaw Ghetto to give up their babies and children to save them. Uncovering Sendler’s lost story felt compelling to Liz, frightening and curious, something horrible from which she could not look away. Mothers giving up their children.
For Liz, the word legacy carried a very different meaning – more personal, less heroic. Liz’s mother had given up a child – she had given up Liz when she was five. Liz stared hard at the brightening horizon and worried about her personal legacy, a curse carrying the weight of genetic inevitability, passed from mother to daughter like an incurable disease.
She felt the engine thrum ease off and her ears clogged with the pressure of descent. The sun lit the ocean sufficiently for Liz to make out the wake of a ship. She loosened her seat belt, reclined in this unfriendly seat, and felt “the grumps” take down her pensive mood. She closed the window shade, which only emphasized how she was jammed into this flying tin can, how she could not escape these thoughts that made her heart beat fast and hard. Even with her eyes closed she stared into memories that would not let go.
from Life In a Jar by Jack Mayer (Long Trail Press; 2nd edition)
*** 60% of the sales of this book are donated to the Irena Sendler / Life in a Jar Foundation. The foundation promotes Irena Sendler's legacy and encourages educators and students to emulate the project by focusing on unsung heroes in history to teach respect and understanding among all people, regardless of race, religion, or creed.
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