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by Adrienne Petterson © 2007     About Me

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Inside of Time - My Journey from Alaska to Israel
by Ruth Gruber
Carroll & Graf Publishers
ISBN 0-7867-1083-7
Published March 2004 - Hardcover - 382 pages - $26.00

Ruth Gruber, the extraordinary journalist, writer, author, photographer, humanitarian, and more, writes in this book, her umpteenth (around 19), about her personal philosophy, "Inside of Time."  By this, I think, she means living more in the moment rather than being bound by the clock.  This book covers her time between 1941-1952, when she was a foreign correspondent for the Herald Tribune, among other things.  She was also the youngest person in the world to hold a Ph.D. in Philosophy at the age of 20.  Born in Brooklyn in 1911, Dr. Gruber was 92 when this book was published, and she continues to write and lecture to this day (2007).  Her interviewing Harold L. Ickes (secretary of the interior) led to her being appointed by Ickes to be the field representative in Alaska, which involved "how to populate the territory (Alaska was not yet a state), and at the same time, conserve its natural resources and its beauty."  She describes her arrival in Alaska beautifully, with a charm that is infectious.  Some of the people she met and/or worked with, include FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and a host of others.  Dr. Gruber's life is essentially about helping others, for she also helped refugees from Europe, "refugee migrations into Israel", and she brought refugees to this country as well.  She was also at the Nuremberg Trials!  I hate yet am also fascinated by the Holocaust.  I despise the unspeakably inhuman things that go on during (mostly during) wars.  Dr. Gruber's words remind us that we should never forget.  I can't possibly mention everything about this fascinating woman - she's done SO much, and I urge you to read this compelling book for yourself, please.  This woman has done more than most women could ever contemplate, and so much more than many men, who didn't encounter the obstacles that women did.  And to her, I take my hat off.  See my review of her later book, Witness, published in 2007.
Conclusion - A firsthand account of history in the making.  I'm about to start reading more of Dr. Gruber's books - they have an irresistable allure about them.

book cover

Review copy not supplied by publisher - library copy reviewed.

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