April 2022
Phyllis Shragge

Na’amat Hamilton will feature author and journalist Marsha Lederman as guest speaker at the 37th annual celebrity author luncheon at noon ET on Sunday, May 7.  This year’s event will be virtual on Zoom.

Marsha Lederman is the child of Holocaust survivors and the author of “Kiss the Red Stairs: The Holocaust, Once Removed.” A columnist for The Globe and Mail, she joined The Globe in 2007 and spent 15 years as its Western Arts Correspondent. Before the Globe, she held a variety of positions with CBC Radio, most of them in Toronto, including National Arts Reporter. Prior to that, she spent years working in commercial radio as a reporter, news anchor and talk show host. She has won several journalism awards, including the 2019 National Newspaper Award for Arts and Entertainment reporting. Her memoir, published by McClelland & Stewart in May 2023, was an instant national bestseller and a Globe 100 choice for 2023, as selected by Ann-Marie MacDonald (Fall on Your Knees), who called it “an enormous achievement.”

Her book has received rave reviews. Among others, TVO’s Steve Paikin called it “phenomenal” and “truly wonderful” and the book was “highly recommended” by the Vancouver Sun.

Marsha was five when she asked her mother why she didn’t have any grandparents.  This simple question led to her mother’s frank revelation about the Holocaust. In her memoir, Marsha delves into her parents’ Holocaust stories, how the Holocaust affected her personal life and how trauma migrates through generations.

She has spoken at book festivals across the country, as well as at schools, universities, libraries, churches, and synagogues. She has also spoken to book clubs, both private and corporate; at events commemorating the Holocaust, and to groups of Holocaust survivors and descendants of survivors.

Media appearances for the book have included CTV’s The Social and Your Morning; CBC’s The Current, The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers and local afternoon shows in Vancouver and Toronto.

Marsha is currently a mentor for the Canadian Association of Journalists, a member of the Polaris Prize jury, and a member of the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

Born and raised in Toronto, she also lived in Hamilton where she worked for radio stations CKOC and K Lite FM.  She has lived in Vancouver since 2007. 

She has close family and friends in Hamilton, Dundas, and Ancaster.

Na’amat is a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to enhance and safeguard the status of women, children and families in Israel and Canada. Na’amat programs in Israel provide shelters for abused women and children, legal counselling, recreational and retraining programs, and a countrywide network of daycare centres.
Tickets for the virtual author luncheon are $25 and tax receipts will be provided. Tickets are available at naamat.com/home/cities/hamilton.