Susan Cain's grandfather

At the end of her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain puts in "A Note on the Dedication" that explains why she selected her grandfather for that honor because he "spoke so eloquently the language of quiet." She doesn't identify him by name but drops a number of hints, like "Brooklyn neighborhood where he served as a rabbi," "as a widower he'd lived alone for decades," "when she spoke the congregation swelled to standing- room-only," and "he died at the age of ninety-four, after sixty-two years at the pulpit." 


She also gives a couple of clues to her family by identifying  her father as "a dedicated physician" and the size of her family, which included one sister and one brother. So these were what I had to go on to make the connection. Well, actually my husband took over the Google search when he arrived at http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/18/nyregion/rabbi-israel-schorr-94-led-brooklyn-synagogue.html


Everything fits with Rabbi Israel Schorr. He died at 94 in the month of April of the year 2000 after serving as " rabbi of Congregation Beth El and then, after a merger, of Congregation Beth El-Young Israel for 62 years."  The family details match, as well: "He was predeceased by his wife, Bertha. He is survived by his daughter, Gail Horowitz of Lawrence, N.Y, and three grandchildren."  Another source reveals that Gail Horowitz is married to Dr. Lawrence Horowtiz, the doctor father of 3 identified in the description. It's possible to dig up even more information if one wants to pay for it. But what I was really after was the name of the grandfather. 


Other posts related to the book:
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-marriage-of-opposites.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/04/great-introvert.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/04/working-alone.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/05/perspectives-on-introversion-this-is.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/06/jane-austens-heroines-from-extroverted.html
http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2013/11/public-or-it-didnt-happen.html






Follow me on Twitter @AriellaBrown and circle me at Google+ visit my site http://kallahmagazine.weebly.com/

Comments

Anonymous said…
If you're interested, Susan Cain's wikipedia page explicitly says that her grandfather is Rabbi Israel Schorr, so your findings were correct! Then again, anyone could have written that..
Ariella's blog said…
And if you click on the link for that footnote, it leads you here. Test it out.

Popular Posts