Award-winning Author Margalit Fox Speaks with Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein in West Palm Beach

Fox’s new book, The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum, pulls the veil back on a little-known Jewish woman who was a notorious crime boss during the Gilded Age

Monday, January 13, 2025

NEW YORK, NY—On Sunday, January 26, 2025, from 3:30-4:30 pm ET, award-winning author and former longtime New York Times journalist Margalit Fox will speak with Lisa Hostein, Hadassah Magazine's executive editor, at the West Palm Beach Marriott. Fox’s latest book, The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss (Random House, 2024), resurrects the little-known figure of Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum, who reigned as one of New York City’s most notorious underworld leaders during the Gilded Age – “the doyenne of a multifaceted, sharply diversified criminal enterprise,” writes Stewart Kampel in the January issue of Hadassah Magazine.

The interview will be followed by a book signing at which The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum will be available for purchase.

The event is part of Hadassah Magazine’s popular One Book, One Hadassah national series of author interviews, which focuses on Jewish-themed works by women and has been attended by thousands of readers since it was launched in 2020. Past events have included interviews with Jennifer Weiner, Talia Carner, Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Jean Hanff Korelitz.

For a complimentary press pass or to speak with Margalit Fox, please contact Mitchell Slepian at 201-716-9261 or mslepian@hadassah.org. Members of the public can purchase tickets ($18) here: https://www.hadassah.org/oboh-jan-2025.

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Originally trained as a cellist and linguist before discovering journalism, Margalit Fox retired in June 2018 from a 24-year-career at The New York Times. In her last position, as a senior writer in the newspaper’s celebrated obituary news department, she wrote Page One sendoffs of some of the best-known cultural figures of our era. Fox is the winner of the William Saroyan Prize for Literature and the author of four previous nonfiction books, The Confidence Men, Conan Doyle for the Defense, The Riddle of the Labyrinth and Talking Hands.

In 2015, Lisa Hostein became the first female executive editor in Hadassah Magazine's more than 100-year history. She previously served as editor-in-chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), the global Jewish news agency, and executive editor of Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent. Hostein has received awards from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Philadelphia Press Association and the American Jewish Press Association, which honored her with its Distinguished Service to Jewish Journalism Award.

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About Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America:

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States. With nearly 300,000 members, donors and supporters, Hadassah brings women together to effect change on such critical issues as ensuring Israel’s security, combating antisemitism and promoting women’s health care. Through its Jerusalem-based hospital system, the Hadassah Medical Organization, Hadassah helps support exemplary care for more than 1 million people every year as well as world-renowned medical research. Hadassah’s hospitals serve without regard to race, religion or nationality and in 2005 earned a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for building bridges to peace through medicine. Hadassah also supports two youth villages that set at-risk youth in Israel on the path to a successful future. Visit www.hadassah.org or follow Hadassah on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads and X.