Eliza Griswold A week ago today, I had a chance to speak with journalist, poet and author of the recently published book The Tenth Parallel, Eliza Griswold. Deftly balancing on-the-ground reporting with a very broad understanding of the religious and political landscapes of some of the least-understood regions of the world, Griswold’s book follows the eponymous line of latitude (the tenth parallel is ten degrees north of the Equator) from Nigeria eastward, making trips to Sudan, Somalia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Griswold tells her story from the inside -- at one point, her father’s role as the head of the American Episcopal church becomes very relevant -- but The Tenth Parallel is not a memoir, and people are paying close attention. (My interview with Griswold ended when the camera crew from ABC’s 20/20 was ready to shoot a segment for their recent show about Islam.) And even though Griswold’s story focuses on Islam and Christianity, the book has major implications for members of the third Abrahamic faith, Jews. Look for a forthcoming article in the Jewish Journal about our conversation.
Holocaust Museums
Speaking of my employers, the Journal ran my piece about the history and significance of some of the world’s best-known Holocaust memorial architecture. I tried to put the soon-to-open Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, designed by Hagy Belzberg, into the context of museums and memorials in Washington and Berlin. I could’ve mentioned other building projects -- the ones in New York City and in Israel are of equal interest and exhibit some of the same built themes.
MOT
And having just visited the Museum of Tolerance for the above-mentioned article, I found it hilarious that one of the characters on Modern Family -- the nerdy daughter, Alex -- is obsessed with going to the MOT. I can only imagine what they’re thinking over there in the offices on Pico Blvd. I guess they’re probably just happy that the shout-out they got this time around was better than the one they got from South Park a few years back.
