Military Life: Jean Kavale
Three local authors bring their message to AAUW
By Shari Kaplan
The Los Gatos-Saratoga branch of the American Association of University Women invites all interested members of the community--including men--to attend its annual authors' lunch on Jan. 25, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at La Rinconada Country Club, 13595 Clearview Drive in Los Gatos.
This year's guest authors are Jean Peckham Kavale, Dr. Margaret A. Mahony and Rosalie Sogolow. All South Bay residents, the three women will discuss their recent books, answer questions and visit with guests.
Kavale holds a bachelor's degree in English, a teaching credential and a master's degree in pastoral theology and worked early in her career as an immigration assistant in New York City and an elementary school teacher in California. She calls herself a "late bloomer" in the publications field; she wrote her first book, Faith and Philosophy, in 1977, after she earned her master's degree.
In the mid-1980s, she began a career in the high-tech industry as an editor, which included copyediting and improving several manuals for a Fortune 500 company. The Saratogan is now a part-time editor of technical documents, as well as a freelance writer. Her second book, From the Potomac to the Seine: The Personal Story of an Army Family, was published in 1999. One of her most recent essays, "Full Military Honors," explores her father's work in post-war Europe and appeared recently in San Jose Mercury News.
Health care Rx: Dr. Margaret Mahony
Mahony is a private practice physician in San Jose, which is also the city in which she lives. An Illinois native, Mahony received her degree from Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri and her training in obstetrics and gynecology at the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.
Her present practice is devoted to women's health issues and is focused on prevention and wellness in the transition between perimenopause and menopause. She is also the director of the Women's Health Program at the Center for Integrative Medicine at O'Connor Hospital in San Jose. Mahony's book, Saving the Soul of Medicine, is an intimate journey with a concerned physician during the last year of her participation in managed health care. The book also offers alternatives and solutions for the healing of the country's current health-care system.
Saving Heritage: Rosalie Sogolow
Sogolow, a Saratoga resident, was born and raised in Chicago, Ill., where she taught in the public school system for many years. She is now the principal of the Senior English as a Second Language program for Jewish Family Service of Santa Clara County. She is also a teacher, working mainly with elderly Russian émigrés who speak little or no English.
While working with her "students," Sogolow realized they all had fascinating life stories and encouraged them to practice their English by recording their stories into a book. This oral history, along with a collection of traditional family recipes, led to the first book, Memories from a Russian Kitchen, which she organized and edited. Her second book, Empty the Ocean With a Spoon, is a collection of Jewish tales and focuses on the importance of heritage and generational continuity. Sogolow also is a songwriter and performer with the women's musical group, Side by Side.
Tickets to the authors' lunch are $45 per person. For reservations or more information, call Mary Henderson at 408.867.1928, or Nancy Hobbs at 408.395.4045.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
