The Lessans Family Literary Series Presents
Jeffrey Weiss, Fighting Back: Stan Andrews and the Birth of the Israeli Air Force
Tuesday, April 25 | 7:00 PM | $15 | In Person
In commemoration of, Yom Hazikaron, Isreal’s Day of Remembrance, we are thrilled to welcome Jeffrey Weiss, co-author of Fighting Back. Jeffrey will be in conversation with Bender JCC community member, Deborah Kalb.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Fighting Back” is the story of Stan Andrews, an assimilated American Jew and World War II veteran who became one of the first fighter pilots in the history of the Israeli Air Force. In 1948, Stan Andrews left a comfortable postwar life in Los Angeles to travel to the war-torn Middle East, where a four-front Arab invasion threatened to destroy the newly-declared State of Israel. There he joined the Israeli Air Force and became one of its first fighter pilots. Andrews was an unexpected volunteer for the fight for a Jewish state. He was many things—an artist, writer, assimilated Jew, ladies’ man, pilot, and combat veteran of the Pacific War. He had previously been aloof from the struggle for Jewish independence but found himself so roused by the anti-Semitism of 1940s America that he decided to go to Israel and risk everything. Stan made the most of his time in Israel, serving in fighter and bomber squadrons and leaving his mark on an Israeli Air Force that has since become the stuff of legend.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jeff Weiss is the co-author of I Am My Brother’s Keeper (Schiffer Military History, 1998), which tells the story of American and Canadian volunteers in all branches of the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 War of Independence. He is featured in the 2014 Nancy Spielberg documentary Above and Beyond. Jeff is passionate about fitness and is an Ironman and ultramarathoner.
Craig Weiss, the co-author of I Am My Brother’s Keeper, is fluent in Hebrew and lived in Israel for four years. He is also featured in Above and Beyond. As part of the research for I Am My Brother’s Keeper, Craig personally interviewed more than one hundred of the volunteers. Craig is a venture capitalist and award-winning entrepreneur whose first company achieved unicorn status (a valuation in excess of $1 billion).
For more information, please contact Marcie Blackman at mblackman@benderjccgw.org or 301-348-3808.
*Book sales and author signings will be available.
