Biographical Data, Updated May, 2002

PERSONAL:

Born: February 17, 1929 in New York City, N.Y.

Parents: Benjamin Max (d. 1958) and Mollie (Friedman) Potok (d.1985).

Father emmigrated from Poland to the U.S. in 1921 and sold stationery before the depression and was a jeweler afterward.

Wife: Adena Sara Mosevitzsky, married June 8, 1958. The Potok's met at Camp Ramah (Poconos) in 1952. Adena is a psychiatric social worker.

Children: Rena, Naama, Akiva.

Siblings: Brother became a rabbi, both sisters married rabbis.

CHILDHOOD:

"I grew up. . .in a Hassidic world without the beard and the earlocks." (NY Times 1/3/88)

Potok started writing fiction at the age of 16. First submission was to the Atlantic Monthly at the age of 17 (the piece was not published but Potok received a complimentary note from an editor asking if he was writing a novel).

EDUCATION:

Talmudic Academy of Yeshiva College (University).

Yeshiva University (B.A., summa cum laude, in English Literature, 1950).

Jewish Theological Seminary of America (M.H.L. and rabbinic ordination, 1954).

University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in philosophy, 1965).

RESIDENCE:

Merion, PA, U.S.A.

CAREER:

1954-1955 National Director, Leaders Training Fellowship

1955-1957 Chaplain (1st-lieutenant) U.S. Army, served 15.5 months in Korea with a front-line medical battalion and an engineer combat battalion)

1957-1959 Director, Camp Ramah, Ojai, California

1957-1959 Instructor, University of Judaism, Los Angeles

1959-1963 Scholar-in-residence, Har Zion Temple, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1963-1964 Faculty, Teachers Institute, Jewish Theological Seminary

1964-1975 Managing editor, Conservative Judaism

1965-1974 Editor-in-chief, Jewish Publication Society of America currently

1974-present Special projects editor, Jewish Publication Society

MEMBER:

P.E.N., Authors Guild, Dramatists Guild, Authors League of America,

Rabbinical Assembly, Artists Equity.

WRITINGS:

Novels

The Chosen, 1967

The Promise, 1969

My Name is Asher Lev, 1972

In the Beginning, 1975

The Book of Lights, 1981

Davita's Harp, 1985

The Gift of Asher Lev, 1990

I Am the Clay, 1992

Old Men at Midnight (3 novellas), 2001

 

 

 

Children's books

The Tree of Here, 1993 (illustrated by Tony Auth)

The Sky of Now, 1995 (illustrated by Tony Auth)

Zebra and Other Stories, 1998

Non-fiction

Wanderings, 1978

Ethical Living for a Modern World: Jewish Insights

The Gates of November, 1996

My First Seventy-nine Years: Memiors of Isaac Stern, 1999

Plays

The Chosen, premiered in New York, January 1988

Out of the Depths, a drama in two acts, premiered in Philadelphia, March 1990

Sins of the Father: The Carnival and The Gallery, two one-act plays,

premiered in Philadelphia, May 1990

The Play of Lights, premiered in Philadelphia, May 1992.

Short Stories and Novellas

Het cijfer zeven (The Seven of the Address), 1990 (short stories)

De troop-leraar (The Trope Teacher), France, 1992

Het Kanaal (The Canal), Netherlands, 1993

The Golem's Hand, Italy, 1995

Short Stories, Reviews, Articles

Esquire, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times

Magazine, Commentary, Moment, Saturday Review, Seventeen,

The American Voice, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and other periodicals.

AWARDS:

The Edward Lewis Wallant Award (The Chosen)

The Athenaeum Prize (The Promise)

The National Jewish Book Award for Fiction (The Gift of Asher Lev)

Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, La Sierra University, 1997

Jewish Cultural Achievement Award, 1997

O'Henry Award, 1999 (Moon)