Gerald Jacobs

This encounter with the past, and the discovery of his father Benny's diaries, leads Simon Pomeranski back to his childhood and the post-war days of the Astorians, a small group of criminals and traders in 'swag' who ran their business from Brixton Market and exercised their own particular brand of justice. From this wonderful assortment of characters we are introduced to 'Spanish Joe', the cultured Russian emigre, Sam 'the Stick', with his wounded machismo and penchant for violent retribution, and the dazzling songstress Estelle, among others. Front and centre in their world, though, is Benny himself, the autodidact owner of Pomeranski Gowns, whose passionate affair with Estelle marks the beginning of a new era for the Astorians. Both riotous and profound, this novel resurrects a vibrant era that deserves a place in our collective memory.

Nine Love Letters is a poignant and tender novel about the enduring power of love across generations, based on real events. The Weisz and Haroun families flee their homes to seek safety in England. As both clans deal with the challenges, upheavals and horrors of the Holocaust and legacy, their lives become intertwined in an unlikely twist of fate

This encounter with the past, and the discovery of his father Benny's diaries, leads Simon Pomeranski back to his childhood and the post-war days of the Astorians, a small group of criminals and traders in 'swag' who ran their business from Brixton Market and exercised their own particular brand of justice. From this wonderful assortment of characters we are introduced to 'Spanish Joe', the cultured Russian emigre, Sam 'the Stick', with his wounded machismo and penchant for violent retribution, and the dazzling songstress Estelle, among others. Front and centre in their world, though, is Benny himself, the autodidact owner of Pomeranski Gowns, whose passionate affair with Estelle marks the beginning of a new era for the Astorians. Both riotous and profound, this novel resurrects a vibrant era that deserves a place in our collective memory.

As Benny ‘the Fixer’ Pomeranski is laid to rest on a cold November morning at the turn of the twenty-first century, a motley crew of survivors from his youth assembles around the grave, its members ‘identified by their lived-in faces – faces that indicated a singular kind of past, a chequered hinterland.’ This encounter with the past, and the discovery of his father Benny’s diaries, leads Simon Pomeranski back to his childhood and the post-war days of the Astorians, a small group of criminals and traders in ‘swag’ who ran their business from Brixton Market and exercised their own particular brand of justice. From this wonderful assortment of characters we are introduced to ‘Spanish’ Joe, the cultured Russian émigré, Sam ‘the Stick’, with his wounded machismo and penchant for violent retribution, and the dazzling songstress Estelle, among others. Front and centre in their world, though, is Benny himself, the autodidact owner of Pomeranski Gowns, whose passionate affair with Estelle marks the beginning of a new era for the Astorians. Both riotous and profound, this novel resurrects a vibrant era that deserves a place in our collective memory.

This self-help book shows a step by step path to successful relationship networking for sales and marketing people. It is written in the form of a novel with the lessons built into the storyline.The book abounds with trendy conversation and many strong personalities who create conflict and page-turning tension.The heroine, Lee is a young woman who flees a disastrous marriage with her young daughter and only the clothes on her back. Lee starts job hunting and accepts a sales job. The earnings potential is greater than anything else she is qualified to do. Her other choices were limited to Walmart and fast food places. Lee wants something with a future. Her skills were few and her experience next to nothing. Lee starts a new job working for a promotional product marketing company. She is learning all the products and how to personalize them for new clients. She also is shown the way the company recommends for you to find new clients. Armed with that knowledge, she is expected to go out and make business happen. Lee must sharpen the skills needed to increase her earnings abilities so she can to live independently and raise her daughter. Working as a salesperson gives her that chance. Her new boss, Roger is pushing her to become productive and tells her she needs to network to build her business but doesn't tell her how. In her quest to learn how, she meets Gordon who mentors her. He hosts a leads group called Relationship Builders. After talking to Gordon, Lee decides this will be a good place for her to start. Lee spends little time at her office but when she does, invariably she runs into Stan, the star salesperson. She also learns to avoid Stan who loves himself and has no time for anybody who does not. He can get away with it because he produces more than anybody else in the shop.Stan goes out of his way to make Lee feel unworthy. His snide remarks are strategically placed where Roger the boss can't hear them. The other salespeople do. They have been on the receiving end of Stan too, He is an equal opportunity jerk.She starts going to the networking meetings and begins to learn and apply the lessons of relationship networking. Lee learns about the four Alpha Laws and building a sustainable referral network of people who will help her grow her business. She learns the purpose of practice and starts doing it faithfully. The more she goes, the more she learns and the more people she meets and interacts with effectively.Lee starts working with one of the experienced salespeople in the office. Their joint effort proves fruitful. They have some differences of opinion on style. Lee, being the lesser experienced team member defers to her partner.Her sales start increasing and it becomes noticeable to the boss. He starts holding Lee up as an example to the rest of the team. Her numbers improve and she even outpaces Stan after being there for about a year. She does her best to share what she is doing and how to do it, but nobody listens, least of all Stan. He does begrudgingly start treating Lee with a little respect.Lee's partner, Jordan does not understand or believe in Lee's relationship building tenants. Friction between them grows.She meets Kerry and helps her to overcome her slump by applying what she has learned. Kerry finds out she's not the only mortgage broker there and tells Lee she doesn't think this is for her. Lee convinces Kerry that building relationships is better than chasing leads.She and Kerry become close. She helps Kerry to grow and become more productive using the lessons about relationship building.Lee ends up being the top producer in her office the next month. Stan is gracious. Jordan is not.Lee forges a new relationship with Stan and introduces him to Relationship Builders. Although Lee doesn't always live happily ever after, her life improves enough to start realizing many of her dreams. She learns the value of giving back. Lee has become a networking maniac.

During the Second World War, Miklos Hammer, a Hungarian Jew from Budapest, was a member of the forced-labour Jewish battalion in the Hungarian army. But as the Nazis accelerated their anti-Semitic policies, he was arrested, held in the Jewish ghetto of a strange town, and then transported, one of millions, to the death camps. This is the story of his survival, as he told it to Gerald Jacobs - a survival made possible only by his own determination to take advantage of a few fortuitous events.