Breaking news! “Graphic Details” to debut at SF’s Cartoon Art Museum, September 2010!
This just in: Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women, which I’m curating with London artist Sarah Lightman, will debut at San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum in September 2010. It’s based on a story I wrote for the Forward. “Graphic Details” features artists from the US, Canada, the UK, Israel. Click here for more. And stay tuned for news!
Add comment November 21, 2009
I write about travel, pop culture, Jewish stuff, and food.
Contact me: michael at michaelkaminer dot com
I also write OP-ed. It’s the blog of Out Professionals, the nation’s largest lesbian and gay networking organization. Read the feed next to this column.
2009
“Protect Yourself from Identity Theft”, All You, November 20 2009
“Every year, as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen… Banks, stores, and credit card companies are fighting back, and luckily, you can, too…”
“Brutally Frank” (book review), The Forward, November 13 2009
“‘Get to the point, I’m very busy.’ According to Stuart Weisberg’s ‘Barney Frank’… that’s Congressman Barney Frank’s standard response to phone-chat pleasantries like ‘How are you?’ It’s probably also how the powerful chairman of the House financial services committee would greet this exhaustively researched but overdrawn new biography… Read more
“Get Engaged to Your Community”, Together: Jewish Giving Today, Fall ‘09
“Strengthening Our Mark”, Together: Jewish Giving Today, Fall ‘09
Together was published in November 2009 for distribution at the annual General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America — the largest philanthropy conference in the Jewish world. Both of these commissioned stories explore challenges facing fundraisers. Read more
“Arne Jacobsen: Dissecting a Distinguished 20th Century Architect” (moderator), 92nd St. Y, New York, October 13 2009
Read more about this featured talk – based on a story I wrote for the Forward – presented by the 92nd St. Y in New York.
“One on One with Jane Goodall”, Vegetarian Times, October 2009
“Nearly 50 years after she first joined legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey to study chimps in Africa, Jane Goodall, PhD, remains a force of nature herself…” Read more
“Pornographic Stimulus Plan”, The Forward, September 25 2009
“The bearded receptionist wears a yarmulke. In any other office, this wouldn’t seem remarkable. But this is the midtown Manhattan headquarters of Lucas Entertainment, one of the largest gay adult film companies in the world…” Read more
“My Father, Myself” (podcast), The Forward, September 15 2009
“In this podcast, Forward contributor Michael Kaminer speaks with former “Seinfeld” writer Carol Leifer about her new memoir, “When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win,” her relationship with her late father, working with Larry David, and what a body builder and a challah have in common.“ Listen now
“The Queer Queen of Comedy”, The Forward, September 11 2009
“‘Carol Leifer Gets Weirder: Now Jewish, Lesbian, and Vegan,” an online gossip headline blared after the comedian filmed a Web ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…” Read more
“In Fall and Winter, Festivals Show Off Montreal’s Cool Side”, The Washington Post, September 6 2009
“From Arab culture to Brazilian movies to Chinese lanterns, Montreal hosts a wildly diverse slate of festivals year-round. The best known, Just for Laughs and the Montreal International Jazz Festival, turn the city into a giant party every summer. Which is exactly why I love visiting in fall and winter…” Read more
“Father Patrick Desbois: A Priest on a Holocaust Mission”, The Forward, September 4 2009
“If the Rev. Patrick Desbois is bothered by the glances from late-lunching tourists at a midtown Manhattan hotel café, he’s not letting it show. These Friday afternoon guests probably didn’t expect to hear about mass graves, murdered babies and Nazi killing machines over their cappuccinos and sandwiches. But Desbois, in a casual black shirt and trousers, seems inured to the effects of brutal words…” Read more
“Furor Over Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition”, The Forward (front page), July 17 2009
“Crowds at the Royal Ontario Museum’s heavily hyped Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition have far exceeded the museum’s own expectations…. But hosannas for the showing, featuring four scroll fragments on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority and displayed in public for the first time, have not been universal…” Read more
“Where the Rooms Are the View”, The Washington Post, July 12 2009
“Long before Armani, Missoni or Starck slapped their signatures on luxury lodgings, Danish design deity Arne Jacobsen was putting his fingerprints all over the world’s first designer hotel…” Read more
“Skid Row to Hip in Toronto”, The New York Times, July 5 2009
“Named for a jumble of railroad tracks, the Junction section of Toronto was once a booming manufacturing hub, with lively pubs, hotels and shops. But industry declined and, in recent decades, the neighborhood withered as prostitutes and drug dealers staked their turf along Dundas Street West, the area’s main thoroughfare. “The pendulum, however, seems to be swinging back…” Read more
“What do the Egg, the Swan and the Ant Have in Common?”, The Forward, July 3 2009
“Appraisals of Arne Jacobsen’s life and work rarely take his Jewish background into account. But the 50th anniversary this year of Copenhagen’s Royal Hotel, one of the Modernist architect’s landmark achievements, presents an opportunity to reconsider a towering figure of 20th-century design — and how wartime experiences may have colored Jacobsen’s work…” Read more
“One on One with Brendan Brazier,” Vegetarian Times, May/June 2009
“He may be taking a break from competing in Ironman triathlons and ultramarathons, but high-performance athlete Brendan Brazier still seems to move faster than anyone else...” Read more
“Fjord Fiesta”, OutTraveler, May 2009
“Pack a sleep mask. Reykjavik basks in near-total daylight come late spring and early summer. Good thing the world’s northernmost metropolis offers enough distractions to fill several bright days — and nights….” Read more
“LABA and the Ripple Effect,” The Forward, May 1 2009
“From “absurdist rock cabaret” to giant sculptures to a “contact improvisation” workshop cheekily called “The Meating,” the LABA Festival will bring a wildly diverse mix of performances, art, lectures and readings to Manhattan’s 14th Street Y…” Read more
Table for One? Tips on Dining Solo (interview), Gay.com, April 8, 2009
“When on the road, we’ve all had to face the prospect of dining out alone. Many find the experience daunting and isolating. Author Michael Kaminer says it doesn’t have to be that way…” Read More
“Swap and Save”, All You, April 2009
“With money tight these days, people are looking for creative ways to get the things they need without buying them new or used…”
“Study Kicks off Gay Outreach Effort”, The Forward, March 6 2009
“Three-quarters of the rabbis who responded to an unprecedented new survey on diversity said they thought their congregations already do a “good to excellent” job of welcoming gay Jews. But for the gay Jewish advocacy group that undertook the survey, that’s precisely the problem…” Read more
Regular restaurant reviews, New York Magazine’s NYMag.com, 76 published, Dec. 2006-Feb, 2009
“Picture Tokyo’s hottest Italian restaurant, and you’ve got the idea behind Basta Pasta…” Read more
“If eateries won awards for good intentions, Community Food & Juice would score a sweep…” Read more
“Like a frat jock with the soul of a food geek, Village Lantern disguises its highly competent kitchen beneath the butch façade of a scruffy bar and live-music spot…” Read more
2008
“People of the Gallery”, The Jewish Week, December 16 2008
“The Jewish snowbirds from the Northeast and Midwest still make the winter pilgrimage, the traditional December passage to Miami Beach. But they’re now joined by thousands of artists, curators, collectors, social climbers and hangers-on from around the world who descend on South Florida for Art Basel Miami Beach…” Read more
Graphic Confessions of Jewish Women, The Forward, December 4 2008
“Before you even see her face, Vanessa Davis’ naked breast makes an appearance in the first panel of “Spaniel Rage,” her acclaimed book of diaristic comics. She’s vomiting into a garbage can on page two. By the third page, she’s servicing two clowns in an X-rated thought bubble…” Read more
“The Conversion Conundrum”, Jewish Living, November/December 2008
j
“On a sunny Friday last May – Holocaust Memorial Day, as it turns out – thousands of Orthodox men and women woke up to learn they were no longer Jewish…” Read more
“Will 2009 Bring Brighter Days?”, CIBC One to One Insights, November 2008
“Could there finally be good news in a season filled with dire headlines? Avery Shenfeld, CIBC World Markets Senior Economist and Managing Director, thinks so. But whether government attempts to stimulate the economy will have a lasting effect beyond 2009 is another matter…” Read more
“Iceland’s Hydrogen-Powered Cars”, HybridCars.com, October 2008
“Until recently, Icelanders believed that using hydrogen as a vehicle fuel would offer an environmentally responsible alternative to petroleum…” Read more
“Eat Sheet: Coffee”, Portfolio.com, June 24 2008
“Just when you thought it was safe to order a grande half-caf, the coffee market is changing…” Read more
More stories
“How Gay Is Your Shul?”, Jewish Living, June/July 2008
“It’s My Party”, Jewish Living, March/April 2008
“Hip Hebraic Homepages”, Jewish Living magazine, January/February 2008
“Under My Skin”, Jewish Living magazine, November 2007
“Stick to a smart holiday spending plan”, All You, November 2008“Stash More of Your Cash” (with Sharon Waldrup), All You, October 2008
“Lucky Strike”, Total Rewards (Time Inc.), Summer 2007
Turkeys’ Day, All Animals (Time Inc.), Fall 2008
“Left Behind”, All Animals, Summer 2008
Alice O’Neil profile, All Animals , Spring 2008
“Dog Days at the Office”, All Animals , Summer 2007
Friends for Life”, All Animals , Spring 2007
Previous life
Founder and president, MKPR, 1992-2006
I founded the public-relations agency MKPR in 1992. To focus on writing full-time, I sold the firm in 2006. It’s now called PKPR.
Out magazine was my first client. I worked alone, at home. By the ’90s, MKPR had 11 employees and clients like Bloomberg, Time Warner, and AOL.
We were one of the first agencies to represent lesbian and gay businesses to general media. Same with online-media companies; back in 1994, we became one of the first PR companies to promote web businesses to consumers. The agency’s mission involved doing good while doing well, and doing it all with integrity Clients also included A & E, The New York Times, PlanetOut, The Advocate, PETA, Environmental Defense, and many more.
Books
“A Taste for Solitude: The Definitive Guide to Solo Dining in New York City”, PlanetOut, Fall 2004
Creator and author, “Table for One” Guidebooks
Table for One New York (with Jonathan Boorstein), McGraw-Hill, 2001
Table for One Chicago (with Amy LaBan), McGraw-Hill, 2002
Table for One Los Angeles (with Merrill Shindler), McGraw-Hill, 2002
The Mountain Bike Experience (with Dave King), Henry Holt, 1996\
Editor, Our Little Black Book of Shopping Secrets (with Joan Hamburg and Gerry Frank), Gerry’s Frankly Speaking, 1993
Personal
I live in Manhattan with my partner Chico. He’s a ten-year-old border collie-German shepherd mix.
Board of directors/Executive committee, AIDS Service Center NYC
Board of directors, Out Professionals
Participant/invitee, Reboot summit
Add comment June 20, 2009
