Bel Kaufman, Teacher and Author of Up the Down Staircase, Celebrates 95th Birthday
by Pola Rosen, Ed.D.
Bel Kaufman has many appellations: teacher, author, mother, wife, raconteur and finally, the granddaughter of the noted Yiddish writer and legend, Sholom Aleichem. As a recent birthday party in her honor, the elegant and sophisticated Kaufman was toasted by such luminaries as Louise Hirshfeld (who was the hostess at her landmarked townhouse on the upper east side), actors Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, Zalman Mlotek, Executive Director of the Folksbiene Theater (who will be honoring Kaufman at a gala at Town Hall), artist and filmmaker Mira Van Doren. Other guests included designer Betsy Von Furstenberg, Bel’s former student Jessica Walter at the High School of Performing Arts in NY, Actress Ellen Adler and Beck Lee, friend and publicist who held the cake!
