Native Tucsonan JOSH LEDERMAN, an AP White House reporter, will receive the Merriman Smith Memorial Award from the White House Correspondents’ Association at its annual dinner on April 25. The award honors Lederman’s on-the-spot reporting of the Sept. 19 incident when an intruder jumped the White House fence. Lederman has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from The George Washington University. He is a Tucson Hebrew Academy graduate.
LOIS LEDERMAN will play Ethel Thayer in Roadrunner Theatre Company’s production of “On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson. The show will open April 24 at Tanque Verde Lutheran Church. Lederman, most recently seen in Invisible Theatre’s “Handle With Care,” is a former sales manager at the Arizona Jewish Post. For more information go to roadrunnertheatrecom pany.org or call 834-7884.
A reading of a new children’s book by KEN GOODMAN, “The Smart One: A Grandfather’s Tale” will be held April 25 at 4 p.m. at Worlds of Words at the College of Education at the University of Arizona, 1430 E. 2nd St. The book is a fictionalized biography of his father’s life in a shtetl in what was then Lithuania (now Belarus), portraying the conflict between Orthodox Jewish tradition and the revolutionary activities of the hero’s older sisters. A silent auction of Ray Marten’s original pen-and-ink sketches for the book will be held.
CHRIS GRAVES received TUCSON HEBREW ACADEMY’S 2015 THA Teacher’s Excellence in Education Award. The award was established by JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA donors Robyn Kessler and Martha Sampson and includes $1,500 to be used toward professional development and/or enhancing the learning experience for her students.
Former Tucson City Councilman RODNEY GLASSMAN and his wife, SASHA GLASSMAN, have published the fourth in their series of children’s books promoting sustainability, “Jeremy Jackrabbit Saves Every Drop!” With the new title, the couple will have distributed 180,000 free books to kindergartners. Glassman is currently of counsel with Ryley Carlock & Applewhite in Phoenix.
