In Florida, Sunny Florida, April 2022
by Phyllis Chesler
It’s been cold, windy, and wet in Manhattan—I often quip that I’m living in London—but it was 79 degrees and sunny in Florida. Wish I could have been there in person but instead, I was happily zoomed into six Jewish Community Centers to deliver a lecture about my latest book, “Requiem for a Female Serial Killer” under the auspices of the Jewish Book Council. Like the late great Ann Rule, who befriended, then wrote about Ted BundyI, too, have been haunted by my time with a serial killer. Aileen Wuornos both lived and killed in Florida and my wonderful interviewer, Stephanie Owitz, M.S.W., and the Director of Arts, Culture, and Learning at the JCC in Boca Raton, was not only familiar with the case and with my book, she had prepared nothing but interesting and important questions for our discussion. I had a really good time. If the epidemic finally disappears, if airplane travel becomes both easy and safe, perhaps I’ll go down there in person this winter to talk about Antisemitism—and to take in some sun and surf.