Author Archives: Suzanne Loebl

Gifts of Summer Guests

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Suzanne Loebl

Summer homes, especially when located in spectacular places, usually attract guests laden with gifts and improvements. This year, now that I am old, handicapped, car-less, and recently widowed, both were plentiful. Walter was the first guest. His contributions were novel … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | Tagged echo lake, family, maine, mount desert island, refugees, summer homes, summer houses | 6 Comments

Abortion Again! A Right, a Necessity, a Crime?

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Suzanne Loebl

Around 1968, soon after it was founded, Population Connection—then called Zero Population Growth—called the members of its small New York group and asked them to counter a major march by the right-to-life forces, who were assembling in Central Park. My … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged abortion, birth control, contraception, feminism, margaret sanger, reproductive justice, reproductive rights, reproductive rights movement, roe v wade | 2 Comments

Busman’s Holiday

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Suzanne Loebl

Two days before the official beginning of spring 2021, I decided to leave my lockdown quarters in Brooklyn Heights and visit my home away from home: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took a taxi and was shocked along the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, art history, art museums, corot, ingres, klimt, looted art, memling, metropolitan museum of art, nazi looted art | 5 Comments

Vati

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Suzanne Loebl

I had my father for a relatively short time: 24 minus 6 years. When he died suddenly, more than half a century ago, I was distracted by both the immense joy and relief of having recently met my life partner … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | Tagged family, family stories, german jewish history, german jews, hidden children, jewish history, nazi germany | 6 Comments

The Evaluation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Suzanne Loebl

Congress is in the process of evaluating the suitability of Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. In reality her potential appointment is a very realistic threat to the hard-won legal right of women … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged abortion, amy coney barrett, donald trump, feminism, margaret sanger, planned parenthood, pro-choice, roe v wade, supreme court, trump | 1 Comment

Ernest Moshe Loebl, 1923-2020

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Suzanne Loebl

I met my husband in the library of Columbia University’s Chemistry Department soon after he arrived from Israel in 1947. I asked Siegi Lichtblau, a fellow graduate student, to help me with a seminar that I was to present. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Lockdown 1942, Lockdown 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Suzanne Loebl

For me, the current lockdown is a vivid reminder of the two years I spent as a “hidden child” in Belgium during World War II. Actually, I was neither a child nor confined to my quarters like that other, very … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history | Tagged coronavirus, covid-19, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, quarantine, world war ii | 4 Comments

Donald Trump Is “Making America Beautiful Again”

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Suzanne Loebl

On February 10, 2020, I came across a small headline in The New York Times proclaiming that Donald Trump is making “America beautiful again.” It was paired with an image of the National Museum of African American History and Culture … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged architecture, art, bauhaus, donald trump, fascism, freedom of expression, hitler, nazi germany | 3 Comments

Raising a Gay Child Before Stonewall

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Suzanne Loebl

I regret to say that I barely remember the riots at Stonewall, the bar in Greenwich Village where on June 26, 1969, a group of gay patrons successfully resisted harassment by the New York City police. The event would play … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, politics | Tagged gay pride, lgbt, lgbt family, lgbtq, nazi germany, parenting, stonewall | 2 Comments

My Guardian Angel

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Suzanne Loebl

I have a guardian angel. I think he is male, though you could not tell by looking at him. He has golden wings and wears a plain white gown. He does not concern himself with politics or other important things, … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | 4 Comments