The Risk of Sorrow – Conversation with Helen Handler and Valerie Foster

Join us for an evening of conversation and a book signing of “The Risk of Sorrow” by local author and educator Valerie Foster and Holocaust survivor Helen Handler as they share Helen’s experiences in Auschwitz, and a cross-generational exploration exploration of faith, forgiveness, love, and survival.

This is the story of two women from very different backgrounds who met each week to tackle life’s most complicated questions and in the process learn how much we have in common.

Helen will be sharing an overview of her experience as a fifteen-year-old in Auschwitz, the challenges of survival, and the sustenance of hope.

Valerie will discuss the book’s themes of friendship, and finding the strength to “risk sorrow” in order to experience life’s profound experiences. Both will be answering questions and signing books.

The “Risk of Sorrow” will be available for purchase for $15 or bring your own copy.

Valerie Foster taught high school English for 30 years and currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Author of a memoir Dancing with a Demon, and a short story “Loss” published in the River Poets Anthology, she lives in Gilbert with her husband, Tom.

Helen Handler is a long-standing member and past president of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association, and past president of the Jewish Free Loan. She was a member of Toastmasters International for seventeen years and is a recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for her public speaking in the greater Phoenix area.

Helen Handler

Valerie Foster with Helen Handler

Book Cover