Durham
Mark Klempner
National Humanities Center-- A 2000 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill's folklore master's program, Mark Klempner spent 10 years researching the material he works into The Heart Has Reasons, an account of Dutch Samaritans who risked their lives to save Jewish babies during the Holocaust. Importantly, Klempner takes the subject personally, as he is the son of parents who barely escaped the Holocaust by seeking shelter in America. With the book, Klempner provides a moral framework enunciated by the example of people risking their own lives to save innocent strangers from their deaths and shows that evil can be staved, if not stopped, through the concerted efforts of individuals. Klempner delivers the lecture "Jewish Holocaust Rescuers in the Netherlands" today at 7:30 p.m. at the National Humanities Center. For more, see nhc.rtp.nc.us. He also reads at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham on Sunday at 3 p.m.