https://www.caroleeglashkosoff.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-11-28 https://www.caroleeglashkosoff.com/home daily 1.0 2025-09-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/51ca117f-af27-4092-ba89-7bd083be248b/carole-hero-image-touched-up.jpg Home https://www.caroleeglashkosoff.com/home/books monthly 0.5 2024-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/2cb93927-fb0b-451e-9e38-6f140d602f48/human-spirit-cover.png Home - Books - The Human Spirit — Apartheid’s Unheralded Heroes A story of human experience telling the stories of the "Mamas"...women, black and white, who worked to provide basic necessities to South Africa's black townships during the worst years of Apartheid. The Human Spirit - Apartheid's Unheralded Heroes is the composite of more than sixty interviews conducted by the author, Carole Eglash-Kosoff, over two years while working in the townships. BUY AT AMAZON http://thehumanspirit-thebook.com/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/6898e178-47f3-4c6d-ab7f-213165a83606/when-stars-align-cover.png Home - Books - When Stars Align The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another can get them both killed. He is colored...she is white. Born from the rape of an 11-year old slave girl by the white son of the plantation owner, Thaddeus is reared in the main house, loved by his grandfather...hated by Henry, his biological father. Amy and her family have to come to the plantation for protection against approaching Union soldiers. The two young people bond immediately, but in 19th century Louisiana mixed race relationships are both illegal and unacceptable. Moss Grove, a large Mississippi River cotton plantation has thrived from the use of slave labor while its owners live lives of comfort and privilege. Deepening divisiveness between North and South launches the Civil War. Henry and Thaddeus find themselves in the same battle. Henry is seriously wounded. Only Thaddeus' bravery gets them both back to Moss Grove. When the war ends Thaddeus, no longer a slave, returns to Moss Grove hoping that he and Amy might have a chance together. Under the protection of Union soldiers, schools are established to educate those who were formerly prohibited from learning to read. Medical clinics are opened and businesses begun. Black legislators are elected and help to pass new laws. Hope flourishes. The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another grows. Perhaps the stars will now finally align for the young lovers. Henry, now married to Elizabeth, Amy's older sister, is stunned at the birth of his second child...a little girl...born colored. An outspoken bigot, he learns that he has black blood coursing through his veins. He refuses to accept that he isn't entirely white and becomes active in the Klan. His background is revealed during a Klan raid and he is killed. Amy and Thaddeus realize there is no place they can share their love. They are forced to separate. Years later, Thaddeus returns to Moss Grove to attend Amy's funeral and discovers he and Amy had had a son together. BUY AT AMAZON www.whenstarsalign-thebook.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/ecb0f408-b3b2-4e24-8479-c43404438a1d/winds-of-change-cover.png Home - Books - Winds of Change Winds of Change is a sweeping saga of America’s racial history from the Civil War through World War I. The rape of a Negro field slave by the white teenage son of Moss Grove, a Louisiana cotton plantation, produces Thaddeus, a mixed-race boy, and the first grandchild of Jedidiah and Ruby, owners of the plantation. He falls in love with Amy, a white girl. Amy and Thaddeus struggle to survive in a country driven by race-stained violence, political upheaval, horrors of war, and the tragedy of being in love in a world which does not respect or allow interracial relationships…the discovery of which could get them both killed. Their separate and joint children produce a mélange that carry us through a time of great change in America. Following the Civil War four million black, mostly uneducated, slaves were given their freedom and as ill-prepared to deal with it as the southern whites were to deal with a new social order. As one century ended and another began we saw the introduction of electric lights, telephones, automobiles, airplanes and movies. We saw the rise of jazz, the Spanish-American war, the San Francisco earthquake and World War I. All this impacted Whites and African-Americans differently, just as it impacted men and women differently. BUY AT AMAZON www.windsofchange-thebook.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/e1f6235e-44c3-472c-a127-d981014c254b/by-one-vote-cover.png Home - Books - By One Vote One vote…the decision of a single individual, can change the direction of the country. It can move an entire nation further into the dark or it can move it in the direction of curing inequities that evolved through decades of history. We live in a period of economic and political unrest and we believe it to be worse than at any time in our history…but it may not be! America’s two hundred plus years of existence has been one of turmoil, dissension, and war. It has been a time of alternating economic growth and stagnation. Each decade has found stalwarts and dissenters convinced that they, alone, have the best solution for the country’s ills. A surprising number of events that altered the country’s direction resulted from the vote of a single individual either in support of a change or opposed to it. Names such as James Bayard, Edmund Ross, and Joseph Bradley are unknown, but during their lifetimes, they altered the fabric or our nation as significantly as Americans whose names are more famous. This book, By One Vote, tells these stories. The events are factual; the dramatizations surrounding them are the studied imagination of the author. BUY AT AMAZON www.byonevote-thebook.com YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/c3e2b0af-be3f-44f3-b59a-35b6f29bc276/sex-drgs-fashion-cover.png Home - Books - Sex, Drugs, & Fashion SEX, DRUGS, & FASHION is a highly entertaining novel of the Apparel industry during the frenzied days of the 1970’s & 1980’s. To some it will be just an enjoyable story. To others it will be a trip down memory lane. Charlie Barron, growing up in New York’s 7th Avenue Fashion District, moves to Los Angeles and its embryonic environment. He finds it difficult to keep his pants zipped as he builds first one company, then another, always at odds with his business partners. His first partner, Pablo, is from El Salvador, where garments can be made less expensively. Everything goes well until that country’s revolution closes the factory. Meanwhile Pablo’s marriage crumbles as his gay life style is revealed. Charlie’s second partner, Neil Pastore, is an Italian Jew who owns a fabric company. Charlie marries, divorces, marries a second and a third time. We meet Jennifer, Ruby, and Lorena. We meet Sharon, Windy, and Adrienne. The novel also deals with the underbelly of the industry…the New York mob, Vegas gamblers, and cocaine dealers. We see kickbacks and scams. You’ll meet Will Duval who has competed with Charlie for decades, always preferring shortcuts to success. Their competition often leads to violence. Most of the characters in the book are composites of people the author knew and the significant events are based on the authors more than thirty years in the industry. BUY AT AMAZON www.sexdrugsandfashion-thebook.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1a6dc296-c130-44f0-80e5-df3551efcd6f/dbl-v-cover.png Home - Books - The Double V Early in 1942, a young Negro tries to enlist in the Army. He’s beaten and told that this is a ‘white man’s war’. It’s his first experience with racism. Frustrated, he writes a letter to the Pittsburgh-Courier, one of the largest black newspapers in the country. “There shouldn’t be two Americas, one white and one black, why should Negroes die for a country that treats them like 2d Class citizens?” Publication Early 2021 BUY AT AMAZON https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1721122b-aa72-4948-b3d0-50aded2ab4ad/over-the-hill-cover.png Home - Books - Over the Hill and Still Climbing Oh, I wish I were in my 30’s again! My entire adult life would be ahead of me, shining brightly, albeit unknown. But I’m not. I’m in my 80’s, over the hill, and not just in my I-just-turned-80 confession, but well into my late ‘80’s, where even car rental companies shun you. I mean, I haven’t had sex since George W. Bush was President and really good sex took me back to Bill Clinton. I mean, who can forget the days of Monica Lewinski and her blue dress. Memories can be lovely, but they’re poor substitutes for steamy bodies. I really can’t complain. My life has been a roller coaster ride worthy of Magic Mountain. I’ve loved and been loved. I’ve traveled the world. I’ve seen great wealth and tragic poverty. I’ve seen glaciers melt and technologies soar. I’ve listened to magnificent music and I’ve seen great art. I have friends whom I adore, although in recent years I’ve lost far too many. On the scales of time, I’ve had an amazing run….and I’m still running, slower, but still trying to kick-ass. My name is Samantha Reed! You can call me ‘Sam’ and this isn’t an autobiography. That would require too much self-indulgence. No! It’s a mixture of me and not me…a cannibalized life of fiction and reality. BUY AT AMAZON https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/b1f14e33-563c-447a-b885-10f5d3108e51/guff-cover.png Home - Books - Guff “Readers should plan to be thoroughly entertained, educated, and surprised when diving into this novel. Eglash-Kosoff is an extraordinary writer, partly because of her masterful descriptions. She explores humanity’s ugly history of racism and bigotry. And, just when this novel is wrapping up comes a left hook finale that few will see coming. The best historical fiction is entertaining, leaves readers something to ponder, and makes one smarter. This novel checks all the boxes!” — U.S. REVIEW OF BOOKS Hollywood 1940, a pre-pubescent town, adorned with orange groves, pretty girls hoping to make it big in the movies, and gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, finding fertile ground. The Great Depression may be over but war is on the horizon as a young man, Guff, with a peculiar talent for remembering numbers and patterns arrives with his friend, Nick, aka Picnic, a light-fingered pickpocket. The Grauman’s Chinese, the movie studios, his girlfriend, Julie, and the warm sun backdrop the events of the plot. Drafted, Guff’s prowess takes him to encryption, German secrets, General George Patton, and the atom bomb. The decades tumultuous events provide spice to Guff’s adventures. It is all true except for those parts that aren’t. BUY AT AMAZON https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/050fc0ec-c4c7-46f3-801b-9414af616730/guff_journeyfront_cover.png Home - Books - Guff - The Journey Continues Guff Rankin works for the CIA as an analyst. Through his lens, readers learn history regarding Cuban/American relations, Israel/ U.S. relations, and more, circa the 1950s. The story is fast-paced! Spies, murders, lovers, and clandestine meetings provide all the action and intrigue any reader wants. Yet the book offers so much more than these. Rankin is a near-savant whose gift is seeing patterns....mathematical and otherwise. But Rankin is a regular guy in most ways, making him relatable and lovable. He has a delightful family and rich friendships, and readers grow attached quickly to them through excellent character development. Writing good historical fiction takes much time and talent. Authors have to do their homework, and Eglash-Kosoff obviously understands this. She expertly captures the flavor of the times: “Eisenhower would serve out his second term but the country was ready to pass the torch of leadership to a younger generation,” Rankin describes after the election of 1952. This book is a sequel to Guff, picking up where the author left readers in the original story. However, this book stands alone just fine, and anyone can start with the present tale and join Rankin’s world. To read about him is to make a new friend. When readers feel a tale ends too quickly, it is a strong indication of a good book. In this case, one can only hope for a third volume. Cover design and illustration by Barbara Kosoff barbarakosoff.com — U.S. REVIEW OF BOOKS BUY AT AMAZON https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/812589b4-adad-40c9-880e-786e08f7b57a/guff-a-life-well-lived-cover.png Home - Books - Guff - A Life Well Lived “A Life Well Lived” To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded. – RALPH WALDO EMERSON This novel is the third in the Guff series. While the three books together follow Guff’s life from the 1940s-1970s, and from Hollywood to Germany to Cuba, each book is rich and entertaining on its own. Guff can easily become the reader’s friend for life. Guff Rankin is warm, kind, smart, and loyal—the kind of person that everyone wants to be, or wants to know. His life parallels the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights battles, and the Nixon White House era. Guff has a near-savant knack for patterns, making him a valuable employee as a code breaker, card wizard, and CIA agent. He is even asked to find patterns in racism that might ease the country’s racial tensions. Meanwhile, Guff’s daughter, El, has matured and finds herself in the midst of a dangerous kidnapping plot and her own path in life. A random shooting takes the life of Guff’s wife. His reaction and hopes for redemption of the young man who shot her moves the story in unusual ways and illuminates an empathy too rare in our society. BUY AT AMAZON https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/2615ea0b-584b-49d8-bbcc-a23eb8d16ab0/anne-cover.png Home - Books - Annie — an exaggerated biography The life of Anne nee Fleishman, Eglash, Fidler et al. Married six times, she lived a full life. This novella was written to chronicle her story for her grandchildren. https://www.caroleeglashkosoff.com/home/films monthly 0.5 2024-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1606594464401-EDXUHVO52O3NEPUMJPMG/LabkovskiArtNo8a.jpg Home - Films - The Life & Art of Dovid Labkovski YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1606594355529-TU5RXH6HRCNEVXOFZ0FU/Screen+Shot+2020-11-28+at+12.09.48+PM.png Home - Films - An Artist’s Journey Dovid Labkovski, a little known Jewish artist, survived the holocaust by being imprisoned in a Soviet Siberian prison camp. His life spanned one of the most tumultuous decades in history. When he died in 1991 he left a legacy of nearly 500 pieces of art that chronicled those years. The film is a unique blend of world events, i.e. pogroms, the American depression, the rise of Hitler and Stalin, the holocaust, Siberian prison camp, all told against the backdrop of Dovid’s art. An earlier 6 minute film, prepared for the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum can be seen on YouTube. https://www.caroleeglashkosoff.com/home/plays monthly 0.5 2020-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/2cb93927-fb0b-451e-9e38-6f140d602f48/human-spirit-cover.png Home - Plays - The Human Spirit A story of human experience telling the stories of the "Mamas"...women, black and white, who worked to provide basic necessities to South Africa's black townships during the worst years of Apartheid. The Human Spirit - Apartheid's Unheralded Heroes (www.thehumanspirit-thebook.com) is the composite of more than sixty interviews conducted by the author, Carole Eglash-Kosoff, over two years while working in the townships. PREVIEW: YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/6898e178-47f3-4c6d-ab7f-213165a83606/when-stars-align-cover.png Home - Plays - When Stars Align The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another can get them both killed. He is colored...she is white. Born from the rape of an 11-year old slave girl by the white son of the plantation owner, Thaddeus is reared in the main house, loved by his grandfather...hated by Henry, his biological father. Amy and her family have to come to the plantation for protection against approaching Union soldiers. The two young people bond immediately, but in 19th century Louisiana mixed race relationships are both illegal and unacceptable. Moss Grove, a large Mississippi River cotton plantation has thrived from the use of slave labor while its owners live lives of comfort and privilege. Deepening divisiveness between North and South launches the Civil War. Henry and Thaddeus find themselves in the same battle. Henry is seriously wounded. Only Thaddeus' bravery gets them both back to Moss Grove. When the war ends Thaddeus, no longer a slave, returns to Moss Grove hoping that he and Amy might have a chance together. Under the protection of Union soldiers, schools are established to educate those who were formerly prohibited from learning to read. Medical clinics are opened and businesses begun. Black legislators are elected and help to pass new laws. Hope flourishes. The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another grows. Perhaps the stars will now finally align for the young lovers. Henry, now married to Elizabeth, Amy's older sister, is stunned at the birth of his second child...a little girl...born colored. An outspoken bigot, he learns that he has black blood coursing through his veins. He refuses to accept that he isn't entirely white and becomes active in the Klan. His background is revealed during a Klan raid and he is killed. Amy and Thaddeus realize there is no place they can share their love. They are forced to separate. Years later, Thaddeus returns to Moss Grove to attend Amy's funeral and discovers he and Amy had had a son together. PREVIEW: YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1606593464314-G4MXIXB5PDPJ38N99GZ4/When+Jazz+photo.jpg Home - Plays - When Jazz Had the Blues When Jazz had the Blues celebrates the genius of Billy Strayhorn, his contribution to the creative collaboration between him and Duke Ellington and his talent in composing and arranging in his own right. We hear the great music of the big band era, while also experiencing the drama of the complex relationships of Billy with the great Lena Horne and his lover Aaron Bridgers. The play spans the period from 1935 to 1956. Billy, talented, gentle, abused by his father is introduced to Duke Ellington, a bigger than life, composer and successful African-American orchestra leader. Billy moves to New York to work for Ellington, who often took credit for the work of those around him. Billy also meets a beautiful, mulatto singer, Lena Horne, with whom he establishes an instant friendship. Billy, lonely, is introduced to Aaron Bridgers, a handsome, piano player and a deep homosexual relationship is established. Meanwhile World War II has broken out. Billy's career working with Duke continues but Billy's frustration with not getting credit for his work grows, including an unsuccessful mixed-race show. Lena's path to stardom continues, including a movie career with MGM. She becomes active in Civil Rights and is upset when she loses the coveted role of Julie in Showboat. While Billy struggles with heavy smoking and drinking, Aaron seeks a career of his own and moves to Paris, leaving Billy despairing. Billy joins Lena in a USO performance where they both see Negro soldiers receiving little respect. The war ends and the era of big bands comes to an end. Lena marries Lenny Hayton, a white, Jewish, successful music director of MGM. Aaron and Billy reunite, and Duke's career is revived by his performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. The show's songs are all from the period and include such standards as Lush Life, Sophisticated Lady, Satin Doll, Lady is a Tramp, and Stormy Weather. The show received 4 Ovations awards including Best Book and Best Production. PREVIEW: YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1a6dc296-c130-44f0-80e5-df3551efcd6f/dbl-v-cover.png Home - Plays - The Double V Early in 1942, a young Negro tries to enlist in the Army. He’s beaten and told that this is a ‘white man’s war’. It’s his first experience with racism. Frustrated, he writes a letter to the Pittsburgh-Courier, one of the largest black newspapers in the country. “There shouldn’t be two Americas, one white and one black, why should Negroes die for a country that treats them like 2d Class citizens?” This is a play about activism, a dramatization of true events. How a simple letter to a newspaper initiated a series of changes that gave black Americans their first taste of equality in a society that had always denigrated them. The Double V campaign, early in the years of World War II, campaigned for both Victory in the war and Victory in the battles for racial equality in the United States. PREVIEW: YouTube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fc2941ac6229360ecb7a9dc/1606592016508-65O13O0E7KZ7GUKPVHO9/Downbeat+logo+photo.jpg Home - Plays - The Downbeat It is 1968 at The Downbeat, a tired, but not quite seedy, small jazz club on New York’s upper west side. In its heyday, musicians would come up from the Village and connect with those coming down from Harlem after hours to play some great jazz. But that was then. Times changed. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and the assassinations of both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, have created universal unrest. Danny Fisher, a renowned musician and the owner, died. His widow, Flo, struggles to keep the doors open. Oscar, a musician who had played with all the names but never got his own break, leads Downbeat’s small combo. He stays because of the music, because of Flo, and because at this point in his life, there is no better gig on the horizon. Trying to find the formula to return the club to its former glory, Flo and Oscar plan an ‘open mike’ night. Perhaps a future star can be discovered. The world is filled with ‘wanna- bes. Four aspiring talents will take the stage. Maybe one will make magic. Featuring Original Songs by Jack Eglash