"The House that Herring Built" Reminisce with Author Mark Russ Federman over Brunch March 30th

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - March 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Reminisce with Author Mark Russ Federman at our Brunch When Joel Russ started peddling herring from a barrel shortly after his arrival in America from Poland, he could not have imagined that he was giving birth to a gastronomic legend. Here is the story of this "Louvre of lox" (The Sunday Times, London): its humble beginnings, the struggle to keep it going during the Great Depression, the food rationing of World War II, the passing of the torch to the next generation as the flight from the Lower East Side was beginning, the heartbreaking years of neighborhood blight, and the almost miraculous renaissance of an area from which hundreds of other family-owned stores had fled.

Filled with delightful anecdotes about how a ferociously hardworking family turned a passion for selling perfectly smoked and pickled fish into an institution with a devoted national clientele, Mark Russ Federman’s reminiscences combine a heartwarming and triumphant immigrant saga with a panoramic history of twentieth-century New York, a meditation on the creation and selling of gourmet food by a family that has mastered this art, and an enchanting behind-the-scenes look at four generations of the Russ & Daughters family.

Join Hillel at the College of Staten Island Author Series on  March 30 as Mark Russ Federman, author of "Russ and Daughters"  tells the story of how the Russ family built a business in smoked fish and pickled herring -from lower east side pushcart to true NYC gourmet. This event includes a delicious Kosher bagels and lox brunch!

Tickets can be purchased for individual lectures and priced as follows.  Mark Russ Federman is $36. All profits benefit the leadership programs of Hillel at the College of Staten Island.  Tickets for the lecture series can be purchased online athttp://russanddaughtersatcsi.eventbrite.com by check to Hillel at CSI, 2800 Victory Blvd, SI, NY 10314 or by calling Amy Posner at 718 982-3006 (tel:718%20982-3006).  The Hillel at the College of Staten Island is a 501(C)3 organization.