Historian Kathy Jolowicz remembers like it was yesterday when she couldn’t walk down 86th Street without hearing people speak German.

 She remembers when she could get authentic German food at mom-and-pop shops and when Christmas time meant the streets were ambushed with music, the polka and the waltz. She remembers when the Upper East Side was Yorkville, where everything from the old country was either imported or recreated to feel like home.

“It’s my passion, its my heritage, it’s my childhood,” Jolowicz said, who was born and raised in Yorkville. “It was my Disney Land.”

Jolowicz lived the memories that are now in picture frames on her walls and are written in massive books on her shelves.  But she shares those memories in exhibits and lectures and displays over 40 pictorial panels that are 30 by 40 inches wide, decorated with Yorkville facts and photos.

During her lectures, her topics shift according to what her audience wants to know.

“If it’s a young group, they all want to know about the war, what was it like for Germans in the war,” she said. “If I have an older group, they reminisce.”

Jolowicz has been writing a book that covers German roots in New York City from the 1600s to the 1960s. It also covers the German’s contributions to New York City and the Upper East Side when it was German Town, or Yorkville/Kleindeutschland.

When she started the book in 1988, she originally wanted to write a six-chapter book about Yorkville. However, the book has grown to 20 chapters as she continues to research and add information about Germans in the city.

“It’s not that you just sit down and write a book,” she said.  “There are so many details that have never been put together and that’s what I’m trying to do now. It’s not easy.”

She also writes about her family. Her parents Ruth and Paul Jolowicz were Yorkville pioneers and moved to New York City in 1932 from Leipzig.

“When you write from the head, the chapters about my family and my experiences, and how they adapted to this country and how I grew up in the adaptation of their life, that was easy,” she said.

Another topic she touched on was her family’s experience adapting to America during World War I and II. At the time of the World Wars, Jolowicz said Jewish kids picked on her for being German American when she was younger.

“Germans still have a bad connotation, not so much the younger ones, but the Holocaust is kept alive, and rightly so,” Jolowicz said. “I would have never condoned such a thing. What I’m trying to do with my book is to bring out the positive side to Germans.”

Jolowicz started the German Language Learning Club in 1990 where she teaches children and adults German at P.S. 169 between Park and Lexington Avenues. Her students and their families march in the German American Steuben Parade every year. Jolowicz, who has two Bachelors of Fine Arts degrees, is currently working on her German Language Certificate from the Goethe-Institut in Germany.

She holds a Stammtisch that meets once a month in Yorkville to eat, drink beer and speak German whether native or non-native. Since 1973 she has run the East 83rd/84th Street Block Association. And she’s a member of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic District.

“My memories are still in my heart of walking 86 Street, the music, everybody knowing everybody,” she said. “This was a community, it was a family, it was a village. And it was all I knew.”

By Angela Barbuti

Bruce Springsteen gets a lot of play—literally. Even President Obama has said, “I’m the president, but he’s the Boss.” And now, after more than 30 years of research, Peter Ames Carlin finally put his respect for the musician down on paper. Replete with interviews from Bruce’s family, the E Street Band and Bruce himself, Carlin has recorded a biography that lives up to all the hype it has generated. Bruce, released Oct. 30, has won the honor of a four-star rating from Rolling Stone. On Nov. 14, the author will be at Barnes & Noble at 18th Street to sign his book, which is the perfect holiday gift for the Bruce fan in your life.

You began writing the book in the fall of 2009, but your interest in Bruce dates back to when you went to a concert of his in 1978. 

I had been collecting material and knowledge starting as a 15-year-old, when I saw Bruce’s show in the fall of ’78 on the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. The show was kind of—I don’t want to say “life changing,” that’s a bit much—but it altered my sense of music and possibility. It resonated with me, and I carried that for decades.

After a year and a half of writing on your own, Bruce’s manager, Jon Landau, called you.

I was doing research on my own with no connection at all to Bruce. I was speaking to a ton of people before that—old friends, people from Freehold and Asbury Park, and veterans from Columbia Records who were extremely eager to talk. The phone rang in January of 2011 while I was sitting in my office—my basement here in Portland—and it was Jon. We got together the next week for a drink, and from that point on, Jon became super-helpful and gave the green light to friends, collaborators and band members.

What surprised you about Bruce?

We spent a lot of time together. Everyone told me along the way that he’s pretty much exactly who you think he is. In a way, that was very true. It was clear to me from his work that he’s a very intense, complicated and, in some ways, conflicted person. He is enormously charming, but there’s also a distance around him to a degree. He wears his moods and inner tension close to the surface.

Photo by Elizabeth S. Ames

You conducted the last major interview with Clarence Clemons. What was he like?

I had a couple days’ worth of interviews with him just a couple of months before he died. Physically, he was a little compromised; he had just had another bout of surgery. He was doing a lot of physical therapy, trying to get in shape for this tour. Mentally, he was incredibly smart, funny, sensitive and intense. He had a lot to talk about and was very excited to do so, which was cool.

You list Bruce’s many accomplishments—120 million albums sold, 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. Why do you think he’s able to do so much?

Bruce is, in a lot of ways, a self-invented human being. But these threads—the energy, drive and passion—come from his mom’s side of the family. The part that helps him work onstage for three to four hours a night and pursue his art for 50 years now. His mom’s side is this very vibrant, hilarious, hard-working Italian family. His dad had a lot of emotional problems, and there has been a lot of darkness on that side of the family. The disturbance in Bruce’s soul that has branded him came through his dad’s side.

You dedicate the book to your wife, Sarah, and thank her for thinking of the title. Besides that, did she help along the way?

[Laughs] She helped me by making it okay for me to disappear for weeks on end. And there was a point halfway through the process where I quit the job I had for 10-plus years at The Oregonian. Things had gotten kind of unpleasant there for me, and I knew it was time to move on. When the Bruce thing really got rolling, I had the sense that if anything is worth throwing all your eggs in a basket for, it’s this book that no one else had the chance to do yet. My wife encouraged me to do exactly that.

You mention Café Wha? and Kenny’s Castaways as part of Bruce’s early life. What role do you see New York City as having in his development? 

Oh my gosh—a big role. As big as his earlier bands were in New Jersey and the South, they never tried to play New York for some reason. When he started building his career as a professional recording artist, that drew him to New York. His becoming familiar with it and seeing the world from that perspective transformed his sense of possibility. If you listen to “New York City Serenade” and “Incident on 57th Street,” the impact is everywhere.

Did you listen to Bruce’s music as you were writing his biography? 

Well, sure. I mean, I listened to Bruce music when I was writing about everything else over the years. [Laughs] It’s just part of my internal soundtrack.

What is your favorite Bruce song?

[Laughs] It sort of depends on the day or the hour. The songs have been part of my life on a step-by-step basis since I was a sophomore in high school. “Racing in the Streets” from Darkness. I just feel that there’s something vital in that song that comes from so deep.

What do you think the future holds for Bruce and the E Street Band?

At this point, it seems he’s very committed to the band and to keeping the group going. Bruce himself as an artist, songwriter, musician and performer—he’ll do that for the rest of his life. Because that’s who he is—it’s what makes him alive.

By Rachel Sokol

Dee Snider.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Dee Snider—the lead singer-songwriter for the heavy metal band Twisted Sister—really didn’t care what anyone thought about him.

Who cared if he had long, curly, insane hair? Who cared if he wore leopard-print bell-bottoms, stockings, makeup and a shirt that said “Blow Me”? Certainly not the outspoken rocker who just wanted to make music and find fame beyond his Long Island roots.

Naturally, this “who cares?” attitude inspired Twisted Sister’s best and most iconic rock anthems, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.”

Today, Snider’s still not holding anything back. Only this time around, he’s channeling his energy in a different, albeit, quieter way—on paper.

In his new book, Shut Up and Give Me the Mic, Snider, whose given name is Daniel, shares personal stories about his life as a rocker, a husband and a father—the good, the bad and the “ugly” (an insult Howard Stern slung at him before the two formed a friendship).

What’s most impressive about Snider’s book is his attention to detail, which he attributes to his health-conscious lifestyle.

As Snider says, “I’m the guy that gave it all to beat the odds, left everything he had on the stage each night, didn’t screw around on his woman, took care of his kids and was sober enough to remember it all and write about it … myself.”

The idea for Shut Up came from Snider’s manager, who told Snider he was a “great storyteller who should write a book,” the uber-chatty Snider recalled in a recent phone interview.

“I wanted to tell the story of my rise and fall. First I started at the beginning, and just kept going. I kept having story after story to tell.”

In Shut Up, Snider reveals the stories behind the crazy makeup, his desire for a record deal and his bankruptcy when his rock ’n’ roll fame dissipated. Snider uses footnotes to drop in random facts—little segues that help enhance his anecdotes. In one footnote, for example, Snider says he would sweat so much onstage, one night he lost 8 lbs.

Additionally, readers are treated to Snider’s “Life Lessons,” his rules about life, love, and rock ’n’ roll.

“My son Cody, who is 24, loved all the parentheses I had in the book. He thought it was hilarious that I was commenting on my own writing,” laughs Snider, who says his family “got a real kick” out of his stories. “They love it!”

“I found Dee to be a natural storyteller who remembers everything,” says Ed Schlesinger, senior editor at Gallery Books and a Twisted Sister fan. “He wanted the opportunity to write the book himself, and once I saw some sample chapters, I knew he wouldn’t disappoint his fans or readers.”

And, of course, there’s a whole chapter devoted to that famous day in 1985 where Snider testified before Congress, against the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which sought to slap a warning label on albums they believed contained offensive material.

Since his heyday with Twisted Sister, Snider has remained busy writing scripts, performing voiceover work and headlining radio shows—who could forget his stint as host for MTV’s “Headbangers Ball”?

Now back in the recording game, Snider is also debuting his latest album, Dee Does Broadway, on the same day as his memoir, May 8.

Broadway? Really? Snider doesn’t think his transition from rock venues to the Broadway stage is strange at all. In 2010, he did play Dennis in the Broadway production Rock of Ages, which features two Twister Sister songs.

“Performing Broadway songs is a natural progression, musically,” says Snider, whose personal favorite song on the album is The Ballad of Mack the Knife, which he has “always wanted to sing.”

Dee Does Broadway also highlights the vocal talents of his eldest son, Jesse, and Broadway legends Patti LuPone and Bebe Neuwirth. Pop icon Cyndi Lauper is also featured on the album, as is Rudy Sarzo, a former bassist for Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot.

“In my opinion, Dee Does Broadway is his best record to date, not only for his outstanding performance but for taking his vocal range places we had never heard Dee Snider go before,” says Sarzo.

Besides, Snider firmly believes, “if Bach and Beethoven were alive today, they’d be into Metallica.”

Recently, Snider graced the small screen as a contestant on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, which films in New York City, Snider’s “backyard.”

“New York is my home,” he says. “It’s where I’m most comfortable.”

Episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice are still airing, and Dee was competing to raise money for March of Dimes, a charity he’s supported for years. Snider was “fired” by Donald Trump in Episode 8, but did raise more than $300,000 for March of Dimes.

On the show, Snider formed a friendship with teammate—and former American Idol contestant—Clay Aiken, who at press time is still competing on The Celebrity Apprentice.

On Dee Does Broadway, Aiken’s vocal talent is featured in “Luck Be a Lady,” from the musical Guys and Dolls.

“I never met Clay prior to the show, and to be honest I expected the least from him—and got the most. We really connected,” says Snider. “When I had the duets worked out, I asked Clay to sing on the track. He rocked it! He was really wailing! I was so impressed.”

Aiken shares the same sentiments. “You’d never think it from his ‘twisted’ persona, but Dee is an incredibly versatile musician. On Dee Does Broadway, he’s taken on a challenge that no one would ever have thought possible, and he not only succeeds, but he hits it out of the park,” says Aiken. “I am so glad I got to be a part of it.”

Snider currently resides on Long Island with Suzette, who served as Twisted Sister’s fashion designer. “She calls herself both my mistress and my wife,” jokes Snider, but the couple did in fact marry in 1981 and raised four children: Jesse, Shane, Cody and Cheyenne—who were all featured on various reality shows including A&E’s Growing Up Twisted.

Snider is soon launching his national book tour and fans can also catch him in the FEARNet original comedy series, Holliston. “I play a wannabe guy from the ’80s,” Snider says of his character, Lance. ‘He’s a fiftysomething dude in spandex and makeup.” Hmmm … sounds familiar.

Although he does miss his glory days of rock ’n’ roll, Snider insists that today, he’s “older, wiser, smarter and has calmed down a lot. I want fans to know the Dee of the 2000s.” (He is a grandfather, after all.)

Dee Snider will launch his book tour at the Book Revue in Huntington, Long Island, New York, on Tuesday, May 8, at 7 p.m. Shut Up and Give Me the Mic retails for $26. Gallery Books; 448 pages.

Dee Does Broadway (Razor & Tie label) goes on sale May 8. The single “Cabaret” is currently available on iTunes.

Veronica Hoglund

A Man with Pastries

By Veronica Hoglund

In celebration of Eric Lanlard’s new book, Cake Boy, New Yorkers gathered for an afternoon tea hosted by the Crosby Street Hotel. Guests sipped warm drinks and snacked on the most beautiful treats, which were even tastier than they appeared.

Lanlard is best known for his cake boutique of the same name in Southwest London. Cake Boy is his fourth book and is comprised of various recipes and tricks on how to make your own delightful baked goods.

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