Dvorah Telushkin was born February 12, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush and studied at Bard College and Columbia University. Telushkin met author Isaac Bashevis Singer in 1975, when she was twenty-one years old and unable to afford the cost of a creative writing course that Singer was teaching at Bard College. She wrote to Singer, offering to drive him between Manhattan and the college in return for auditing the class. This led to a position as his personal secretary and assistant that lasted for twelve years.
Telushkin’s first marriage was to photojournalist Abraham Menashe, with whom she has one daughter. She married Rabbi Joseph Telushkin in 1988; they have three children and currently reside in New York. Telushkin, who studied Yiddish at Columbia University, has translated short stories by Singer and other Yiddish writers, and she also performs at storytelling festivals.
Telushkin wrote about her years with Singer in a memoir,
Dvorah Telushkin; B’nai B’rith International Speaker Biographies, http://www.bnaibrith.org/lbureau/full_bio.cfm?vs=71; and interview by Ron Hogan, http://www.beatrice.com/interviews/telushkin/
Dvorah Telushkin’s Isaac Bashevis Singer materials date from 1951 to 1998 and include his manuscripts, clippings and tearsheets of his published work, galley proofs, reviews, and correspondence, as well as clippings of articles about Singer, royalty statements, lecture contracts, receipts, one contact sheet, an award program, notes, and works by other authors. The materials are in seven series: I. Works by Singer, 1958-1989, undated; II. Correspondence, 1951, 1965-1988; III. Financial and Legal Papers, 1972-1986; Series IV. Photographs and Works of Art, 1980, undated; Series V. Personal Files, 1981-1992, undated; Series VI. Works about Singer and His Work, 1973-1998, undated; and Series VII. Works by Other Authors, 1959-1991, undated.
Singer’s works are arranged alphabetically by their English titles. Manuscripts are in English unless described otherwise in the following folder list. Notable manuscripts include Yiddish handwritten fragments and a corrected typescript of
Correspondence includes fan mail, general correspondence, and letters requesting lecture appearances, permissions for publication, and theatrical rights. The correspondence primarily consists of incoming letters, with a few of Singer’s replies, usually drafts written by Telushkin. Among the correspondents are Singer’s nephew Maurice Carr, Henry Miller, and Lottie Robins. A complete list of correspondents may be found in the Index of Correspondents at the end of this inventory.
Financial and legal papers include royalty statements, contracts for lecture appearances, and receipts. An undated contact sheet shows Singer signing books, and an ink drawing of Singer is by Muriel Schmalberg Ullman. Among Singer’s personal files are materials relating to the Compostela Award, clippings regarding a variety of topics, and miscellaneous notes by Singer and Telushkin. Works about Singer and his work include clippings and tearsheets, bibliographies, and typescripts by Richard Burgin, Yaakkov Jacobs, and others.
Works by other authors include photocopy proofs of Lawrence Kushner’s
Gift, 2002 (G 12122)
Open for research
Katherine Mosley, 2006
Other manuscripts relating to I. B. Singer at the Ransom Center may be found in the Isaac Bashevis Singer archive as well as in the papers of Joann Biondi, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Paul Kresh, Elizabeth Shub, and Gordon Weel. Artwork by Sylvia Ary, including a portrait of Singer and her illustrations for some of his short stories, are housed in the Center’s Art Collection.
Framed artwork by Mischa Kallis and Zvi Ehrman has been transferred to the Ransom Center’s Art Collection. An issue of
Names in bold appear in the RLIN record.
The names of individuals at least some of whose correspondence is in Yiddish or Hebrew are given in italics. Index entries that include the notation (from Singer) indicate that the person is the recipient of correspondence from Isaac Bashevis Singer.