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The Adult Education Committee of Congregation Neve Shalom, Metuchen, held its 15th annual Book and Author event Jan. 25.

The event, recently renamed in memory of long-time Metuchen residents Donald and Ruth Kahn, featured four authors: Erin Einhorn, author of "Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home"; Arie Kaplan, author of "From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books"; Peter Manseau, author of "Songs for the Butcher's Daughter: A Novel"; and Diana Spechler, author of, "Who by Fire: A Novel." For Spechler and Einhorn, these were their first published books.

Einhorn said her book had two stories within it: "The search for my mother and the surprise discovery the past really hadn't gone away."

Einhorn said her mother spent the first four years of her life living with a Polish woman in Poland.

"She had red hair, blue eyes, and was hidden as a non-Jew," she said. "If anyone knew her real identity she would have been killed."

Einhorn said her mother didn't believe she was a survivor of the Holocaust because she was only a child.

"My mother told me what happened; she brushed it off, because she was loved," she said.

Her mother had five different "mothers" by the time she was 9, Einhorn said.

"Her birth mother, the woman that hid her, the orphanage, her foster mother, and her stepmother," she said.

In 2001, Einhorn took a leave of absence from her job and moved to Poland for a year in hopes fnding what truly happened to her family during the war.

When in Poland, she went to the house of the family that saved her mother in hopes of them still living there. They were living in the same house that Einhorn's grandfather gave to this family, she said.

Einhorn said at the house, she met a man who said he was Einhorn's mother's sister.

"In reality, I found the family that saved my mother," she said. "We had this dramatic first meeting. He points to her (picture) and says this is my sister."

Therefore, not only was she able to find the family that raised her mother, but at the same time bring a lost sister back to life for this man, she said.

Einhorn said while in Poland she learned there are two versions to her grandmother's death.

"He (her grandfather) said he jumped off the train, and she didn't and that was the last time he ever saw her," Einhorn said.

However, Einhorn said her grandfather told her mom's family that raised her that her grandmother was shot.

Ultimately, Einhorn said she was able to piece together parts of her past that she didn't know existed, she said.

Kaplan, who grew up in Baltimore, has been writing comics or comedy related material his entire life, he said.

He is a MAD magazine writer, a comedy writer, an animation writer, a screenwriter, a playwright, a cartoonist, a stand-up comic, and a member of the Friars Club.

Kaplan said he began by writing plays at New York University and eventually he began to write comedy, and getting some of his writings published in MAD magazine.

"The stories are crude dimensional characters," Kaplan said. "There's always something Yiddish about MAD."

Kaplan said MAD magazine has a Jewish history.

"Jews created the comic industry," he said.

Manseau said his book was inspired by his previous book, "A Family of 'Vows': The Son of a Priest and a Nun."

The book was based on his life because his mother is a former nun who married his father, who never renounced his vows, but is under suspension.

His current book, "Songs for the Butcher's Daughter," is about Yiddish, be cause he said three years after attending college, he began to collect Yiddish books.

"I wanted to create books for elderly people, who know Yiddish," he said.

Spechler grew up in Boston and said she wasn't exposed to Orthodox Judaism until her junior year of college.

She said she became fascinated with Orthodox Jews, and more specifically the conflict between Orthodox Jews and secular Jews.

"But when there is a threat, everyone as Jews comes together," she said.

Her fictional story, "Who by Fire," is about the Kellerman family from New Jersey who had one of their children Alena, kidnapped from the home 13 years ago. After the child is kidnapped the father leaves the family, leaving the mother to raise their two children on her own.

The son, Ash, disappears at the age of 20, becomes Orthodox, moves to Israel, and doesn't speak to the family. His sister, Bits, who lives in Boston, and his mother, Ellie, who still resides in New Jersey, are very concerned and eventually the sister goes to Israel to try to find her brother.

While writing this, Spechler's brother did nearly the exact same thing. He decided not go to law school and left to become religious in Israel. Just like the character in the story, she was very close with her brother, and had lost him to Israel.

"My relationship with my brother changed, "she said. "I felt I was losing my brother. I was writing about Orthodox Jews, now my brother was doing it."

Spechler said eventually her brother did come home, go to law school, and stayed Orthodox. Also, her family accepted how religious her brother was and became more religious. Today, her brother is no longer Orthodox, and Spechler's relationship with her brother is better, she said.

Amy Artman, the chairwoman of the event said she enjoyed all four authors.

"They were all great people," she said. "It was important in getting exposure for first-time authors."

Miriam Rockmore of Metuchen said the event was great and she truly enjoyed the four young authors.

"It was great, and a proper tribute to the memory of Ruth and Donald Kahn," Rockmore said.