Barbara Saltzman, the “Jester’s Mom”

Yesterday on my podcast, I had the honor of interviewing Barbara Saltzman, the CEO of “The Jester & Pharley Phund”, aka, the “Jester’s Mom”. Almost 7 years ago, I met her at their booth on April 9, 2016 at UCLA’s Festival of Books. I instantly knew that he and I were meant to be soulmates. She’s the mother of the late David Saltzman, a Yale graduate who passed away in 1990 just before his 23rd birthday after a 2 year battle with Hodgkin’s disease. He came up with the story after he was diagnosed, His legacy was the establishment of his family’s independent publishing company and printing house after they decided to make his children’s story, “The Jester Has Lost His Jingle” a reality. They went through personal sacrifices, emotional and financial difficulties to publish his story and become a non-profit organization, donating thousands of books to hospitals for children fighting cancer. They’ve continued his legacy to the classroom with educational activities and curriculum supplements, and even designed the Jester Doll. In 2 years, they’ll be releasing the 30th Anniversary Edition, and they’re almost out of the Jester Dolls. During our interview, they were some surprising “hidden gems” from author illustrators (ie. Sendak, Schulz, Karle, Dahl, Seurat) and the late composer Stephen Sondheim and “Sunday in the Park with George” who were the inspirations behind David’s story and illustrations. You can read all about David’s life, his story and help with a donation and/or buy the book at their website: https://thejester.org/ to keep David’s children’s story alive and continuing to inspire people to never give up. I’ve embedded the link to the interview on the Becca’s Book TALKS tab, but you can also watch it here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VnAUf_r2tI0.