She Made the Earth Move: Carole King and Jewish Identity
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Book Talk
Produced by the American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum Co-sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Admission: Free Registration is required. |
This presentation features a book talk by journalist and author Jane Eisner on Carole King: She Made the Earth Move, in which she traces the professional accomplishments and personal challenges of pop icon Carole King, exploring her unique contribution to American music.
Carole King’s extraordinary career has defined American popular music for more than half a century. Born in New York City in 1942, she shaped the soundtrack of 1960s teen culture with such songs as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” one of many Brill Building classics she wrote with her first husband, Gerry Goffin. She was a leading figure in the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s, with dozens of Billboard Hot 100 hits and music awards—her 1971 album Tapestry won a record four Grammys. Yet she struggled to reconcile her fame with her roles as a wife and mother and retreated to the backwoods of Idaho, only to emerge in recent years as a political activist and the subject of the Tony-winning Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
In her book, Eisner places King’s life in historical and cultural context, revealing details of her humble beginnings in Jewish Brooklyn, the roots of her musical genius, her four marriages, and her anguish about public life. Drawing on numerous interviews as well as historical and contemporary sources, this book brings to life King’s professional accomplishments, her personal challenges, and her lasting contributions to the great American songbook.
About the Speaker
Jane Eisner is an accomplished journalist, educator, and nonprofit leader. She is author of Carole King: She Made the Earth Move from Yale University Press. Former editor-in-chief of the Forward and longtime Philadelphia Inquirer editor, she teaches, consults, writes widely, and speaks nationally on journalism, music, and Jewish life.