NEW ORLEANS (press release) –
Blue Cypress Books hosts author Dr. Elizabeth White on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. Dr. White will be in conversation with professor and radio show host Peter Ricchiuti. They will discuss Dr White’s book, “The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust.” The discussion will be followed by an audience q&a and a book signing.
This event is free and open to the public and will take place at the bookstore, located at 8123 Oak Street, New Orleans, LA 70118. Copies of Dr. White’s book, “The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust” (Simon & Schuster, 2024) may be purchased before or during the event. More about the event here.
“This extensively-documented account serves as powerful testimony.” – Booklist
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust: The astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg—a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat—drawing on Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir. More info here.
Dr. Elizabeth “Barry” White recently retired from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she served as historian and as Research Director for the USHMM’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide. Prior to working for the USHMM, Barry spent a career at the US Department of Justice working on investigations and prosecutions of Nazi criminals and other human rights violators. She served as deputy director and chief historian of the Office of Special Investigations and as deputy chief and chief historian of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. She lives in Falls Church, Virginia.
Peter Ricchiuti (Ri-Chooty) is the business professor you wished you had back in college! His humor and insight have earned him numerous teaching awards at Tulane University, where he created and runs the nationally acclaimed Burkenroad Reports student stock research program.
A native of Boston, Peter graduated from Babson College and began his career with the investment firm of Kidder Peabody. He later managed Louisiana’s $3 billion investment portfolio while serving as the assistant state treasurer.
A nationally recognized speaker, Peter has addressed more than 1,400 groups in 47 states and several countries. He has been featured in Barron’s, Kiplinger’s, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He also hosts a popular weekly business show on National Public Radio in New Orleans called “Out To Lunch.”