Rabbi Herbert Bronstein, z''l, a native of Cincinnati Ohio, served for over a quarter of the century as Senior Rabbi and later as Senior Scholar at North Shore Congregation Israel of Glencoe, IL. He was known for his erudition, work with youth, warm pastoral style, and abiding love of Jewish liturgy, ritual, and study. His rabbinate combined congregational leadership alongside scholarly achievements and active participation in American public life, especially as an advocate for many social justice efforts in the greater Chicago community. He is a former president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis.
Leonard Baskin, z"l, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While he was a student at Yale University, he founded Gehenna Press, a small private press specializing in fine book production. From 1953 until 1974, he taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Subsequently, Baskin also taught at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He lived most of his life in the US, but spent nine years in Devon at Lurley Manor, Lurley, near Tiverton, close to his friend Ted Hughes, for whom he illustrated Crow. Sylvia Plath dedicated "Sculptor" to Leonard Baskin in her famous work, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960).