Our guest for this Living to 100 Club Podcast is Beth Kobliner. Beth shares the story of her parents, Harold and Shirley Kobliner. This couple embarked on what proved to be a very successful project. They wrote a book after 65 years of marriage. The book is, So to Speak: 11,000 Expressions That’ll Knock Your Socks Off. This is an entertaining conversation highlighting both the book that celebrates the “beauty of expressions” and the story of Harold and Shirley. Harold and Shirley retired after long careers as educators in New York City.
From their love of language and a desire to get the best out of all the years of their lives, they decided to start a new chapter, literally. They began collecting and annotating 11,000 expressions, word games, and phrases to be compiled in a book. They wanted to share this book with others across cultures and across generations. Beth kept her promise to bring in some games to share during the Podcast. Tune in to hear about a couple whose love of each other and of language turned their passion project into a language-lover’s paradise.
Mini Bio
Shirley and Harold Kobliner are the authors of So to Speak: 11,000 Expressions That’ll Knock Your Socks Off. Both career educators, Harold and Shirley spent more than a half-century nurturing and teaching children. Harold received his PhD from New York University’s School of Education and became principal of the award-winning Marie Curie Junior High School in Queens, New York. He was also chairman of the Board of Examiners, the independent agency that created and administered tests to teachers, principals, and superintendents throughout New York City.
Shirley received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and was a high school chemistry teacher in a number of New York City high schools. She was also one of the earliest supporters of ANIBIC, the Association of Neurologically Impaired Brain Injured Children. The ANIBIC is an after-school resource and learning program for children with disabilities. Harold and Shirley also raised three kids who have given them six wonderful, expressions-obsessed grandchildren. Discussing So to Speak on their behalf is Beth Kobliner, their daughter.
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