This month, we are recognizing our ALUMNI AUTHORS who represent our theme of the Power of the Ramaz Community.  We are proud to share the following list of alumni who are having an impact on the world.  They demonstrate the Power of Community.

Please note the list above includes those who have self-identified or have made us are aware of their position as an author. Please help us keep our records accurate. EMAIL US to nominate yourself or someone else to the list.

GABE OPPENHEIM '05

Gabe Oppenheim has wanted to tell stories - to write them down - for as long as he can remember.  When he was in the second grade, he asked his teacher whether he could pen short fiction during math time. Amazingly, she said yes, perhaps foreseeing the line of work he has pursued ever since.

His newest book is "Boxing in Philadelphia: Tales of Struggle and Survival," a nonfiction look at the culture of fighters in the City of Brotherly love - which he began while a student at the University of Pennsylvania from 2005-2009. Recently, the book was featured in the Wall Street Journal.  CLICK HERE to read the story.

The genesis of Oppenheim's book was an encounter he had with a 75-year-old retired boxing trainer during his first week of college - a man Oppenheim merely wanted to profile for the student newspaper. But their interactions didn't end there. "His stories were so raw and sad and suffused with a kind of wisdom that I decided to return to him for the next year and a half and take notes," Oppenheim says. "So I visited his brownstone stoop or his apartment every few months and asked questions. I didn't know I was preparing myself to write a book. I just knew there was something big here that needed to be heard." 

Gabe subsequently embarked on years of research, studying rolls of

microfiche between interviews with the fight game's storied technicians - including those whose words might soon be lost. He remembers vividly the muggy summer day in 2007 when he sat down with a fading George Benton - the brilliant '50s middleweight and former trainer fondly known as the "Mayor of North Philadelphia." Benton at the time was still lucid enough to remember his own bouts vividly, though not his time as a trainer. He passed away before the book was published.

The toughest task for Oppenheim was figuring out which tales he could maintain and which he couldn't; at one point, the manuscript ballooned to an unwieldy 800 pages. But Oppenheim had the editorial experience the Rampage had lent him, when, as co-editor in chief he spent many hours navigating the maze of his peers' words surrounded by college guidance counselors (the Rampage's longstanding office then was a nook with a computer in the college Office). 

"My memories of speeding to get issues published my senior year stick with me," he says. "That was such a heady time -- it was a rush to run through the school, interviewing students, teachers, cafeteria chefs. To jot down the notes, design the thing, run off the issue to the printer down in Chelsea and then come back a day later to pick up hundreds of copies tied together with twine."

There were many late nights involved, he recalls - though not of the type seniors generally conduct.

 "We'd put in big food orders with the yearbook team that also stayed late. I think I twice ate an entire pizza pie myself. I was not only hungry but also tired, overworked and unyielding. I was so deep into it, I didn't have the perspective to pull back and say, 'Hey, you're a senior, relax a little, life should consist of a bit more partying right now'."

 Today, with the boxing book published, perhaps that choice has paid dividends ("I probably should've done both," Oppenheim jokes). Oppenheim currently works as a freelancer, writing fiction and nonfiction, plus a few screenplays, from the cozy confines of his Manhattan studio (whose half-wall of exposed brick he very much appreciates).

DAVID MARKENSON '86

 Dr. David Markenson began his work in the field of health as a teenager. In high school, David volunteered as a lifeguard with the Red Cross and taught CPR for the organization. Today, Markenson is the chief medical officer of the Sky Ridge Medical Center in Colorado and was recently awarded the Harriman Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, the Red Cross's highest award for volunteer service.  The Harriman Award is given to only one recipient each year and is the highest award from the Red Cross.

 Dr. Markenson is currently a Red Cross volunteer and has been the chair of the Scientific Advisory Council since 2005, which includes "a team of experts in fields that include medicine, emergency response, nursing and aquatics. The Council ensures all of the content in Red Cross courses adheres to the highest scientific standards, including program research, development and implementation," according to the Red Cross.

"My work as an EMT and lifeguard [in high school] and my future desire to be a physician with the cases of cardiac arrest [came from the fact that] I saw that no one at the scene knew how to help," Markenson said. "For me [the award] represents acknowledgement not of me personally so much as the process I built in the Red Cross for an independent science body to provide oversight and direction of all programs and activities. [It's] notable that this behind scenes work was recognized."

David has long been fascinated with sciences, teaching himself mitosis and meiosis in fifth grade, and expanded that knowledge when he entered high school. "[It] taught me about helping others, fascinated [me] with medical Halacha and the sense of helping others, and [made me become] involved with Hatzolah which I helped to start on the Upper East Side," he said.

David has spent time at the ICU Harlem Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Columbia University and the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital and New York Medical College, and credits his time at Ramaz as a basis for his successes.

"The combination of the secular and Jewish education at Ramaz has made me a better physician, researcher and leader," he said. "In addition I continue my Jewish studies especially medical Halacha and Talmud as it helps me think and improve my relationship with patients."

 David has kept in touch with a number of classmates, even after moving to Colorodo and in fact lives within blocks away from a Ramaz classmate today. 

BIRTHS | MAZAL TOV TO..

Sarah (Gluck) Knox '92 & Tim Knox , on the birth of their daughter Ella Shai

Barrie & Avi Ishofsky '93, on the birth of their daughter Aiden Rose

Tobi (Oppenheimer) Abrahamson '95 & Justin Abrahamson, on the birth of their daughter Emma Rose

Annie Lewis & Yosef  Goldman '96, on the birth of their daughter Zohar "Zoe"

Allyson & Adam Fishman '97, on the birth of their son, Henri (Yehudah Or)

Marisa (Tuchinsky) Gadlin '98 & Elie Gadlin '98, on the birth of their daughter Annelie Kate

Ally (April) Cooper '00 & Aryeh Cooper, on the birth of their daughter Natalie Edith

Alyssa & Eli Magid '00, on the birth of their son Lior Jacob

Rachel Pollack-Berkovits '00 & Binyamin Berkovits, on the birth of their daughter

Katie & Eric Kluger '00, on the birth of their son Kenneth Max (Moshe Yehuda), and to grandparents Hon. Judy (Harris) Kluger '70 & Barry Kluger

Sharon (Millendorf) Rabinowitz '01 & Shlomo Rabinowitz , on the birth of their son Elior Eitan

Erica Fishbein '02 & Jeff Newelt, on the birth of their son Lazlo Newelt

Caroline (Born) Gleser '02 & Zachary Gleser, on the birth of their daughter Beatrice Mae (Ayelet)

Shari & Sam Raymond '02, on the birth of their son Aaron Isaac

Erica (Davis) Elsant '03 & Josh Elsant, on the birth of their son

Arielle (Anhalt) Brenner '04 & Adam Brenner '97, on the birth of their daughter Sydney Juliet, and to grandparents Ruthie (Fisher) Brenner '70 & Raymond Brenner

Ariel (Wagner) Levitan '04 & Matthew Levitan, on the birth of their daughter Alexa Rose (Alisa Rina)

Brigitte (Tugendhaft) Kestenbaum '05 & Duvy Kestenbaum, on the birth of their daughter Joelle Rachel

Stephanie (Franco) Biselman '05 & Igor Biselman, on the birth of their son

Amanda (Sugarman) Klatt '05 & Jonathan Klatt, on the birth of their daughter Rena Izzy (Rena Esther)

Atara (Siman-Tov) Kramer '06 & David Kramer, on the birth of their daughter Bailey Eva (Baila)

Miriam (Krawitz) Levine '06 & Aaron Levine, on the birth of their son

ENGAGEMENTS | MAZAL TOV TO...

Johnny Glaser '88, on his engagement to Tammy Fried

Ari Ackeraman '89, on his engagement to Lauren Boxer

Baruch Freedman '98, on his engagement to Linda Rosenfeld

Danielle Sassoon '04, on her engagement to Adam Katz

Micole Horowitz '06, on her engagement to Yaron Weitzman

Alyssa Reich '06, on her engagement to Joey Kolatch '06

Aviva Nusbaum '06, on her engagement to Jared Kafer

Ari Berkowitz '09, on his engagement to Rachel Adams

Kirsten (Ginsburg) Glaubach '82

Dara Marans '09, on her engagement to Eric Shapiro

Julia Ohebshalom '09, on her engagement to Avi Abadie

Ariel Menche '10, on his engagement to Aviva Koloski

Arielle Engelmayer '11, on her engagement to Eli Weingast

WEDDINGS | MAZAL TOV TO...

Dana Federbush '90 & Eddie Karan '91, on their marriage

Jennifer Guttman '04, on her marriage to Ran Ben Shimol, and to mother Gilda Guttman '66

Haviva Korenblit '11, on her marriage to Yisrael Yanover

Talia Thurm '09 & Michael Abramson '09, on their marriage

KUDOS | MAZAL TOV TO...

Haskel Lookstein '49, on receiving the Rabbinic Leadership Award from the Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE)

Jeffrey Gurock '67, on the recent publication of his book The Holocaust Averted

Marilynne Kirshbaum '78, on being appointed Professor of Nursing and Head of Nursing, School of Health, Charles Darwin University, Australia

Judy Melinek '87, on the recent publication of her book Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

Rebecca Kobrin '89, on receiving the Lefest Teaching Award from Columbia University.  Rebecca is an associate professor of history at the University.

Alexandra Moller '92, on the launch of her business Past to Present.net

Yael (Friedman) Farkas '01 & Pinny Farkas, on being honored as Parents of the Year and receiving the Keter Shem Tov Award at the Third Annual Dinner of Beit Yaakov ATERET Miriam of Far Rockaway, Queens

Ethan Stein '10, on receiving the Business Person of the Year Award at the Jewish People's Choice Awards

Abigail Blas '12, on her promotion to Sergeant rank in the IDF