By Rachel Gross

For more than 40 years, folks have heard Susan Stamberg’s voice on National Public Radio (NPR), reporting on a variety of stories. She will soon visit Dallas to present a portrait of women who have inspired, broken ground and become leaders.
Stamberg is the guest speaker at Shearith Israel’s SISterhood’s fundraiser that will take place at 6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13 at the shul, 9401 Douglas Ave., in Dallas. The event will begin with hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and meet and greet with Stamberg, followed by dinner and the program. All money raised benefits countless community and synagogue programs.
For the past five years, the SISterhood has brought in authors Sandra Brown, Anita Diamant, Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner and Jen Lancaster. This year, they wanted to try something new and unique, according to event Co-chair Cynthia Cohen.
“I was looking for a Jewish woman who would be interesting and is used to speaking for a living,” Cohen said. “Susan Stamberg is such an inspiring, motivating women and has achieved so much. She will teach us a lot and has wonderful stories to tell.”
Cohen hopes to bring in a wide range of women over the next few years that have achieved much success, and Stamberg is the perfect person to start.

Stamberg, based in Washington D.C., is currently a special correspondent for NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “Weekend Edition Saturday.” Beginning in 1972, she served as co-host of NPR’s newsmagazine “All Things Considered” for 14 years, and then hosted “Weekend Edition Sunday.”
The first woman to anchor a nightly news program, she has won several broadcasting awards. Over the years, she has conducted thousands of interviews with people like Laura Bush, Billy Crystal, Rosa Parks, Dave Brubeck and Luciano Pavarotti.
In addition to her broadcast work, Stamberg has also written two books called “Every Night at Five: Susan Stamberg’s All Things Considered Book” and “Talk: NPR’s Susan Stamberg Considers All Things.” She co-edited “The Wedding Cake in the Middle of the Road,” a collection that grew out of stories Stamberg commission for “Weekend Edition Sunday.”
“Susan is a ground breaker herself and it’s exciting that we will be able to her from her,” Cohen said. “We want this to be a fun evening and it allows women to support a good cause as well.”
Shearith Israel Rabbi Shira Wallach will deliver the d’var Torah that evening. On a recent trip to Washington D.C., Wallach, a new listener to NPR, was intrigued by an exhibit she saw at the Newseum of women who broke ground in journalism. She said she is inspired by Stamberg’s work. Wallach and Stamberg also have something in common — both women attended Barnard College in New York.
“It will be interesting to hear her perspective not only as a women in journalism, but how being Jewish has played a role as well,” Wallach said. “As much as we can find in common with our speaker is great. Susan speaks for a living and knows how to tell stories in a compelling well. We can relate to her. In the beginning, women journalists weren’t taken seriously and it’s women like Susan who really broke ground and can handle serious stories.”
Tickets are $65 per person and sponsorships are available. Raffle tickets will be sold the evening of the event.
Registration is required by Nov. 3. For more information and to RSVP, visit www.shearith.org or email Cynthia Cohen at cohen.cynthia@att.net.