About Alice
My early childhood was haunted by the tragic death of a fairytale
princess. My mother's sister, Alice Michels, was born in Jersey City
in 1930 and died of polio in 1950, five years before I was born.
I only knew Alice by her photographs the many stories my mother
and grandparents told me. If half these stories are true, she
was an unusually beautiful, vivacious and kind young woman.
Alice wasn't perfect. She was beautiful, but she sang very badly.
The church choir wouldn't kick her out, so they put her in the front
row and made her lip sync the hymns. She also kept a running
list of all her boyfriends; she collected 32 before she died.
The funny stories only make her more appealing.