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Maralyn Lois Polak

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Maralyn Lois Polak
Born
Occupation(s)Columnist, author, screenwriter, poet, editor, researcher

Maralyn Lois Polak is an American columnist, screenwriter, performance poet, spoken word artist, novelist and journalist.[1][2]

In collaboration with architect Benjamin Nia, Polak co-created the 25-minute documentary My Hometown: Preservation or Development? about the threatened demolition of 19th century buildings near Philadelphia's historic Rittenhouse Square, and preservationists' efforts to save them from a developer's wrecking ball.[3]

She also authored the experimental online meta-novel, IMAGINARY PLAYMATES/Man in Her Mind: Further Adventures of Boris and Natasha, serialized weekly for six months on the former political-literary website FemmeSoul.Com, and a cartoon book, Anoushka on Her Deathbed: 101 Cartoons From the Abyss.[4]

As a former commentary columnist for the online news site WorldNetDaily during a decade as one of their few progressive contributors, Polak wrote more than five hundred political satire opinion pieces in her sometimes controversial weekly column called Left-Handed.[5]

Her journalistic career also includes a long stint with the mainstream media as nationally syndicated weekly celebrity interview columnist for Knight-Ridder and the now-defunct Sunday Magazine of The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she did over a thousand columns.[6][7]

Polak's quirky reviews, essays and opinion editorials have appeared in the Chicago Tribune,[7] Reader's Digest, Andy Warhol's Interview, the San Jose Mercury News, The Philadelphia Inquirer[8] and The New York Times.[9]

Of that dichotomous era, Polak recalls, "Before I became interested in filmmaking, I led two parallel lives: journalist and poet. The journalists thought I was a lunatic and the poets thought I was a sell-out. Both sides got it wrong. Now my ambition is to simply be one real person. Easier said than done."

References

  1. ^ "Howard.edu". Howard.edu. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Maralyn Lois Polak". Authorsguild.net.
  3. ^ Rubino, Frank (25 April 2005). "A Razin' in the Sun". Philadelphia Weekly. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  4. ^ Hammond, Ruth (21 June 2005). "Judges for the 2005 AltWeekly Awards Announced". Altweeklies.com.
  5. ^ "WorldNetDaily". Wnd.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Naedele, Walter (2 June 2010). "Roger F. Goodwin, 69; filmed campaign ads". Philly.com. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 20 January 1992. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  8. ^ Farmelant, Scott (17 August 1995). "Inky Offs Interview". Citypaper.net. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Lois Polak, Maralyn (30 March 1986). "A Passion Born in Kindergarten". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2010.