Harry Bernstein, author of four memoirs, has much to teach us about writing and the writing life. Bernstein published his first book, The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers, in 2007 when he was ninety-six years old. Yes, you read that right; he was a first-time published author at ninety-six years old and went on to write three more memoirs before his death at 101 in June 2011. (His final memoir, What Happened to Rose, was supposedly published posthumously in 2012 in Italy.)

Bernstein wrote his amazing books on a typewriter and faced rejection after rejection in trying to have his first book published. In one article I read, Bernstein destroyed forty manuscripts–that hurts my heart–because he could not get them published, but he did not stop writing. He served as inspiration for many struggling writers and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008 to pursue his writing.

I’m thrilled to study this well-written story of hardship, survival, and love in our spring 2022 Life Writers session. The version we’re using is the 2008 Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks Edition and can be purchased from Amazon and other booksellers. Print the reading schedule below in the downloads section, use it as a bookmark, and follow along as we study this amazing book.

Here are a few articles about and by Harry Bernstein you might enjoy reading:

• One of the last Bernstein interviews before his death
• Washington Post obituary
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article following Bernstein’s death