St. Louis Jewish Book Festival & Speaker Series Presents Missouri’s Own Panel

Come to the 2026 Jewish Book Festival’s Missouri’s Own panel for a lively, thought-provoking conversation with four homegrown authors whose books could hardly be more different—and whose questions could hardly be more timely.

• Prof. Flora Cassen’s Stained Glass helps readers look more clearly at the long history of antisemitism and the ways it has shaped culture and memory
• Prof. Samuel Cohen’s Banning Books in America speaks to anyone trying to understand censorship, education, and intellectual freedom in today’s divided public square
• Mark Heller’s Scoop Dreams & Rocky Roads offers hard-earned lessons from a life of work, ambition, and adaptation
• Debbie Kimberg’s A Blind Spot on Autism invites readers to reconsider what we think we know about autism and what might be driving its rise.

Together, these four Missouri-connected authors offer an evening for people who want more than a standard book talk: come to make sense of difficult issues, discover new local voices, stretch your thinking across disciplines, and leave with fresh questions—and perhaps a few practical insights—for how we understand history, learning, resilience, health, and community today.