
Deborah grew up in Berkeley, California. Throughout her life, she has demonstrated a natural proclivity for facilitating and working with individuals and groups in diverse settings. After university, she worked as a real estate agent, obtained her broker’s license, and co-founded a real estate company with eight other women. Deborah served as president and managing broker, while obtaining her master’s degree in clinical psychology, and becoming vitally engaged as a family, child, and play therapist. She emigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1993.Fifteen years ago, Deborah perceived a need for activities designed to provide emotional and creative support for children of Holocaust survivors like herself. She continues to co-facilitate Vancouver’s Second-Generation Group and assisted in touring the Gesher exhibit of artwork produced by the combined creative efforts of Holocaust survivors, child survivors, and the second-generation. Motivated to honour those who saved lives through acts of civil courage, Deborah co-founded the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society (WSCCS) in Vancouver.Deborah is a mixed-media artist, with works appearing in private and public collections. Currently, she has turned her creative focus towards writing – facilitating a Second-Generation writing group, and working on a memoir. Organizing this anthology has been profoundly meaningful for her.Stepchildren and their families are a blessing in Deborah’s life. She and her husband, Henry Ross-Grayman, are active participants in Jewish meditation and members of Or Shalom. Along with their two dogs, they split their time between Vancouver and Salt Spring Island.
Voices of Resilience
Born in the shadow of the Holocaust, twelve writers illuminate how resilience, creativity, love, and hope emerge from a legacy of trauma.
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