Meet Patricia Posner: Journalist and Author
We had the good fortune of connecting with Patricia Posner and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Patricia, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is an essential ingredient in my recipe for success and for enjoying life. When I moved to New York from London, for instance, I did not know anyone in the U.S. and did not have a job lined up. Someone else might not have made that move because they feared not finding work or worried about the difficulty of making a new life in a strange country. I did find work, first in freelance modeling, and then in the fashion industry within a few months. Also, I met creative and wonderful people in those early days of settling into Manhattan, and a handful of them have become my very closest friends through the years. It is not just risk in terms of personal decisions, but also I think it is important to occasionally shake up your work life. Pursuing new ventures and getting out of your comfort zone is often risky. It is also exhilarating. For me, that meant moving from fashion to become a creative director at a record label and then changing to journalism, first in health and fitness and then expanding over the years to a wide range of investigative nonfiction with my husband, author Gerald Posner. Luckily, we share the same risk-driven DNA. That meant neither of us had second thoughts when we had to spend a few months wandering around Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle on the trail of drug dealers and gangsters for a book about the international heroin trade. The same was true when we had to go to South America looking for the long lost trail of a Nazi war fugitive. A lot of people who knew me when I was at New York’s Vittorio Ricci shoe boutique might have had trouble imagining that years later I’d be the author of a bestselling book about the chief pharmacist at the largest Nazi concentration camp (The Pharmacist of Auschwitz). I find that journey makes it interesting and that risk is an inherent and good part of every new phase.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What is most important in my story is that I am driven by a passion for uncovering injustices and trying to do what I can to bring some transparency to wrongdoing. It is never easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Over the years that has taken many different roles. In the 1990s, I worked with my husband, Gerald, on successfully calling on Argentina to release its hidden Nazi files. In 2020, the culmination of years of work and public protest helped contribute to the Vatican finally making some of its secret World War II files available to historians. In between, we’ve argued against restitution for the German family that manufactured the crematoriums in which millions of bodies were burned during World War II and helped on research about whether the FBI missed a third suspect in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. My 2017 book, The Pharmacist of Auschwitz, is the first nonfiction account of the druggist who ran the dispensary at the largest Nazi death camp. As part of that story, I expose the extent of German industry support for Hitler as well as the role of the German medical and pharmaceutical industry in the slave labor and death camps. That work reignited a long time passion of mine. As a childhood victim of antisemitic bullying in England, I was always sensitive to anti-Jewish hatred. With a worldwide resurgence in antisemitism in recent years, I run a No.Antisemitism page on Facebook, a resource for all published stories on the subject. (https://www.facebook.com/no.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would give them an indulgent week feeding both their mind and body. Here are my musts for a whirlwind cultural fun visit in South Florida, every day a deep dive into great local art, history, architecture and natural beauty. — Villa Vizcaya, the 1916 palatial estate that has become a must-visit museum and gardens on the Miami waterfront — Murakami Japanese Gardens, hidden away in Delray Beach, an unexpected wonderland into Japanese culture and art in the beautiful backdrop of its extensive sculptured gardens — The Frost Science Museum and the Perez Art Museum, next door to each other off the MacArthur Causeway, these are worth a day visit — Fairchild Tropical Gardens, a lush 90-acre botanical garden with some fabulous artistic exhibitions rotating regularly – if you are lucky, you can see Chihuly there — Wolfsonian, The Bass, and the World Erotic Art Museum – three very different takes on ‘what is art’ all in walking distance in South Beach — Wynwood and the Design District, both in Miami, is a great day wandering through the eclectic potpourri of artists and creatives in Wynwood and strolling through the pricey retailers for homegoods and clothing in the Design District — The Holocaust Memorial and the Jewish Museum, both in Miami Beach, are worth a half day to see the background of what was early Jewish life in South Florida, and the memorial – with its giant centerpiece sculpture of an arm rising out of the ground – is a powerful and moving local stop. — Freedom Tower and the Bacardi Building – within half a mile of each other in Miami, the first is a landmark for its role in helping to process tens of thousands of Cuban refugees fleeing Castro, and the second is the former headquarters of the rum maker, but its iconic 1963 design has landed it on the National Register of Historic Places. — Books and Books, Coral Gables, one of the best independent bookstores in America. Just off Miracle Mile, B&B is a hangout for the creative community and its cafe serves great fare together with legendary coffee. — The Beach. Anywhere along South Beach, white sands and blue warm water. Need some food and drinks between all the running around? I would keep to Miami Beach where scrumptious eats are usually walking distance from one another. Joe’s Stone Crab has legendary stone crabs, fresh seafood and mouthwatering Key Lime Pie. Stop by Burgermeister a few blocks north to enjoy one of the best burgers in Florida; visitors come from around the state to try the enormous burgers cooked up by owner/chef Alex Ringlaub. The same is true of its next door neighbor, La Locanda, where its owner, Francesco Cavalletti, turns out fresh pasta so authentic that the line waiting for tables is almost always Italians visiting Miami. A few blocks away, Gino Sorbillo, one of Italy’s most celebrated pizza makers, turns out 200 pies a day, first come, first serve. On another day, walk toward the beach after enjoying a Neapolitan pizza and you will be at the oceanside Santorini by Georgios, where you can relax by the pool with Greek wines great platters of fresh seafood, and belly dancers and music in the evening. It feels more like Athens than Miami. Finally, if you just want some good old American fare, stop by either Big Pink or the 11th Street Diner, both are the real deal, serving large plates of diner food in fun settings at all hours. And if you just want drinks, don’t forget the waterside bar at Smith & Wollensky, the hip back lounge at The Delano Hotel, the great rooftop space at Juvia (no better spot to watch the sunset), or if you are in the mood for a dive with some colorful ‘Miami Vice’ atmosphere, stop by South Beach’s The Deuce. For a healthy break, try the amazing smoothies at TruBar, hidden away on the 2nd floor of the South Beach Equinox fitness club. Owner Danny Avistur turns out amazing fresh smoothies and health snacks at great prices.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Two shoutouts. First, my husband, Gerald. A lot of people throw around the word “soulmate,” but I don’t use that word lightly in describing our 40 year love affair. In addition be being “in love,” we are also one another’s best friends. To the wonder of many, we are together 24/7. His never-ending quest for new adventures in journalism was the perfect match for the wanderlust that was always part of my own genetic code. Between us we have written 15 books. ranging from Nazi war criminals to political assassinations to the 9/11 attacks to the business of Motown Records, the finances of the Vatican, and most recently, an inside look at the American drug industry. While we do all the research together – from interviews to reviewing thousands of pages of documents and working early drafts of the manuscripts – only one of our names goes on the front. Gerald is the person who gave me the confidence over time to put my name on some of those books. His belief in me gave me the assurance to take on anything. My second shoutout is to the strong women in my family who were my role models. My grandmother, Yetta, my fiery auntie, Rose, and my darling mother Sadie. They instilled in me a fierce independence and taught me that the only limits were those I put on myself.
Website: www.trishaposner.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trishaposner
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishaposner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/trishaposner
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trishaposner
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=LcD9qnVJtQrmpt1Vx6cvdw
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0IYOPlOWsY6x4-HXAjGCg
Other: https://www.pinterest.com/trishaposner/ https://londonwarrior.tumblr.com/ https://www.facebook.com/MyHealthWatch https://www.facebook.com/no.antisemitism http://trishaposner.blogspot.com/
Image Credits
all image credits are Gerald Posner The one of the two of us is an iPhone set on auto The last picture of me in front of two pop art silkscreens, that is my art at a Miami Beach exhibit a few years ago
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