Youngstown native pens novel based on his life

Staff report

Herb Freed, a film director and former rabbi who grew up in Youngstown, has published his latest novel, “Bashert.”

The title of the book – which is based on Freed’s own life – is a Yiddish word that roughly translates as “soul mate.” The story is about a movie director and a writer-film editor who meet at a screenwriter’s event in Los Angeles and immediately know they were meant for each other.

The two become business partners as well as a couple, and travel the world to make movies.

Freed draws upon his own experiences while spinning a love story that borders on magical realism.

In an interview about his novel on spiritualmediablog.com last month, Freed shed light on his process.

“Studying to be a rabbi, I discovered the transcendent power of ‘the story,’” he said. “I served as a rabbi for three years before I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a filmmaker. Each week I delivered sermons, lectures and classes and had acquired the discipline of creating stories with familiar heroes, villains, challenges, climax and denouement. When I met [my wife] Marion, a film editor, writer and great storyteller, I knew that I had found my Bashert.

“How I survived after Marion’s death required that I create a story that would be built on the lives that we experienced together. Not a memoir, or a diary, but a story built loosely on our adventures and the interesting people we met. Why not lead readers on an exciting journey that would make them laugh, cry, and rejoice as they come to know the protagonists? Why not create an ending that echoed the spiritual journey we were on and the love we shared?”

Freed started his adult life as a rabbi of a temple in Lake Mahopac, N.Y. He would soon resign his pulpit to become a film director, and made many television commercials. Freed would go on to produce and direct 15 feature films, most of which had psychological, spiritual or social themes despite their commercial nature. He is best known for “Graduation Day,” a horror film (1981), and “Tomboy,” a teenage romp (1985).

After graduating from East High School in Youngstown, Freed moved to New York where he studied at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He now lives in California.

“Bashert,” published by Bellrock Press (338 pages; $14.99), is available at amazon.com.