Judah Leblang is a Boston-area writer, teacher and storyteller. His essays and commentaries have been broadcast on 200 NPR and ABC-radio network stations around the US, and his memoir vignettes and essays have been published in McSweeney’s online, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Medium, and in regional publications in Boston and his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He writes the ‘Life in the Slow Lane’ column in Bay Windows, Boston’s LGBT newspaper. His latest one-man show, “It’s Now or Never: My Life in the Late Middle Ages,” (Best of Festival, Calgary Fringe 2019) was called “intriguing” by Winnipeg’s Jewish Post, while the (Winnipeg) Free Press described him as a “great communicator.” He was also a featured teller on The World Channel’s (PBS) Stories from the Stage in February 2023:
In addition to performing at Fringe Festivals, community centers and other venues in the US and Canada, Leblang teaches at GrubStreet Writing Center in Boston, at Literary Cleveland, and at the Skirball Writing Center at South Euclid/Lyndhurst Public Library, and at the Alexandra Writers Centre in Calgary, Canada. He is the author of two memoirs: Finding My Place (Lake Effect Press, 2012) and Echoes of Jerry (Red Giant Books, 2019).
Check out the reviews of the memoir Echoes of Jerry below:
Midwest Book Review, January 2020: A deftly written, inherently interesting, deeply personal memoir, “Echoes of Jerry: One Man’s Search For His Deaf Uncle And His Own Voice” is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections.
Amos Lassen, (LGBT and Jewish Community book critic) @ reviewsbyamoslassen.com: “Leblang beautifully uses his own life and his uncle’s as jumping off points to ask universal questions about how one deals with the desire to belong to a community. This is a quick read that has a lot to say.” (November 2019)
Echoes of Jerry was chosen as one of 100 books for adults for Pride 2020 by librarians at the Boston Public Library, and was featured in the “On the Bookshelf” column in the Cleveland Jewish News, January 2020:
You can order a signed copy, directly from Judah for $20 postpaid, below:
You can also order from Amazon, or in the Boston area, stop into Porter Square Books in Cambridge or Boston, or pick up a copy at Hexagon Books or Mac’s Backs in Cleveland Heights or Loganberry Books in Cleveland.
2025-2026 book events:
- Echoes of Jerry reading/book signing at Gallery@57, Malden, MA, January 12
- “Love in All Its Forms” with NEIAC in Jamaica Plain, MA, February 7
- Panel on Publishing Your Work with NEIAC, Medfield Public Library, Medfield, MA, March 20
- Echoes of Jerry/reading from new work @ Hexagon Books, Cleveland Hts. Ohio, May 30
- Echoes of Jerry book signing at Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) conference, Denver CO, October 15-19
- Echoes of Jerry and new work reading at Gallery@57, Malden, MA, March 21, 2026
Watch this space for more readings and special events!
It’s Now or Never on the Road: The show was featured at the Elgin (Digital) Fringe Festival, September 2020. In 2021, I streamed a video of a performance in front of a live audience as part of the Kansas City, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Borderlight (Cleveland) Fringe Festivals.
Please visit the Show page to see video clips from “It’s Now or Never” and “One Man’s Journey through the Middle Ages,” the Writing page to read some of my stories, and the Echoes of Jerry page to read about my new memoir and my first book, Finding My Place.
You can order Judah’s humorous and poignant memoir collection, Finding My Place: One Man’s Journey from Cleveland to Boston and Beyond, at the link below, or check it out on Amazon.
Finding My Place is also available in Kindle and paperback format from Amazon.
To contact Judah, email lakeeffectpress@gmail.com