I was saddned to hear of the death of Chaim Potok. I was much influenced by his vivid images of what were undoubtely Saul Lieberman and JB Soloveitchik. I remember pondering the 2 boys' lives after reading
The chosen, when I was a child.
My Name is Asher Lev and
The Book of Lights were also books that made me think a lot in my Youth. The painter was a particularly inspired image of an iconoclast who did was he thought was right. Very much like Howard Roark, he too made some ultimate sacrifices.