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Ninety-nine year old Ruth Gruber's adventure-filled life would make a dramatic movie. Luckily, filmmakers Bob Richman and Zeva Oelbaum thought so too, and they've used real footage and interviews to create it. Their documentary, "Ahead of Time" traces Gruber's role in history, including as the world's youngest PhD at 20 and then, as a young student in Germany in 1931, witnessing the gathering Nazi storm. She even attended a Hitler rally.
Later, as a foreign correspondent and photojournalist, Gruber was selected by the Roosevelt administration to shepherd 1,000 Holocaust refugees from Italy to New York, in a secret mission. More pioneering followed, including covering the Nuremberg Trials and as the first civilian on the Alaska Highway.
Ruth Gruber has written nineteen books about her experiences and had her Exodus ship photographs of refugees bound for Palestine published in Life Magazine. Her work and humanitarian efforts were recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Overseas Press Club.
Remarkably, the still vibrant and fearless Ruth Gruber will be present for a screening at the Avon Theatre of "Ahead of Time," the documentary about her on November 16 at 7:30 p.m. She will participate in a Q&A following the film with a panel with the filmmakers, producer Zeva Oelbaum and executive producers Patti Kenner and Doris Schechter. Tickets are $15. For more information, visit the Avon's website.
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