Jan Krulick-Belin

Tamsin Wolff, Board Member | Sonoran Art League

“Jan is an experienced, professional, personable, and engaging speaker who draws an audience in and tailors her presentations on the spot to meet the needs of those attending. She is even able to adapt the format to unfamiliar and sometimes unconventional spaces. Jan gears the content of her presentations to her audience by telling stories, and making statistics and information meaningful, defining unfamiliar terms, building participation and making everyone feel welcome to ask questions or share personal experiences. She utilizes photographs, visual comparisons and painting details to hold the audience's attention and take them on a virtual journey into the many subjects she is able to bring to life and draw to a conclusion. ‘She was captivating’.... ‘I learned things I would have never seen on my own’ ... ‘I was so glad I decided to attend tonight's lecture’ ...and ‘Thank you for bringing her in - she was delightful!’ are just a few of the unsolicited positive comments we received immediately following the event and for days afterwards.”

Douglas Liebman, GIA, GG | Estate Jeweler

“Whether you are a fan of art, fashion, gems or jewelry, Jan’s lectures integrate all as she guides us through various eras of adornment. Museums will never be the same experience after she explains how paintings define the history of fashion and jewelry!”

Elyse Zorn Karlin, Director | Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts

“I would highly recommend Jan Krulick-Belin as a lecturer on art and jewelry subjects. Besides being an excellent speaker, she is a knowledgeable art/jewelry historian who makes many subjects come alive for her audience. Her lectures will be of interest to anyone, even those with little background in the history of art or jewelry.”

Sherry Koopot, Past Docent President | Phoenix Art Museum

“If you’re trying to learn art history, any reputable art history book will do. Or, if you’ve ever wondered if a piece of jewelry is much more than the gold, silver, and precious stones from which it is created, again, maybe a book might help. But, if you want to know the cultural significance of a work of art, a dress, or a jeweled object, then you should consult Jan Krulick-Belin. With wisdom, insight, and humor, Jan brings the worlds of art, fashion, and jewelry from the past into a meaningful present, one that enriches our understanding and our joy of discovery. Jan covers all these topics and more in a lively and entertaining manner, searching out not only the what of the objects, but the why and the wherefore of their meaning and use in their cultural contexts. I have gotten to listen to Jan’s lectures for almost thirty years now, and I am never disappointed!”

Missy Shackleford, Director | Arizona Humanities Council, Phoenix

In presenting her book Love, Bill, Jan Krulick-Belin brings to life the history of a little known part of WWII in North Africa. She captivates the listener as she describes through the lens of the war, the spirit of her father raptured in the love of his wife-to-be. She chronicles through her extensive and impressive research, her father’s experiences through his own photos and beautiful letters. Jan paints a literary canvas of journeys taken by the heart, mind, and body into distant lands. She demonstrates the depths of relationships between several generations as she shares her own stories of discovery. Her gentle, loving care in the telling of her father’s story reflects the pinnacle of the deep bond she grew to know between a father and daughter whose time together was so short in earthly years.

Paul Herman, Commander | Jewish War Veterans Post 619, Sun Lakes, Arizona

“When members of the local Sisterhood group came to our meeting carrying Jan's book I knew that she would have a receptive audience. At the end of our meeting, members of our group came up to me and said, ‘I know that there is a time limit for our speakers, but I wish that Jan could have talked longer.’ For our group, that means it was a big hit.”

Nancy Sacks-Goldberg, Former President | Brandeis National Committee, Phoenix Chapter

Jan Krulick- Belin mesmerized our membership at a meeting of over seventy women when she spoke to us about her book, Love, Bill. Her journey in ‘finding' her father and tracing his life during the wars years was a fascinating story-- one that led to an audience that was overwhelmed by her tenaciousness and desire to know the man she lost at an early age. When she read some of the beautiful letters that were written by her father to her mother, we all loved Bill. Jan is a wonderful speaker and her presentation engaged us emotionally and left us raving about the experience for weeks to come.

In Her Book, a Local Author Goes Searching for Her Father

Phoenix New Times  print

2017-06-17

She felt better lately about Father’s Day, Jan Krulick-Belin admitted. “I used to be envious of people who had fathers to celebrate and buy ties for,” the author and art historian said of the annual holiday. “Since writing a book about my father, I’ve gone from trying to ignore that day to having a reason to acknowledge it.” Her book, Love, Bill: Finding My Father Through Letters From World War II, documents Krulick-Belin’s globetrotting pilgrimage in search of the father who’d died when she was a small girl. Led by a stack of nearly 100 letters written by her dad to her mother before they were wed, Krulick-Belin traveled from her home in Phoenix to Morocco, Paris, and upstate New York. She retraced her father’s wartime steps through Germany and North Africa, where she encountered the fate of the Moroccan Jews and met people who’d known her dad “back when.” Their stories about him and connections to him helped her “know” him in a way she couldn’t otherwise have.

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Jan Krulick-Belin Releases New Book that Shares Treasure Trove of Father’s WWII Letters

North 32nd News  print

2018-06-04

Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II, stands as a testament to the power of determination, love, family and the unbreakable bond between fathers and daughters.

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Dad’s letters take daughter on a journey

Binghamton University Magazine  print

2016-11-21

“Questions about my father were strictly off limits … letting in just one tiny memory might reopen the floodgates of grief,” Krulick-Belin writes in Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II (Dog Ear Publishing, 2016).

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'Love, Bill': Book Compiles Letters From The Author's Father During World War II

KJZZ, The Show  online

2019-11-27

mericans who fought in, or lived through, World War II have been called “The Greatest Generation.” Many members of that group weren’t inclined to sit their families down to talk about their experiences, and many remained stoic, not asking to be called heroes. Jan Krulick-Belin was able to learn a lot about her father’s experiences, but not because they had the opportunity to discuss them. He passed away when Jan was only six years old. But decades later, she found nearly 100 letters her father had written to her mother in the 1940s. With Jan’s mother’s permission, but with the requirement that it be after she had died, Jan read through all the letters. She compiled the letters in a book called "Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II." The Show spoke with her about it and began by asking what she found to be the biggest impact of the letters.

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Conversations with the Inspiring Jan Krulick-Belin

Conversations with the Inspiring Jan Krulick-Belin  online

2018-07-17

I drew on my research skills to delve into my past. The book was a labor of love to fulfill my father’s dream as well as my own. “Love, Bill” is a testament to the enduring power of determination, love, family, and the unbreakable bond between fathers and daughters. Little did I know, that the book would garner awards: I was singled out as Top Female Author (Nonfiction) for 2017 by the AuthorsShow.com, and “Love, Bill” has been awarded a Silver Medal for the 2017 Arizona Literary Awards-Nonfiction; Best Non-Fiction Cover Design by the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards; Finalist in Nonfiction-Memoir for the 2017 Readers’ Favorites Award; Finalist in both First Nonfiction and Memoir categories in the 2017 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards; Second Place – Biography /Memoir in the 2017 Sarton Women’s Book Awards; and Finalist-Best New Nonfiction in the 2017 Best Book Awards.

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"Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II"

An American Friend in Paris  online

2018-09-03

Jan Krulick-Belin, authoress of "Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II" calls into studio to reminisce with Terrance about growing up in New York. She also speaks about her family and how her father inspired her book.

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Daddy's Little Girl

Fun, Feisty, Fabulous  online

Love, Bill: Finding My Father through Letters from World War II, stands as a testament to the power of determination, love, family and the unbreakable bond between fathers and daughters.

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Finding My Father Through Letters From World War II

Maria Shriver’s The Sunday Paper  online

So, this Father’s Day, I may not be able to give my father a tie or even a crayon-colored handmade card as I did so long ago. But I can give him a greater gift. I can offer him the daughter that I have become – one that I hope he would be proud of.

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Today’s Featured Author – Jan Krulick-Belin

Susan Leigh Noble’s “Into Another World”  online

Today I welcome Jan Krulick-Belin to my blog. Her book, Love, Bill: Finding my Father through Letters from World War II, was released last year. Be sure to read the excerpt after her interview. You can purchase Love, Bill on Amazon.

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Crafting a Memoir

Desert Foothills Library Writers Connection  

2019-01-04

Love, Bill. Her journey in ‘finding' her father

Co-President of Brandeis Phoenix Chapter  

2017-02-15

Love, Bill. Her journey in ‘finding' her father

Jewish War Veterans Post 619  Sun Lakes, Arizona

2016-12-18

Collecting Bling: Fabulous Jewels and the Women Who Wore Them

As the saying goes, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” and the desire to adorn one’s self with beautiful things is as old as humankind. A magnificent jewel provides the perfect complement to the fashion of the day, but more importantly, reflects its owner’s taste, lifestyle, wealth and status. This lecture will examine some of the great jewelry collections belonging to royals, aristocrats, divas, socialites and Hollywood starlets—from the famous to the infamous. Learn how some jewels have been passed down through the centuries from one collection to the next, while others wound up on the auction block We will also discuss things you need to know about your own jewelry collections from fine to faux, costume and vintage—their care, documentation, auctions and other collecting sources.

Betrothals, Brides and Brooches: Portraits from the Italian Renaissance

In this lecture, art history meets jewelry history as we explore portrait paintings from the Italian Renaissance depicting their sitters wearing jewelry. During this time period, both the paintings and the jewels are tied to customs surrounding love and marriage. Learn how these portraits can add to your knowledge about the jewelry, and conversely, how the jewelry can inform your understanding of the people depicted, their world, and the messages they wanted the paintings to convey about their lives.

Pelicans, Posies and Pearls: Portraits from the Age of Elizabeth I

This lecture is a continuation of the series in which art history meets jewelry history, and will explore portraits from the Renaissance in Northern Europe and Elizabethan England. Learn how Tudor and Jacobean monarchs and their subjects used fashion and jewelry as symbols of power and prestige. From the jewels owned by the Henry VIII’s six wives to Elizabeth’s pearl obsession, what can they tell us about these bejeweled characters?

Double Dutch and Diamonds: Portraits from the Age of Rembrandt

In this lecture, art history meets jewelry and fashion history to explore 17th-century Dutch portraits. These paintings and the jewels worn by their sitters tell us much about that country’s “Golden Age,” its citizens, and the messages that they wanted the paintings to convey about their lives. At first glance, we see only severe figures clothed in black and white. But upon closer examination, their diamonds and pearls tell a fuller story of a country’s extreme wealth from trade with distant cultures.

Say it With Flowers: Victorian Jewelry’s Secret Language

Flowers, plants, and leaves have been a source of inspiration for jewelry makers for more than two millennia. Their beauty and delicacy have long been captured in precious metals, enamels, and colored gemstones. During the Victorian era, however, the latest developments in the fields of science, botany, literature, and art converged with the effects of globalization, industrialization, colonization, Romanticism, and the Suffragette movement to bring new meanings to floral decoration. From sentimentality to sexuality, 19th-century floral jewelry became encoded with its own special language.