Author Martin Goldsmith on Following in ‘Alex’s Wake’

Martin Goldsmith is the former host of the show Performance Today, but he is also a writer of non-fiction. For his latest book, Alex’s Wake, Goldsmith headed to Europe to retrace the journey of his grandfather and his uncle, both passengers on the ill-fated S.S. St. Louis.

The ship was supposed to transport 900 German-Jewish refugees to freedom, but was repeatedly denied port - first in Cuba, then in the United States, and then in Canada. Goldsmith’s relatives ended up in France, and finally Auschwitz. He began a conversation with John Lemley by explaining why the United States refused the passengers entry.