Trivia

She is the granddaughter of Sholom Aleichem, the greatest of all Yiddish authors, whose stories about Tevya (1939) the dairyman were made into the musical Fiddler on the Roof (1971).

As a rookie schoolteacher, it was difficult for Ms. Kaufman to get fully certified by a byzantine school bureaucracy. The examiners had her explain a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and told her afterward she had given "a poor interpretation." Having been blocked once before because of a trace of a greenhorn accent, she refused to be stopped a second time. So she did what any true aspirant would have done: she wrote a letter to Ms. Millay and had her evaluate her interpretation.

"You gave a much better explanation of it than I myself should have," the poet wrote back, and the chastened examiners saved face by urging Ms. Kaufman to try for the license again.

In the 1940s, she wanted to sell a story to Esquire magazine, which took a dim view of submissions by women. She began signing her work with the more androgynous first name Bel.

Is fluent in the Russian language.

Named to the Hall of Fame of Hunter College.

On the board of directors for the Shalom Aleichem Foundation.

Awarded plaque from the Anti-Defamation League, as well as the United Jewish Appeal.

She is survived by her partner of more than 40 years, Sidney J. Gluck. They were never technically married.