Herman Harold Potok was born on February 17, 1929 in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Poland. His parents, Benjamin Max and Mollie (Friedman) Potok, gave him a Hebrew name, Chaim Tzvi. His Orthodox education taught him Talmud as well as secular studies. He decided to become a writer as a teenager, after reading Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisted.

In 1950, he obtained a BA, summa cum laude, in English Literature from Yeshiva University. After receiving an MA in Hebrew Literature, and his later rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Potok joined the US Army as a chaplain. He served in South Korea from 1955 to 1957.

On June 8, 1958, he married Adena Sara Mosevitzsky, a psychiatric social worker, whom he met in 1952 at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. They had three children; Rena, Naama, and Akiva. From 1964 to 1975, Potok edited Conservative Judaism and also served as editor, from 1965-1974, of the Jewish Publication Society. In 1965, Potok was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Potok edited the p'shat (plain meaning) commentary of the Rabbinical Assembly's groundbreaking 2000 edition of the chumash, Etz Hayim. Major works include The Chosen, The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev, Davita's Harop, I Am the Clay, The Gift of Asher Lev, Zebra and Other Stories, and Old Men at Midnight. Potok has been awarded The Edward Lewis Wallant Award (The Chosen), The Athenaeum Prize (The Promise), The National Jewish Book Award for Fiction (The Gift of Asher Lev), Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters (La Sierra University, 1997) and the Jewish Cultural Achievement Award (1997).

In addition to his work in the fields of theology, history, and literature, Potok was an accomplished painter. He cited James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ernest Hemingway, and S.Y. Agnon as his chief literary influences. Dr. Potok died of brain cancer in Merion, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2002.

Aaron Posner, Playwright/Adapter of The Chosen

Aaron Posner was born in 1964. He graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Performance Studies. Mr. Posner is a playwright, director, teacher and consultant. He is the co-founder, former artistic director, and current resident director of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, where he has directed more than 40 productions over the last 18 years. He directs nationally at The Folger Theatre (where he received a Helen Hayes Award for his direction of The Two Gentlemen of Verona), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Arizona Theatre Company, and many others.

His most recent adaptation, A Murder, A Mystery, & A Marriage, played at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland. His adaptation of Chaim Potok's The Chosen was first produced at the Arden Theatre in 1999. It has been performed throughout the country and won a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play. Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Posner currently lives in Philadelphia.