Deborah Kassel
Dr. Deborah Kassel is a native New Yorker and my 10th grade English teacher. As a young girl, Kassel lived at an airforce base in Texas where her father, a gastroenterologist, treated departing and returning soldiers to the Vietnam War. When asked about her age, Kassel wittingly quipped “I am 29, plus or minus a couple of decades.”
Growing up on the east side of Manhattan - “before it became the impossibly expensive Upper East Side,” she recalls – Kassel was nurtured in a diverse, international community.. Her friends included children of United Nations diplomats, further adding to the cultural richness. Kassel reminisces on a New York City before mass pollution, and a climate that parents didn’t worry much about.
It was not until later in her life that Kassel was able to fully appreciate the diversity she grew up around. Being best buddies with the grandson of Nehru, and trick-or-treating with the son of an advisor to the Shah of Iran were formative experiences for Kassel. Even now, Kassel remains connected with her old friends, making occasional visits to her first-grade best friend.
As a literary connoisseur, Kassel looked up to her aunt, who she says could read a 400-page 19th-century novel in a few hours. Importantly, Kassel was inspired when her aunt decided to attend law school in her late 20s.
In her years of higher education, Kassel encountered uncomfortable situations with the men around her. This was a time when legal protections against workplace sexual harassment were nonexistent, predating Anita Hill’s landmark case against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
In graduate school, Kassel had a professor who called her on a Saturday morning to ask why her paper was late–and to say that she “had a nice smile.” The male dean of the journalism school dismissed her complaint, threatening that she should stay focused if she wanted her degree, she recalled. Due to the lack of sexual harassment protection, Kassel’s ability to speak up was limited, illustrating the systemic issues of that era.
Nonetheless, Kassel’s journalism career persisted. For three years, Kassel worked as a reporter, before teaching journalism at the College of Staten Island.
While pursuing a career in the humanities, Kassel raised her young daughter. “I have tried to help my daughter find meaning in happiness rather than in the elusive quest for status. My goal as a parent is to encourage her to experience joy and pride in what she does, follow her own inner voice, and above all be kind to others–beginning with herself,” she said.
For future generations of women, Kassel hopes that professional and personal opportunities continue to grow along with the core identities as mothers, teachers, and nurturers. With that, she also hopes that women will “take the lead in rising up to defuse the violence that is fed by hate and lies,” Kassel said.
Kassel’s story is one of inspiring charm and personality. She is the perfect example of the New York City landscape– one filled with diverse experiences and people. Even now, after experiences of both misogyny and contentment, Kassel's dazzling quirks persist.
