Bio

Want to know more? Here’s a longer bio:

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am the daughter and great-granddaughter of immigrants from eastern Europe. My father and his parents are survivors of the Holocaust from Poland. My great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki (1881-1943) painted the Polish-Jewish community in the interwar years. I grew up with his paintings prominently displayed on the walls of my family home, and from an early age understood that the art connected me to a legacy from “the old country”: Poland. The art transformed from familiar to extraordinary after my Grandpa George (Moshe’s son) passed away and left behind a sort of unfinished memoir detailing the losses my ancestors endured during World War II. Knowing that my family had only recovered a small portion of Moshe’s art, and that many more pieces remained to be found, I set out to find them. In 1999, I designed the original Moshe Rynecki: Portrait of a Life in Art website. In 2016, NAL/Penguin Random House published my narrative nonfiction memoir, Chasing Portraits: A Great-Granddaughter’s Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy, which chronicles the quest I embarked upon to find my great-grandfather’s lost art. It received a Kirkus starred review.

After the release of the book, I set about finishing a documentary film, also titled Chasing Portraits. The film was not a replica of the book. Instead, it echoed the story I had told in print. Ken Jaworowski of The New York Times said of the film, “‘Chasing Portraits’ is about a search. Yet the most affecting parts of this documentary come with the realization that some things may never be found.” In 2025, The Forward wrote, “For me the most affecting film on lost art is Elizabeth Rynecki’s 2018 documentary Chasing Portraits, her freshman endeavor. Even though—perhaps precisely because—at times it feels more like a home movie than a professionally honed flick, it reveals an emotional core that is unexpectedly moving.” The film had its world premiere in Poland and has screened at film festivals around the world. It is now available on multiple streaming platforms including Amazon, iTunes, Kanopy, and OvidTV.

For my next creative endeavor I wanted to write about my father’s ship salvage career, an occupation that spanned more than 30 years and that took my Dad to waterways around the world where he helped rescue or recover maritime vessels in distress. As I worked my way through my father’s substantial archive of reports and photos of stranded or damaged ships, my younger son’s challenges with ADHD became increasingly debilitating. As my attention ping-ponged between the two subjects—and as improbable as it may seem—my father’s ship salvage stories slowly transformed into metaphors for understanding my son’s ADHD. As I debated writing about this unorthodox and unexpected pairing, I tried explaining the idea to my writing group. They didn’t fully grasp the concept of the interwoven essays I envisioned, but encouraged me to follow my instincts. Eventually, I had a manuscript—one I loved and believed readers would find compelling because it was not a guidebook a how-to-book, but instead a lived experience of parenting a neurodivergent child. Unfortunately, the literary agents I queried did not share my enthusiasm. BUT… because every good story has a but… then something remarkable happened. A friend read the manuscript and he did find it compelling. More importantly, he asked: “What if we turned it into a podcast?” That Sinking Feeling: Adventures in ADHD and Ship Salvage is about my son’s ADHD seen through the lens of my dad’s ship salvage career. It’s peppered with stories and insights from interviews with parents whose kids have ADHD and from individuals who have ADHD themselves. The podcast is written and produced by me and Tony Kaplan (an Emmy-nominated documentary director, cinematographer and filmmaker who spent 20+ years as a creative content lead at Pixar). It won Best Family and Kids Podcast at the 2025 PopCon Podcast Awards.

My passion is storytelling, whatever the format. After writing a book, making a documentary, and producing a podcast, I realized that different mediums present different opportunities to make meaningful connections with audiences. As I once wrote in a guest blog for Jane Friedman: For me, pivoting to a different storytelling format has never been about choosing one medium over the other. It’s about embracing the unique strengths of each format.

Which perhaps explains my latest adventure in storytelling: a work in progress titled Fern Court Fiasco. Described by a fellow writer friend as Law & Order meets The Pale King and The Cat in the Hat, it’s about a run-down college-town rental, a burst water pipe, hapless students, a difficult and sometimes incompetent landlord, and a fiercely protective mother. Early readers have called it a rollicking and smart novel saying it’s perfect for fans of stories with a satirical edge, domestic absurdities, and tales that hover between fiction and lived experience.

A few other things you might find interesting about me: In 2000 I ran the Hawaii Marathon in the not-so-glamorous finish time of 5 hours and 45 minutes. These days I’m less of a runner and more of a lap-lane swimmer (there’s something awfully reassuring about that long black line at the bottom of the pool). I don’t compete in meets, but my biggest swimming brag is that I completed the Donner Lake open-water swim (2.7 miles if you swim in a straight line, a bit longer if you zig zag like I did) in 1 hour and 33 minutes.

Because my great-grandfather was an artist, people often ask whether anyone else in the family is an artist. My cheeky answer: I’m creative, so that counts, right?

Once upon a time (when I was in high school) I thought about becoming a professional photographer. Which is perhaps why I decided to take a photography class in Florence (Italy) after college and before grad school. I took black and white photos with a good old fashioned SLR camera (no digital cameras in those days!) and developed the film, by hand, in a dark room. In late 2025 I took up knitting. So far I’ve knit a hat, a cowl, a blanket, a few chickens, and a hoodie. I’m currently eyeing all the beautiful yarn at my local yarn shop to decide what to make next. Maybe it’ll be socks, although I’m worried about ending up as a member of the one-sock-club.

I have a BA in Rhetoric from Bates College and an MA in Rhetoric and Communication from UC Davis. I also spent one year in a PhD program at Penn State before concluding that the academic world wasn’t for me. For what it’s worth, I’m a licensed real estate broker, and in the spirit of full disclosure, my California DRE license number is #01278130.

My newsletter is free. My aspirational goal is to fill it with observations that inspire you to pursue your own creative passions. Art has always been important, but it feels ever so more compelling these days. Sometimes I recommend books, films, or podcasts that I love and hope you might enjoy too.

I live in Oakland, California with my husband and three black cats. We have two sons.