Meet the creators
Janice Fernheimer is Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Zantker Professor of Jewish Studies; and James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Fellow at the University of Kentucky. She co-directs the University of Kentucky-Jewish Heritage Fund Kentucky Holocaust Education Initiative, is a Stave and Thief Certified Executive Bourbon Steward, and World Whiskies and Kosher Spirits Awards Judge. In 2025-2026 she received a Jewish Writers Institute Digital Storytellers Lab Fellowship to support work on America’s Chosen Spirit, the archivally inspired historical fiction webcomic distilling bourbon’s diverse heritage one sip and backstory at a time that she co-creates with author/illustrator JT Waldman. In 2024 the Bourbon Women Foundation recognized her as a Woman of Whiskey with the Mike Keyes Ally of the Year Award honoring the trailblazing work of the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project, which she founded in 2021. It also received the 2024 Sarah Bennett Holmes Team Award recognizing its contributions to the Commonwealth.
In addition to researching the intersections of rhetoric, writing, technology, and Jewish studies, she freelances for bourbon publications and teaches “Bourbon Writing” and “Bourbon Oral History” in UK’s Certificate for Distillation, Wine, and Brewing program. She is author of Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity and co-editor along with Michael Bernard-Donals of Jewish Rhetorics: History, Theory, Practice. She received the 2020 MidWest Archives Conference Presidents’ Award for her work on the Jewish Kentucky Oral History Project, for the full collection of Jewish Kentucky interviews, click here.
Janice Fernheimer is Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Zantker Professor of Jewish Studies; and James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Fellow at the University of Kentucky. She co-directs the University of Kentucky-Jewish Heritage Fund Kentucky Holocaust Education Initiative, is a Stave and Thief Certified Executive Bourbon Steward, and World Whiskies and Kosher Spirits Awards Judge. In 2025-2026 she received a Jewish Writers Institute Digital Storytellers Lab Fellowship to support work on America’s Chosen Spirit, the archivally inspired historical fiction webcomic distilling bourbon’s diverse heritage one sip and backstory at a time that she co-creates with author/illustrator JT Waldman. In 2024 the Bourbon Women Foundation recognized her as a Woman of Whiskey with the Mike Keyes Ally of the Year Award honoring the trailblazing work of the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project, which she founded in 2021. It also received the 2024 Sarah Bennett Holmes Team Award recognizing its contributions to the Commonwealth.
In addition to researching the intersections of rhetoric, writing, technology, and Jewish studies, she freelances for bourbon publications and teaches “Bourbon Writing” and “Bourbon Oral History” in UK’s Certificate for Distillation, Wine, and Brewing program. She is author of Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity and co-editor along with Michael Bernard-Donals of Jewish Rhetorics: History, Theory, Practice. She received the 2020 MidWest Archives Conference Presidents’ Award for her work on the Jewish Kentucky Oral History Project.
jfernheimer@uky.edu
Dr. Janice Fernheimer
jfernheimer@uky.edu
Dr. Janice Fernheimer
Janice Fernheimer is Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Zantker Professor of Jewish Studies; and James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Fellow at the University of Kentucky. She co-directs the University of Kentucky-Jewish Heritage Fund Kentucky Holocaust Education Initiative, is a Stave and Thief Certified Executive Bourbon Steward, and World Whiskies and Kosher Spirits Awards Judge. In 2025-2026 she received a Jewish Writers Institute Digital Storytellers Lab Fellowship to support work on America’s Chosen Spirit, the archivally inspired historical fiction webcomic distilling bourbon’s diverse heritage one sip and backstory at a time that she co-creates with author/illustrator JT Waldman. In 2024 the Bourbon Women Foundation recognized her as a Woman of Whiskey with the Mike Keyes Ally of the Year Award honoring the trailblazing work of the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project, which she founded in 2021. It also received the 2024 Sarah Bennett Holmes Team Award recognizing its contributions to the Commonwealth.
In addition to researching the intersections of rhetoric, writing, technology, and Jewish studies, she freelances for bourbon publications and teaches “Bourbon Writing” and “Bourbon Oral History” in UK’s Certificate for Distillation, Wine, and Brewing program. She is author of Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity and co-editor along with Michael Bernard-Donals of Jewish Rhetorics: History, Theory, Practice. She received the 2020 MidWest Archives Conference Presidents’ Award for her work on the Jewish Kentucky Oral History Project, for the full collection of Jewish Kentucky interviews, click here.
Dr. Janice Fernheimer
JT Waldman is an illustrator and writer whose work can be uniquely described as “part Judaica, part comic book.” His first project to focus on this concept came about in the summer of 1998 when he wondered aloud what a comic book version of the Book of Esther would look like. Seven years later, his first graphic novel, Megillat Esther, was published by the oldest Jewish academic press in the United States. This opened the door to a career exploring Jewish visual history and folklore through a lens that is both academic and quirky, with projects ranging from a collaboration with Harvey Pekar for the New York Times best-selling graphic novel, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me (Hill & Wang); a commission from Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, PA to create a site-specific comic book that decoded the monumental stained glass windows in their synagogue; and contributions to several edited volumes that detail the intersection of comic books and Judaism, including From Krakow to Krypton (JPS, 2008), Colonial Comics (Fulcrum, 2014) and The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches (Rutgers, 2010). In 2025, the 20th anniversary and color edition of Megillat Esther was released.
Waldman’s latest project is the Webtoons comic, America’s Chosen Spirit, which charts an alternative history of untold bourbon backstories. Currently, he resides in the woods of Northwest Philadelphia with his husband and son.
JT Waldman is an illustrator and writer whose work can be uniquely described as “part Judaica, part comic book.” His first project to focus on this concept came about in the summer of 1998 when he wondered aloud what a comic book version of the Book of Esther would look like. Seven years later, his first graphic novel, Megillat Esther, was published by the oldest Jewish academic press in the United States. This opened the door to a career exploring Jewish visual history and folklore through a lens that is both academic and quirky, with projects ranging from a collaboration with Harvey Pekar for the New York Times best-selling graphic novel, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me (Hill & Wang); a commission from Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, PA to create a site-specific comic book that decoded the monumental stained glass windows in their synagogue; and contributions to several edited volumes that detail the intersection of comic books and Judaism, including From Krakow to Krypton (JPS, 2008), Colonial Comics (Fulcrum, 2014) and The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches (Rutgers, 2010). In 2025, the 20th anniversary and color edition of Megillat Esther was released.
Waldman’s latest project is the Webtoons comic, America’s Chosen Spirit, which charts an alternative history of untold bourbon backstories. Currently, he resides in the woods of Northwest Philadelphia with his husband and son.
jtwaldman@gmail.com
Jt Waldman
Jt Waldman
Jtwaldman@gmail.com
Other Illustrators
Ezra Edmond
Ezra Edmond is an animation-focused artist, writer, producer, and director based in Los Angeles, with over fifteen years of experience in animation production, creative development, and digital media. He builds projects from the ground up, shaping story, creative vision, production pipelines, and teams to bring character-driven storytelling to life. Currently, Ezra is line producer on Disney Jr.’s Ariel, which has received nominations from the NAACP Image Awards, Annie Awards, NAMIC Vision Awards, Imagen Awards, and Children’s & Family Emmy Awards. Additionally, Ezra is the writer, director, and producer of Blewish, an award-winning animated short film exploring the intersection of Black and Jewish identity. Blewish has screened at festivals including the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, and Children’s Film Festival Seattle, and received recognition at the American Jewish Film Festival. Ezra is also the author of My Friend LeVar and Cerberus the Tiger. He is very excited to be a part of America's Chosen Spirit and is thrilled to be able to share in telling such an interesting and important story through the creation of original art and illustrations.
Ezra Edmond is an animation-focused artist, writer, producer, and director based in Los Angeles, with over fifteen years of experience in animation production, creative development, and digital media. He builds projects from the ground up, shaping story, creative vision, production pipelines, and teams to bring character-driven storytelling to life. Currently, Ezra is line producer on Disney Jr.’s Ariel, which has received nominations from the NAACP Image Awards, Annie Awards, NAMIC Vision Awards, Imagen Awards, and Children’s & Family Emmy Awards. Additionally, Ezra is the writer, director, and producer of Blewish, an award-winning animated short film exploring the intersection of Black and Jewish identity. Blewish has screened at festivals including the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, and Children’s Film Festival Seattle, and received recognition at the American Jewish Film Festival. Ezra is also the author of My Friend LeVar and Cerberus the Tiger. He is very excited to be a part of America's Chosen Spirit and is thrilled to be able to share in telling such an interesting and important story through the creation of original art and illustrations.
Ezra Edmond
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