Emma Terese

Emma Terese is an American artist, writer, actor. Born in Queens, New York to Patricia Jean Storck, an artist, and Lewis Merenstein, a recording engineer and music producer. She is of Irish, English, German, Scandanavian descent. Her Great Aunt Bessie Berman, nee Merenstein, co-founded Apollo Records, the Harlem-based blues, doo-wop and gospel record label. Great Uncle Charlie Merenstein co-wrote lyrics to the song 'Handyman' by James Taylor and was a co-manager for a young singing duo 'Tom & Jerry', later known as Simon & Garfunkel. Maternal grandmother, Dorothy Jean Storck, lived in a house that served as a way station for the Underground Railroad. She was a former art instructor at the Maryland College for Women in Lutherville, MD. An artist, she established the Children's Art Guild in 1930 at the Old Farm House in Homeland. Its programs taught self-expression and art appreciation. Frequent visitors to the studio included F. Scott Fitzgerald's sister, Annabel Fitzgerald, and his daughter, Scottie Fitzgerald.