Sparse crowds at Copia have contributed to its financial challenges. (Photo from Sacbee.com – Owen Brewer / Sacramento Bee file, 2002) Despite my intention to take a summer sabbatical, an investigative story that appeared on the front page of last Sunday’s Sacramento Bee brought me back to my keyboard. The story raises some new questions…
A summer day in Berkeley includes seeing buildings rise and fall at the Lawrence Hall of Science (above) and smelling the “Corpse Flower” (below), whose name and odor both recall Audrey II, the killer plant from another planet (bottom). This spring, I mailed off applications for our boys to attend an academically challenging summer school…
Mrs. Magoo readies for her closeup; next stop, stardom as a cyber-TV celebrity book critic? (Photo courtesy Mrs. Magoo) In the fall of 2007, the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) ran a lengthy essay by Steve Wasserman, a former editor of The Los Angeles Times Book Review, titled “Goodbye to All That.” It offers a fascinating…
Meg Waite Clayton and her creation. For anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming an author, Meg Waite Clayton’s website is a delightful and inspiring place to visit. Meg is the author of the bestselling novel, The Wednesday Sisters, a book about a group of women friends. They meet at a park in Palo Alto,…
Two kings: Ian Holm as Lear and Robert Mondavi. Photo of Holm from the University of London; photo of Mondavi by Mike Kepka/SFGate.com What can Shakespeare teach us about a troubled family business? That’s a question I’ll try to answer at a discussion hosted by a long-lasting and large book group in Burlingame, Calif., this…
Book lover Liz Epstein guides groups through the classics; below, at Book Group Expo, panelists Sara Davidson, Po Bronson and Elizabeth Gilbert interact with moderator Sam Barry — and the book group community. Top photo from bookpassage.com; bottom photo from fora.tv If there is a modern American equivalent to the French salons of the 17th…
Above, the Cipriani 42nd Street was the elegant venue for the Loeb awards; below left, the author and sister Jennifer Flynn Israel enjoy the Cipriani’s trademark Bellini cocktails; below right, The House of Mondavi is showcased during the awards ceremony. Photos courtesy UCLA Anderson School of Management The Gerald Loeb Awards are the Oscars of…