Robert G. Mondavi, 1913-2008

By Julia Flynn Siler / May 17, 2008 /

Robert Mondavi as Bacchus, with wife Margrit. Photo: Avis Mandel for Pate International During the three years it took to research and write The House of Mondavi, I interviewed hundreds of people, poured through legal and corporate documents, and studied old photographs from high school yearbooks and other fragments of the past, searching for clues…

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The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

By Julia Flynn Siler / May 15, 2008 /

President John F. Kennedy plays with children John. Jr., and Caroline in the Oval Office in October 1962, above, while below, his motorcade approaches Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Top photo from historyplace.com; bottom photo Walt Sisco, photographer/Courtesy The Dallas Morning News I can’t remember the last time I choked up with…

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Book Tour Blues, as sung by Tony Horwitz

By Julia Flynn Siler / May 7, 2008 /

Tony Horwitz: His blog details the “voyage long and strange” that is a book tour.Photo from voyagelongandstrange.com I hit a low point on my first tour for The House of Mondavi on one of those days that come so seldom to Chicago. It was last June and the weather felt balmy, with the last burst…

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Christina Meldrum and Madapple

By Julia Flynn Siler / May 6, 2008 /

Christina Meldrum I read the galleys of my friend Christina Meldrum’s stunning debut novel, Madapple, over a single, rainy afternoon a few months ago. I refused to get up off the couch, despite the requests of my husband and sons, until I’d finished the last page. What a book! I truly couldn’t put it down.…

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“Friend-raising” for our public libraries?

By Julia Flynn Siler / May 5, 2008 /

Above, an invitation to Burlingame’s library fundraiser … Image from wincountrygetaways.com … While in Salinas in 2004, readers protest “death of the libraries.” Photo from indymedia.org On Saturday, May 3, the Burlingame Public Library Foundation hosted a lunch that was as much about building community as it was about raising funds. As one of the…

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Just a guy from Turlock: Michael Chiarello and lifestyle marketing

By Julia Flynn Siler / April 28, 2008 /

Michael Chiarello with guests at a past Bud Break Party (above) and with his own budding progeny, Aidan (below)Photos from NapaStyle.com and ChiarelloFamilyVineyards.com Michael Chiarello is at home, making risotto alla primavera for 130 or so of the best customers of Chiarello Family Vineyards. He tastes a bit of the rice and parmesan cheese mixture,…

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Meritage wines — and a fascinating glimpse into family business

By Julia Flynn Siler / April 23, 2008 /

Kim Stare Wallace — is she drinking a Meritage?Photo from Dry Creek Vineyard As a newcomer to the wine world when I began The House of Mondavi, I discovered that its inhabitants spoke in a distinct language not so easily grasped by outsiders. When Michaela Rodeno, CEO of Napa Valley’s St. Supéry winery, first introduced…

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Communities — virtual and otherwise

By Julia Flynn Siler / April 22, 2008 /

The future of community?Photo from smh.com.au (Sydney Morning Herald) Writing, by its nature, is a solitary undertaking. Reading, too, is done mostly on one’s own. So why not bring writers together with readers in a virtual community? Redroom.com is the one of several social networks devoted to the love of literature. Yet, it is pulling…

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Grotto Dwelling

By Julia Flynn Siler / April 21, 2008 /

Lunch in The GrottoPhoto from sfgrotto.org This month, I’ve been spending time at The Grotto, the famed San Francisco writers’ community which is home to such West Coast literary luminaries as Po Bronson, David Ewing Duncan, ZZ Packer, Jason Roberts, Julia Scheeres, Ethan Watters, and many others. One of my favorite parts of making the…

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Mondavi as a case study

By Julia Flynn Siler / April 17, 2008 /

Harvard case studies probe for the veritas behind business decisions. The Harvard Business School has done six case studiesMichael Porter, a Harvard professor who wrote The Competitive Advantage of Nations, a book that I read and found fascinating after being assigned it many years ago in business school. Although I wouldn’t recommend them as bedtime…

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