Last Wednesday morning, Mike Nichols died. An amazing talent left behind a loving wife and family, together with a truly amazing body of work. Here’s the New York Times obituary by Bruce Weber, along with Remembering ‘Comic Meteor’ Mike Nichols by Scott Simon for Morning Edition Saturday on NPR.
The Talk of the Town lead column in the November 17 issue featured Steve Coll, with Two More Years. Mr. Coll is a great, great reporter (and the dean of the Columbia Journalism School), and the author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Alas, for any reporter timing counts, and Mr. Coll’s piece was written before John Cassidy, another excellent writer, wrote Obama’s Unexpectedly Good Week. Read as posted, one after the other, provides an appreciation for going against the conventional wisdom. Tough duty, but we didn’t hire this Obama fellow, twice, for easy stuff!
And about that Obama fellow. Here’s Andy Borowitz from the New Yorker, offering a few thoughts on Facebook. (I’m pretty sure Mr. Borowitz has stepped out of character as a satirist here, as his statements are all true!)
Dismantling Empires through Devolution by Parag Khanna for The Atlantic, from September 26, provides an interesting perspective on the constructs that will define our future. Who knows, really, what the future will hold, but the assumption that democracies as we know them represent our future reflects nothing more than looking in the rear view mirror. Fine if we’re backing up; otherwise, most of our time should be spent looking out into the unknown!
Dorie Clark wrote How to Reinvent Yourself After 50 for the Harvard Business Review, which posted it last December. Nothing super-dramatic here, but for those of us whose mid-point has passed, perspectives on dealing positively with that status may be helpful.
I wrote Momofuku Bo Ssam back on February 20. One of my very first posts, and like an Amazon back list, it gets hits, even now. That said, I googled Momofuku to see if my post appeared—it didn’t, on the first pages at least—but I did run across A Taste of the Return of the Momfuku Ssam by Zachary Feldman for The Village Voice on March 20. My daughter and I enjoyed a meal at Momofuku Ssäm Bar on Memorial Day 2014, and as I write this Curator I have a pork shoulder which is almost finished. (The review includes great pics.)
Finally, have a very Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be full of family, friends, and food, and if the need to shop overcomes you, rest assured that the merchandise will still be around on Friday morning. Here’s Costco on being closed on Thanksgiving:
Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Nothing more complicated than that.
P.S. Stay tuned for comments on Ferguson in a day or so.