The Wednesday Curator – 3/9/2016

March 8, 2016

Nancy Reagan passed on Sunday, four months shy of her 95th birthday. There was much about her and her Ronnie that left me cold. Still, she was a devoted spouse who nursed her husband past an assassination attempt that was surely closer to success than most of us ever knew. She was also there with him for more than a dozen dark years at the end of his life. Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases quietly devastate lives. I’m not suggesting it’s extraordinary for a spouse to support a suffering husband or wife, but the fact that people are expected to stand by their man/woman does not lessen the burden. And, then, to live in old age for almost a dozen years without the love of your life? I know people who have suffered through this part of their life. It’s horrible!

With that entrée, here’s Nancy Reagan’s Solo Role, a Vanity Fair profile by Bob Colacello for Vanity Fair. It’s worth your time!

Imagine it! A famous billionaire from New York City thinks about running for President of the United States of America. He’s big, big rich. ($40+ billion, and no one debates whether it’s really $1-5B.) Self-made, with a bookkeeper daddy and a homemaker mom. (No sweetheart loans from daddy.) And some political chops, to boot! So what does he do? He looks at the data. And what does it tell him? He can’t win. So what does he do, then? Read A Bloomberg Presidential Bid Was Always a Pipe Dream by John Cassidy for the New Yorker on March 8 for the details.

Diane Ravitch has written reviews of two books about education for the New York Review of Books. Dr. Ravitch is a real expert on education issues, and if we exclude climate change—which pretty much everyone is happy to ignore, because “it doesn’t exist” or it’s really hard to deal with—it’s the issue which really matters at the end of the day. It’s a horribly complicated issue, and the one issue that really matters in each and every family which includes young children.

If you have visited San Francisco and walked the waterfront, you cannot ignore Alcatraz. It’s there! So when I could not ignore Tales from the Big House: Al Capone and Other Alcatraz Cons, written by David Harris for Rolling Stone on December 20, 1973. It’s a great piece, and Longform—where I found it—deserves credit for posting a piece in the last few days which bridges almost a century. (BTW, for oldsters, if the name David Harris sounds familiar, he was married to Joan Baez back in the day.)

For food, Aromatic Shrimp and Noodle Medicine Soup from Bon Appétit caught my eye. On my list, for I think noodle / vegetable / soups and salads are very healthy. Here’s a picture:

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And, then, I saw 13 Unique & Delicious Sandwiches to Eat in Tucson by Theresa Delaney for Tucson Foodie on March 3, 2016. So much for healthy, but I don’t think there’s a sandwich I’d ignore.

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