The Wednesday Curator – 9/23/2015

September 22, 2015

We lead off this week where we left off last week … not! Friend and faithful reader Laura Penny wrote a lovely piece for Huffington Post, Flying Blind: The Mistakes I Made With Disabled Colleagues are Built Into our Language. Thankfully, They Were Accommodating, about her work with DIRECT Center for Independence, an organization which champions disabled individuals.* Laura is the group’s interim CEO. (There’s a whole piece to be written about the use of interim Chief Executive Officers, to replace retirees while a board looks at needs and finding the right person.) Laura’s piece focuses on working with disabled people when you aren’t disabled. Laura, as expected, handles the subject with grace, dignity, and plenty of self-deprecating humor.

And speaking of grace, dignity, and self-deprecating humor … not, I read The Importance of Donald Trump by Frank Rich for New York magazine. Mr. Rich, one of my favorite writers (and, free of the Times, able to write long pieces), nails both Donald Trump and the sorry state of our political class.  By the way, and you all probably figured this out, it’s the Donald, and not Mr. Rich who lacks grace, dignity, and humor of any sort.

Jay Parini wrote Gore Vidal vs. Academe for the Chronicle of Higher Education’s September 21 issue. I haven’t read the piece yet, but I was struck by the fact that vs. seems to define Mr. Vidal. I saw Best of Enemies several days ago and was struck by the fact that it takes Mr. Vidal to make William F. Buckley likeable.

And then there’s What the World Got Wrong about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, by Jay Kaspian King for the September 20 issue of the New York Times magazine. Simple answer? He was supposed to be a tall, dumb jock … and wasn’t.

We don’t recycle food at Mark Rubin Writes, but it’s Erev Yom Kippur, a fasting day. So, food is not a high priority, except in terms of making sure I’m sufficiently nourished to survive until 6ish on Wednesday evening. There will be break fasts, loaded down with bagels, my bialys, smoked fish, and other delicacies. And I was left to my own devices, in city with no mishpocha, I’d be at barleymash in San Diego, eating the ahi tuna salad.

barleymash

*I failed to write about Laura’s piece last week.

PS Happy Birthday to faithful reader and Mom of Curator Rochelle Rubin.

 

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