Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News

June 1, 2024

Photo of a meadow.“Over hill, over dale,” Shakespeare wrote. Summer comes to fields of flowers, blessing them and us with radiant sunlight. (Nancie Battaglia)

 Dear Colleagues and Friends:

Rare is the character whose passing elicits universal praise, admiration and a profound sense that something special has been lost, especially if that person has lived more than half a century in the public eye. Bill Walton was a human thermal updraft, his warmth, joy and zest for life elevating everyone he touched and encouraging them, with a broad smile, to be just a little bit better.

That he did it all while living most of his adult life with chronic, debilitating pain makes his achievements and his persona all the more remarkable.

A 6-foot-11 center, he is on the short list of the greatest college basketball players of all time. His teams didn’t lose a single game between his junior year of high school and his junior year at UCLA, where he won two national championships. His performance in the 1973 national final against Memphis State — 21-for-22 shooting, 44 points, 13 rebounds, 7 blocked shots — is considered by many the best for an individual in the history of the sport. He told David Axelrod in 2016 that he never felt pressure to perform, only gratefulness for the opportunity.

Injuries, the result of malformation of the bones in his feet, limited him to only 468 career NBA games, the equivalent of less than six full seasons, but he won titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, and such was his impact that he was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

The consummate teammate, he revolutionized the position with his passing and sought always to spotlight the contributions of others, a habit that continued as he made the transition to popular and successful broadcaster, overcoming a severe childhood stutter and often joking that once he learned to talk, he never shut up. That his words were relentlessly positive and uplifting meant his audience didn’t mind.

A proud Deadhead from the time he was 15, he was a testament to power of joy, generosity and loyalty. “My very close friend, fellow Bruin, and NBA rival Bill Walton died today,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posted to X. “And the world feels so much heavier now. On the court, Bill was a fierce player, but off the court he wasn't happy unless he did everything he could to make everyone around him happy. He was the best of us.”

He died of cancer at 71. Fare you well, Bill Walton. Fare you well.

FROM THE ASHES:  More than a year after a devastating fire leveled the historic Kenwood Convent, later home to the Doane Stuart School, the new owners of the property this week previewed an ambitious plan to build a $250 million mixed-use development anchored by a technology campus and including 1,000 residential units and retail space.  Their plan would preserve structures dating back to the 1800s and pay homage to the former Gothic-style abbey while striving to “bring Albany into a post-industrial future,” said Michael-Henry Elghanian-Krayem, who leads the development team. The 75-acre site is currently the largest contiguous developable property in the City of Albany.

TO SOAR:  Mira Nadon is just 23, and the first Asian American female principal dancer at the New York City Ballet. In the view of The New York Times, she is “a special, once-in-a-generation kind of dancer” who displays “spellbinding luminosity.”  Nadon invites comparisons to the legendary Suzanne Farrell, who became a NYCB principal at 20. She is nearing the close of a momentous season at Lincoln Center in New York and soon will be heading for Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where she will grace the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Stage. This summer, the New York City Ballet is celebrating its 75th anniversary, including 60 summers spent at SPAC.

OLYMPICS OF DINING:  A.J. Leibling, a globe-trotting gourmand and critic of the daily press, once described French cuisine as “enough melted butter to thrombose a regiment.” But it’s a new day in a warming, more health-conscious world as Paris gets ready to feed the 15,000 athletes of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The French training table will be heavy with vegetarian shawarma, za’atar-spiced sweet potatoes with hummus, cabbage pickles, beetroot falafel and grilled eggplant with smoked paprika. But don’t worry. French cheeses, blanquette of veal with a lighter sauce and baguettes will still make an appearance.

THE SKINNY ON SHRIMP:  The average American eats almost six pounds of shrimp a year, far more than any other ocean product. But is it good for you? While shrimp is high in cholesterol, experts no longer worry as much about dietary cholesterol’s effect on health. Shrimp is a good source of protein, on par with, say, a rib-eye steak, high in calcium and vitamin B12 and low in saturated fat, which makes it heart healthy. But nutritionally, it ranks low, along with cod and tilapia. It isn’t particularly high in omega-3 fatty acid, iron or iodine. “From a nutritional perspective,” said Zach Koehn, a nutrition researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions, “it’s kind of like the white meat of the sea.”

Photo of Belmont Stakes booth.In one week, The Belmont, the oldest of the three Triple Crown races, will take place at the oldest major sporting venue in the country, Saratoga Race Course. It’s the first time the Spa and the Triple Crown have become a coupled entry. “Even though Thoroughbred racing has been conducted at the Spa since 1863 … the addition of the Belmont … is nothing short of enormous,” says veteran race writer Mike Kane. (Skip Dickstein)

SECOND CHANCES:  When Sam Dolison left prison — ‘the gated community,’ he calls it — a shelter for the unhoused owned by IPH in Albany became his new home. He hated it. He kept to himself until the house manager gave everyone a tough love lecture, urging them to take advantage of the resources available to them to restart their lives, regain their dignity and make something of themselves. It stirred something in Sam, and the spark was fanned into flame when he signed up for a theater program also hosted by IPH. The program gave him confidence, the people around him believed in him, and two years later he has his own place to live and a job. Next week, IPH will launch its Giving Catalog, a major annual fundraising initiative supporting programs aimed at turning their clients’ lives around.

THE SHOW GOES ON:  To see it now, with its stained glass restored, a sleek new lobby and resplendent interior space for performances, it’s hard to believe the Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs was ever in danger of demolition. But in 2000, the grand, Gothic structure was condemned by the City. It took significant fundraising, passion and energy to renovate the 153-year-old church and turn it into a venue with seating space for 700. Despite the pandemic setback, UPH has hit its stride again with a delightfully diverse slate of events. Renowned author Doris Kearns Goodwin will be there tomorrow to talk about her book, “An Unfinished Love Story.” There’s also opera, magic, yacht rock, comedy and dance in the line-up.

ENOUGH WITH THE EMPATHY:  Harvard, stung like so many other institutions for its public positions on world events, decided this week it will no longer issue statements of empathy unrelated to its core functions as a university. Harvard’s new policy does not embrace “institutional neutrality,” the approach that the University of Chicago and Stanford have adopted, but it comes close. “As an institution with values, we have a responsibility to promote our core function as an educational institution and defend ourselves against forces that seek to undermine our academic values. In that sense, we aren’t neutral, and we can’t be,” said a member of the faculty committee that developed the new policy.

Blacksplash.jpgFANS FELL SHORT: Glens Falls, N.Y., always an ace of a place, scored a coup in 1932 when it landed the world champion New York Giants baseball farm team. The team played at Crandall Park, drew large crowds, and was full of talent and personality. But it abruptly disbanded. So, what happened? Cheap fans. Historian Maury Thompson takes us back to the ballpark.

OnthisDay.jpg1926: American movie star Marilyn Monroe, the sex symbol and cultural icon, was born in Los Angeles.

1953: David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam and .44 serial killer who murdered six people in New York City in 1976–77, was born. Last week he was denied parole in his 12th attempt. He is now 70.

1968: Blind and deaf American author Helen Keller died in Westport, Connecticut.

1980: Ted Turner’s CNN began 24-hour live news broadcasts.

2009: General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; it soon emerged from the reorganization and in 2010 returned to the stock market with one of the largest IPOs in U.S. history.

01_Nuggets.jpgIRON MAN: Jordan Maratta of Dix Hills, Long Island, was born without a left arm and learned early to live without it. He played baseball, climbed rock walls, even zipped his own jacket. As he got a little older, that missing limb became a bigger problem. This week, at 5, Jordan became the youngest person ever to be fitted with a custom-made, 3-D printed bionic arm.

IT’S MILLER TIME: The most exciting pitcher in major league baseball is playing in a mostly empty stadium. But Mason Miller of the Oakland Athletics – playing their final season in the city that has been their home since 1968 – is making things memorable. The 25-year-old relief pitcher throws 102 miles an hour, has appeared in 19 games and converted 11 saves. He’s allowed just five earned runs all season and has struck out 47 of the 89 batters he’s faced.

TESLAS, ANYONE? In 2021, Hertz teamed up with NFL great Tom Brady to announce a massive investment in EVs, with plans to buy 100,000 Teslas. The company said it was taking the step as “consumer interest in electric vehicles skyrockets.” The anticipated demand did not materialize. The company became strapped as prices for EVs tumbled, hurting their resale revenue, and repair costs rose. Now, it’s unloading 30,000 used Teslas.

STOP IN THE NAME OF … Across New York, shoplifting is on the rise and retailers are asking shoppers to stop at store exits so employees can ask to see a sales receipt. But must you stop?

RETIREMENT HOVEL HAVEN: The Appalachia of popular memory is changing. Farms, stills, moonshine and country roads? No. Try golf, wineries, and lakeside homes. Floridians are escaping hurricanes, northerners the cold, and the influx of retirees flooding into southern Appalachia is transforming the region from poor, serene and rustic to a bustling retirement haven.

02_Lives.jpgELMER (SONNY) BOYD joined the Dallas Police Department as a patrolman in May 1952 and five years later was promoted to homicide and robbery detective. On Nov. 22, 1963, Boyd and a partner were called to search the Texas School Box Depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald had just shot President Kennedy. They found casings on the sixth floor and later escorted Oswald to the Dallas police station. Boyd was the last surviving police detective tasked with investigating the assassination. He was 96.

03_Almost Final Words.jpg“Watch me as I earn your vote.”
—  Literally Anybody Else, a Texan formerly known as Dustin Bey, who changed his legal name so he could run for President, affirming…kinda…the seriousness of his campaign to NBS News this week.

TheKicker.jpgUNHAPPY MEALS: What’s on the menu in California restaurants? Litigation linguine. Ratatouille regulation. Cream of controversy. A new law will go into effect in July banning restaurant service fees. Restaurateurs who tack on fees for table service or take out will now have to build those fees into their menu items. That $35 burger looks good.

05_Bottom.jpgSome of the linked material in Facing Out requires a subscription to read.

Principal Author: Mark Behan.

Sincere thanks to our contributors: Ryan Moore, Leigh Hornbeck, Troy Burns, John Brodt, Kristy Miller, Tara Hutchins, Claire P. Tuttle, Mark McGuire, Maury Thompson, Nancie Battaglia and Skip Dickstein.

FACING OUT is what we do. We help companies, organizations and individuals work effectively with their most important external audiences – their customers, their shareholders, their communities, the government and the news media.  www.behancommunications.com

Facing Out features news and other nuggets that caught our eye, and that we thought might be of value to you, our friends and business associates. Some items are good news about our clients and friends, others are stories that we hope will leave you a bit more informed or entertained than you were five minutes ago. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback. 

Let’s make it a conversationmark.behan@behancom.com

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