By Gregory A. Weiss
Dual halos for our class vintner extraordinaire, Josh Jensen. The first halo and glow of achievement relates to the annual wine issue (October) of Food and Wine magazine that named Josh’s 2000-vintage Central Coast Pinot Noir as “the best pinot noir of the year in the U.S. for under $20 a bottle.” The second halo, and one with which he certainly did not ever wish an association, relates to the fall Josh had on August 29 that resulted in a broken neck, an emergency operation, and a halo neck immobilizer that will grace Josh’s shoulders and crown for the next three months. All reports are that Josh is in “excellent spirits” both wine-wise and otherwise, and looks forward, after his three months’-plus recuperation, to getting to New York to see his three children (Silvie, Duggan, and Chloe) who now all make the Big Apple their home.
A note from Steve Timbers brings us up-to-date on his doings: “I retired in March as vice chairman, Northern Trust Corporation, after reaching my personal goal of $500 billion of investment assets under management. Elaine and I have been looking forward to my retirement, when I can make up for 34 years of sleep deprivation, finally get into physical shape, serve on a handful of boards, and start the long-delayed novel, which I usually mentioned after a couple of glasses of wine. We are making progress on all these goals. More immediately, the highlight of the past few months for our family has been that our son Alex, Yale ’01, won an OBIE as a director. OBIEs are the off-Broadway version of the Tony awards. At 25, he is clearly ahead of where I was in building a career.”
A very interesting article appeared in an issue of the New York Times last summer featuring John Fox Sullivan, publisher of the National Journal. It describes how John, supported by a staff of 90, moved to Boston for the Democratic Convention (and would have done the same for the Republican Convention in New York) to publish a newspaper reporting on convention activities that is delivered daily to the 20,000 or so people who attend and are associated with the convention. What is newsworthy this year is that John has three serious competitors, but the National Journal is “acknowledged by its peers to be the paper to beat.” The article also features a great photo of a very happy John reading his handiwork in an obviously busy newsroom.