BP SAYS GOODBYE TO TONY HAYWARD
Tony Hayward most likely worked his way to the top of the giant company BP the usual way: hard work and lots of good decisions all of which made the company more profitable.
Of all the companies drilling for oil off the coast of the United States, unfortunately for Tony, one of BP’s wells sprang a leak.
We all know the rest.
Gazillions of gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf ruining state economies, endangering wildlife, ruining summer vacation plans, and creating a new guy for people to hate. He became the poster boy for clueless executives.
Dubbed the "most hated - and clueless - man in America," Hayward is to be walking away with a golden parachute worth $18 million, The Times of London reported.
So we won’t have to take up any collection for Tony. If he makes 5% interest on his $18 million he will probably have to live on about $900,000 a year. And of course a man of Tony’s success and stature will also be getting pension monies and a return on all his investments.
He went yachting during the crisis so we can assume he will ride out the days remaining in his life yachting, traveling and generally living la dolce vita.
Corporations have a way of realizing that these things are rarely the fault of one man or one decision. In this instance, the leak probably could have happened to any one of the many drilling organizations. This time it just happened to BP. So recognizing that someone has to take the corporate fall, they will make it a soft landing for Tony.
It is in their interest to keep us mad at Tony. They don’t want us mad at BP.
They also don’t want Tony destitute and writing a “tell all” book about the company.
At the end of the day, we Americans have to take a look at ourselves as our thinking is expressed through our government. We need to ask some questions.
Where were the regulations on drilling?
Where were the inspectors?
Did we lose sight of safety in the pursuit of oil?
How many of the other oil-rigs out there are deficient in some way?
How long will it be before another oil-rig springs a leak?
Will we have learned anything from this disaster?
-------
Update: in a previous column I wrote about the horrendous mistakes that were made at Arlington Cemetery. Recent information is that there may have been a much greater misidentification of graves than originally thought. Original reports put the problem at hundreds of graves. More recently they have mentioned that there maybe 6600 graves misidentified.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
PHEW
Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair
PHEW!
(That Was Way Too Close)
I do a lot of reading in the summer. During the other seasons life is simply too hectic to provide opportunities for encountering many books and authors.
This summer one of the tomes I decided to read was titled
The Politician-An Insiders Account of John Edward’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down-by Andrew Young.
Why did this book make it to my list of summer readings?
Although I am interested in politics I had felt no desire to read this “ tell all” book by a disgruntled aide to former Senator Johnny Reid Edwards.
Not only was I not interested in the one term Senator from North Carolina who made a splash on the national scene in two presidential campaign seasons but also I suspected his aide was almost as deficient in morals as the former senator
But a small mention that a major producer planned to make a movie out of the book suggested to me that there might be some things of real interest in the writing.
So I purchased the electronic edition and began reading it on my Kindle.
Friends, I have just concluded reading the book and I am painfully aware how close we came to having this man (Edwards) in one of the two top positions in our country: president or vice president.
Johnny Reid Edwards was prevented by a few hundred thousand votes cast in the state of Ohio from being a heartbeat away from the presidency. In the most recent presidential contest, he was thought by many to have a real chance at his party’s nomination. After losing that nomination to Barack Obama, many thought he was the odds on choice for the vice presidential nomination. In fact, it is stated in the book that after Edwards dropped out of the contest he told both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama he would throw his support (and delegates) to whichever of them offered him the vice presidential nomination first! Talk about chutzpah! Just another example of how totally immoral Johnny Reid Edwards really was.
Andrew Young, Edward’s chief aide and confidant( and enabler) concludes in hindsight that Edwards was brought down by narcissism, greed and power-lust. Reasonable people would add to this short list: lust and immorality.
How does a fellow like this convince so many of us that he is “presidential timber?”
Let us revisit a few facts.
Johnny Edwards was a one term United States Senator who willingly admitted he was bored with the job.
Johnny Edwards was what people in business call an “8x10 Glossy” which means “all style and no substance.”
In the television and computer age, our own experiment with narcissism, we were attracted to this handsome young man with a gift for gab who was married to an overweight woman with spunk and smarts who was fighting stage four cancer.
He also never failed to point out to us his humble beginnings while showing us his incredible financial success as an “ambulance chasing” injury lawyer. How many guys do you know who pay $400 for a haircut on a regular basis?
We hope that our candidates are real. We trust that they want to make life better for us. Sometimes we live vicariously through their” larger than life” lives.
This book by Young tells us that Edwards was not above using his teenage son’s tragic automobile accident death to further his cause.
The book demonstrates in great detail that Edwards was not above using his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis to further his candidacy.
The book demonstrates how Edwards used the people around him, without regard for their personal circumstances or the eventual damage to their lives, to further his cause.
The book demonstrates how Edwards, while prominent nationally and followed daily by reporters from both respectable newspapers and gossip rags, still felt he could bed a woman who attracted him on the first night he met her, hire her to work on his campaign, pay for her with contributed money, and actually consider her as “First Lady” material as he contemplated what he thought would be the future demise of his wife. Essentially, Edwards had a wife and a spare!
More importantly, he had unprotected sex (damning under these circumstances) and fathered a child with his mistress while in the middle of a presidential campaign.
Wealthy Americans ponied up millions of dollars to help Edwards deceive the American people. Some of these wealthy supporters knew what he was doing. From others he simply took the money and applied it to support for his pregnant concubine without their knowledge.
One such wealthy individual was “Bunny” Mellon of the considerable Mellon fortune. She channeled over six million dollars to Edwards, much of it used to fund the effort to hide the mistress as well as the author of the book’s family in high priced, toney accommodations across the country during the political season. In the book there is not much evidence to suggest she knew how her money was being used. It doesn’t speak well of her that she required no accounting.
It is not my intention to retell the story found in Andrew Young’s book. If you have an interest in this story you can read the book. What I want to highlight here is how close Johnny Reid Edwards came to being the “Leader of the Free World “and suggest that we all need to be more demanding of our candidates for national office.
Edwards used and tossed away his wife. He used Andrew Young and the entire Young family and then discarded them. He used “Bunny” Mellon and a great many other substantially wealthy Americans and did not value them. More importantly, he used all Americans who bought into his campaigns for vice president and president and could only have thought of them as dolts.
As his world crumbled, was he contrite? Did he seek our forgiveness? Did he make amends to those he used?
He did not.
Mrs. Edwards, not completely innocent or naïve by the way according to this book, came in second to the bimbo Reille Hunter. Edwards acknowledged his child with Reille Hunter long after everyone else already knew the baby was his. Not a very stand-up guy.
The Edwards children, facing the horrible cancer diagnosis with their mother, watched their father embarrass them all and abandon his wife.
Edward’s key aide, Andrew Young, is hardly employable and forever tarnished. More importantly, Young saw his whole family tarred with the same brush. Again, Young is not completely innocent or naïve in any of this. He was a willing companion on this fall from grace. And his willingness to enable Edwards says a lot about his willingness to foist this guy on the nation and about his own conceit.
“Bunny” Mellon asked only one thing from John Edwards, to whom she had funneled over six million dollars,” and that was his attendance at the funeral of her daughter.
Surprise. Surprise. He failed to attend.
Phew. We came so close friends.
We need to be more demanding of information about candidates to lead our land in the future. We need to get past their superficial qualities and demand evidence of their inner core beliefs.
Imagine what we would be dealing with had he actually become vice president or president.
And the damning piece in all of this was that he was willing to be this kind of person while thinking we were all so lacking in intelligence that he could pull the wool over our eyes.
I wonder where he got that idea.
…Jack Blair
PHEW!
(That Was Way Too Close)
I do a lot of reading in the summer. During the other seasons life is simply too hectic to provide opportunities for encountering many books and authors.
This summer one of the tomes I decided to read was titled
The Politician-An Insiders Account of John Edward’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down-by Andrew Young.
Why did this book make it to my list of summer readings?
Although I am interested in politics I had felt no desire to read this “ tell all” book by a disgruntled aide to former Senator Johnny Reid Edwards.
Not only was I not interested in the one term Senator from North Carolina who made a splash on the national scene in two presidential campaign seasons but also I suspected his aide was almost as deficient in morals as the former senator
But a small mention that a major producer planned to make a movie out of the book suggested to me that there might be some things of real interest in the writing.
So I purchased the electronic edition and began reading it on my Kindle.
Friends, I have just concluded reading the book and I am painfully aware how close we came to having this man (Edwards) in one of the two top positions in our country: president or vice president.
Johnny Reid Edwards was prevented by a few hundred thousand votes cast in the state of Ohio from being a heartbeat away from the presidency. In the most recent presidential contest, he was thought by many to have a real chance at his party’s nomination. After losing that nomination to Barack Obama, many thought he was the odds on choice for the vice presidential nomination. In fact, it is stated in the book that after Edwards dropped out of the contest he told both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama he would throw his support (and delegates) to whichever of them offered him the vice presidential nomination first! Talk about chutzpah! Just another example of how totally immoral Johnny Reid Edwards really was.
Andrew Young, Edward’s chief aide and confidant( and enabler) concludes in hindsight that Edwards was brought down by narcissism, greed and power-lust. Reasonable people would add to this short list: lust and immorality.
How does a fellow like this convince so many of us that he is “presidential timber?”
Let us revisit a few facts.
Johnny Edwards was a one term United States Senator who willingly admitted he was bored with the job.
Johnny Edwards was what people in business call an “8x10 Glossy” which means “all style and no substance.”
In the television and computer age, our own experiment with narcissism, we were attracted to this handsome young man with a gift for gab who was married to an overweight woman with spunk and smarts who was fighting stage four cancer.
He also never failed to point out to us his humble beginnings while showing us his incredible financial success as an “ambulance chasing” injury lawyer. How many guys do you know who pay $400 for a haircut on a regular basis?
We hope that our candidates are real. We trust that they want to make life better for us. Sometimes we live vicariously through their” larger than life” lives.
This book by Young tells us that Edwards was not above using his teenage son’s tragic automobile accident death to further his cause.
The book demonstrates in great detail that Edwards was not above using his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis to further his candidacy.
The book demonstrates how Edwards used the people around him, without regard for their personal circumstances or the eventual damage to their lives, to further his cause.
The book demonstrates how Edwards, while prominent nationally and followed daily by reporters from both respectable newspapers and gossip rags, still felt he could bed a woman who attracted him on the first night he met her, hire her to work on his campaign, pay for her with contributed money, and actually consider her as “First Lady” material as he contemplated what he thought would be the future demise of his wife. Essentially, Edwards had a wife and a spare!
More importantly, he had unprotected sex (damning under these circumstances) and fathered a child with his mistress while in the middle of a presidential campaign.
Wealthy Americans ponied up millions of dollars to help Edwards deceive the American people. Some of these wealthy supporters knew what he was doing. From others he simply took the money and applied it to support for his pregnant concubine without their knowledge.
One such wealthy individual was “Bunny” Mellon of the considerable Mellon fortune. She channeled over six million dollars to Edwards, much of it used to fund the effort to hide the mistress as well as the author of the book’s family in high priced, toney accommodations across the country during the political season. In the book there is not much evidence to suggest she knew how her money was being used. It doesn’t speak well of her that she required no accounting.
It is not my intention to retell the story found in Andrew Young’s book. If you have an interest in this story you can read the book. What I want to highlight here is how close Johnny Reid Edwards came to being the “Leader of the Free World “and suggest that we all need to be more demanding of our candidates for national office.
Edwards used and tossed away his wife. He used Andrew Young and the entire Young family and then discarded them. He used “Bunny” Mellon and a great many other substantially wealthy Americans and did not value them. More importantly, he used all Americans who bought into his campaigns for vice president and president and could only have thought of them as dolts.
As his world crumbled, was he contrite? Did he seek our forgiveness? Did he make amends to those he used?
He did not.
Mrs. Edwards, not completely innocent or naïve by the way according to this book, came in second to the bimbo Reille Hunter. Edwards acknowledged his child with Reille Hunter long after everyone else already knew the baby was his. Not a very stand-up guy.
The Edwards children, facing the horrible cancer diagnosis with their mother, watched their father embarrass them all and abandon his wife.
Edward’s key aide, Andrew Young, is hardly employable and forever tarnished. More importantly, Young saw his whole family tarred with the same brush. Again, Young is not completely innocent or naïve in any of this. He was a willing companion on this fall from grace. And his willingness to enable Edwards says a lot about his willingness to foist this guy on the nation and about his own conceit.
“Bunny” Mellon asked only one thing from John Edwards, to whom she had funneled over six million dollars,” and that was his attendance at the funeral of her daughter.
Surprise. Surprise. He failed to attend.
Phew. We came so close friends.
We need to be more demanding of information about candidates to lead our land in the future. We need to get past their superficial qualities and demand evidence of their inner core beliefs.
Imagine what we would be dealing with had he actually become vice president or president.
And the damning piece in all of this was that he was willing to be this kind of person while thinking we were all so lacking in intelligence that he could pull the wool over our eyes.
I wonder where he got that idea.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
14.6 MILLION AMERICANS OUT OF WORK
Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair
14.6 MILLION PEOPLE WITHOUT WORK
The U.S. government reports that just slightly under 10% of Americans who are qualified and ready to work have no work. 14.6 million of our fellow Americans are without a job.
These statistics were released by the government on July 2, 2010.
The world is facing growing problems with reference to employment. “The under-30 unemployment rate in Spain is at 44%, twice the adult rate in Spain (22%). Italy has also passed the 40% mark and Greece has gone even further.”(Doug Saunders-The Globe and Mail).
The unemployment rate for young people is considerably higher than for older workers. That said, historically young people without mortgages or children have found ways to “make do” and have become proficient at establishing lives not based on high income requirements. It is much more difficult for the older worker who has financial responsibilities and a family.
To the extent that older workers who are unemployed at the moment cannot fall back on traditional expectations, the future looks quite bleak.
Many of the current unemployed have been without work for a long time. The historical expectation that one will find a new job in six to nine months after commencing to look for employment simply is not proving true any longer.
In fact, recently there have been a number of columns suggesting that the jobs that were lost were not coming back and that suitable alternate employment (at the same level as the job lost) probably would not present itself.
My generation came to understand that people would probably have 6-7 different jobs in their working lifetime. We also understood that those jobs would probably be in the field for which we were trained and at the same level (read pay and responsibility) as the other jobs we held previously. Often, this was the case.
However, it appears that older people who are unemployed are now being encouraged to lower their expectations and look for a job, any job, that will help them meet their financial and family obligations.
This idea is not an easy sell.
Children are encouraged to do well in school. They are encouraged to study hard and then learn a skill. They are told that as skilled workers they will always be in demand. So they are ill equipped to believe they have to settle for less than they previously earned.
The fast paced world in which we now live provides us daily examples of how fast things can change.
Suppose you owned a large company that made locks. If you are reading about developments in the field of security you know that we are just a short distance away from having locks recognize our fingerprints or the special nature of our eyes. We will one day open our front doors as well as the doors on our cars by simply putting one of our fingers on a designated spot.
When that happens, you better be geared up to change your product in the lock business or you will be out of business.
Think back to when the big steel companies made…steel. Are you aware that some of them are making kitchen appliances today? And many others simply no longer exist.
How about the companies that made airplane propellers? If they didn’t retool and prepare for the jet age they either are non-existent or working with a considerably lower stock price.
Maybe you are the fabled New York Times and you didn’t fully anticipate the electronic age. You are still trying to sell Sunday papers to people who can read exactly the same stuff on their computers for free, and without leaving the comfort of their living room.
What is the message?
The message is that if you are unemployed you need to think outside the box, take a look at the cards you hold, and make some big decisions.
Here are some thoughts:
A job, any job, is better than no job.
Waiting for the ideal situation is not wise.
Work, any work, can be ennobling.
Your value as a human being, a parent or a spouse, is not now and never should be determined by what you do. It should be determined by who you are.
…Jack Blair
14.6 MILLION PEOPLE WITHOUT WORK
The U.S. government reports that just slightly under 10% of Americans who are qualified and ready to work have no work. 14.6 million of our fellow Americans are without a job.
These statistics were released by the government on July 2, 2010.
The world is facing growing problems with reference to employment. “The under-30 unemployment rate in Spain is at 44%, twice the adult rate in Spain (22%). Italy has also passed the 40% mark and Greece has gone even further.”(Doug Saunders-The Globe and Mail).
The unemployment rate for young people is considerably higher than for older workers. That said, historically young people without mortgages or children have found ways to “make do” and have become proficient at establishing lives not based on high income requirements. It is much more difficult for the older worker who has financial responsibilities and a family.
To the extent that older workers who are unemployed at the moment cannot fall back on traditional expectations, the future looks quite bleak.
Many of the current unemployed have been without work for a long time. The historical expectation that one will find a new job in six to nine months after commencing to look for employment simply is not proving true any longer.
In fact, recently there have been a number of columns suggesting that the jobs that were lost were not coming back and that suitable alternate employment (at the same level as the job lost) probably would not present itself.
My generation came to understand that people would probably have 6-7 different jobs in their working lifetime. We also understood that those jobs would probably be in the field for which we were trained and at the same level (read pay and responsibility) as the other jobs we held previously. Often, this was the case.
However, it appears that older people who are unemployed are now being encouraged to lower their expectations and look for a job, any job, that will help them meet their financial and family obligations.
This idea is not an easy sell.
Children are encouraged to do well in school. They are encouraged to study hard and then learn a skill. They are told that as skilled workers they will always be in demand. So they are ill equipped to believe they have to settle for less than they previously earned.
The fast paced world in which we now live provides us daily examples of how fast things can change.
Suppose you owned a large company that made locks. If you are reading about developments in the field of security you know that we are just a short distance away from having locks recognize our fingerprints or the special nature of our eyes. We will one day open our front doors as well as the doors on our cars by simply putting one of our fingers on a designated spot.
When that happens, you better be geared up to change your product in the lock business or you will be out of business.
Think back to when the big steel companies made…steel. Are you aware that some of them are making kitchen appliances today? And many others simply no longer exist.
How about the companies that made airplane propellers? If they didn’t retool and prepare for the jet age they either are non-existent or working with a considerably lower stock price.
Maybe you are the fabled New York Times and you didn’t fully anticipate the electronic age. You are still trying to sell Sunday papers to people who can read exactly the same stuff on their computers for free, and without leaving the comfort of their living room.
What is the message?
The message is that if you are unemployed you need to think outside the box, take a look at the cards you hold, and make some big decisions.
Here are some thoughts:
A job, any job, is better than no job.
Waiting for the ideal situation is not wise.
Work, any work, can be ennobling.
Your value as a human being, a parent or a spouse, is not now and never should be determined by what you do. It should be determined by who you are.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
GEORGE STEINBRENNER, THE BOSS
Notes of Concern…
….Jack Blair
GEORGE STEINBRENNER
George Steinbrenner, the famed owner of The New York Yankees, died in Florida on Tuesday, July 13th of a massive heart attack. Steinbrenner had been in declining health for some years.
I debated writing about George in a Massachusetts based column due to the vigorous rivalry between his Yankees and our Red Sox. I worried that any column about the Yankee owner might not be read!
The competition between the Yankees and the Red Sox was a good source of pride and revenue to both organizations and it made games between the two teams sell-out events. So I am going to write the column in the hope that Steinbrenner can be seen in a new light.
During George’s time as principal owner of the Yankees the Yankees won 11 AL pennants and seven World Series titles. His pride in his team, insistence on winning, and personal interest in the players and coaches certainly contributed to this record.
But George Steinbrenner was more than the owner of the fabled New York Yankees. A lot has been written about George, not all of it positive, but much remained unwritten and a lot of that had to do with his charitable nature and his dedication to his friends.
It is not my intention to focus on all of George’s good works but I do want to highlight one which I think serves as an example of his true nature.
Jim Fuchs, former Olympic Shot Putter and a friend of mine when I worked in New York City, partnered with George Steinbrenner in forming Silver Shield Foundation. George was also a friend of mine in those days so I was keenly aware of what the two of them were doing to help the widows and children of firemen and policemen lost in the line of duty. Here is a good description from one of the blogs:
“Jim Fuchs, formerly of Greenwich, is President of the Silver Shield. In 1982, he attended a policeman’s funeral with George Steinbrenner, who was moved by the ceremony and concerned for the officer’s children. Steinbrenner wondered who would pay for their college. George Steinbrenner began a fund for police officers’ children’s college and asked Jim Fuchs to run the Silver Shield Foundation. Today, the Silver Shield Foundation provides tuition and education benefits to the children and spouse of all members of the Fire Department( and Police Department) of the City of New York.”
I met George Steinbrenner when we both served on the Culver Educational Foundation Board. It was a small board and provided all of the members with the opportunity to create and sustain friendships with others who had enjoyed the experience of having attended Culver Military Academy, Culver Summer Schools, or one of the Culver camps.
I found George to be not only dedicated to Culver but a lot of fun to be around. Of course, with his background in business, politics and sports he had a lot of stories to tell. When we first met I was working and living in Pittsburgh, PA.
When my career took me to New York City, one of the first invitations I received was from George Steinbrenner. He invited me to join him in his private box for one of the Yankees games.
Now this was quite a welcome surprise from a young executive from the Midwest new to the Big Apple. When I arrived I found that the box was spacious enough to welcome a sizeable number of George’s friends. United States Senator Birch Bayh was there, as was the owner of the Fugazy limousine company and Tom Carvell of ice cream fame.
It was a memorable night.
Over the course of years, I made a few more visits to George’s box at Yankee Stadium and was always treated equally to those of much more stature. That was his nature.
When he heard my parents were visiting, he arranged for me to host them at Yankee Stadium and to entertain them in the dining club there. On another occasion, George had my whole family to the stadium and arranged for us to sit behind the Yankees dugout. My children were young then and it made an enormous impression on them.
When I moved to Massachusetts and was involved in fund raising, George sent me a signed Yankees baseball to be auctioned off in support of The Winchendon School. It brought the School $1000.
During a year in which my mother’s health was declining and she was in a local nursing facility, George sent her a letter to post on her door, signed by him, complimenting her on her bravery in being a Yankees fan in Red Sox Nation!
These are a few examples of the George Steinbrenner I knew. A man not much like his public image. While I admire the accomplishments of George Steinbrenner the team owner and the businessman, it is the personal George Steinbrenner, the philanthropist, friend to so many, and kind man that I remember today and that I will miss tomorrow.
The Red Sox and the Yankees will continue their rivalry but I suspect it will never be quite the same.
….Jack Blair
GEORGE STEINBRENNER
George Steinbrenner, the famed owner of The New York Yankees, died in Florida on Tuesday, July 13th of a massive heart attack. Steinbrenner had been in declining health for some years.
I debated writing about George in a Massachusetts based column due to the vigorous rivalry between his Yankees and our Red Sox. I worried that any column about the Yankee owner might not be read!
The competition between the Yankees and the Red Sox was a good source of pride and revenue to both organizations and it made games between the two teams sell-out events. So I am going to write the column in the hope that Steinbrenner can be seen in a new light.
During George’s time as principal owner of the Yankees the Yankees won 11 AL pennants and seven World Series titles. His pride in his team, insistence on winning, and personal interest in the players and coaches certainly contributed to this record.
But George Steinbrenner was more than the owner of the fabled New York Yankees. A lot has been written about George, not all of it positive, but much remained unwritten and a lot of that had to do with his charitable nature and his dedication to his friends.
It is not my intention to focus on all of George’s good works but I do want to highlight one which I think serves as an example of his true nature.
Jim Fuchs, former Olympic Shot Putter and a friend of mine when I worked in New York City, partnered with George Steinbrenner in forming Silver Shield Foundation. George was also a friend of mine in those days so I was keenly aware of what the two of them were doing to help the widows and children of firemen and policemen lost in the line of duty. Here is a good description from one of the blogs:
“Jim Fuchs, formerly of Greenwich, is President of the Silver Shield. In 1982, he attended a policeman’s funeral with George Steinbrenner, who was moved by the ceremony and concerned for the officer’s children. Steinbrenner wondered who would pay for their college. George Steinbrenner began a fund for police officers’ children’s college and asked Jim Fuchs to run the Silver Shield Foundation. Today, the Silver Shield Foundation provides tuition and education benefits to the children and spouse of all members of the Fire Department( and Police Department) of the City of New York.”
I met George Steinbrenner when we both served on the Culver Educational Foundation Board. It was a small board and provided all of the members with the opportunity to create and sustain friendships with others who had enjoyed the experience of having attended Culver Military Academy, Culver Summer Schools, or one of the Culver camps.
I found George to be not only dedicated to Culver but a lot of fun to be around. Of course, with his background in business, politics and sports he had a lot of stories to tell. When we first met I was working and living in Pittsburgh, PA.
When my career took me to New York City, one of the first invitations I received was from George Steinbrenner. He invited me to join him in his private box for one of the Yankees games.
Now this was quite a welcome surprise from a young executive from the Midwest new to the Big Apple. When I arrived I found that the box was spacious enough to welcome a sizeable number of George’s friends. United States Senator Birch Bayh was there, as was the owner of the Fugazy limousine company and Tom Carvell of ice cream fame.
It was a memorable night.
Over the course of years, I made a few more visits to George’s box at Yankee Stadium and was always treated equally to those of much more stature. That was his nature.
When he heard my parents were visiting, he arranged for me to host them at Yankee Stadium and to entertain them in the dining club there. On another occasion, George had my whole family to the stadium and arranged for us to sit behind the Yankees dugout. My children were young then and it made an enormous impression on them.
When I moved to Massachusetts and was involved in fund raising, George sent me a signed Yankees baseball to be auctioned off in support of The Winchendon School. It brought the School $1000.
During a year in which my mother’s health was declining and she was in a local nursing facility, George sent her a letter to post on her door, signed by him, complimenting her on her bravery in being a Yankees fan in Red Sox Nation!
These are a few examples of the George Steinbrenner I knew. A man not much like his public image. While I admire the accomplishments of George Steinbrenner the team owner and the businessman, it is the personal George Steinbrenner, the philanthropist, friend to so many, and kind man that I remember today and that I will miss tomorrow.
The Red Sox and the Yankees will continue their rivalry but I suspect it will never be quite the same.
Friday, July 9, 2010
God Save the Queen
Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926 and is known as Queen Elizabeth II of England to the world and “Lilibet” to her family.
I am in Canada as I write this column and Her Majesty has just visited this country. As I read the various newspapers I see her picture daily in a number of different colorful hats. I read that she brought fifty hats with her.
This seems to be her habit. They write that she tries to have hats designed to cover both the possible “weather” as well as the symbolism of whatever event she attends.
Three things are very predictable with reference to Her Majesty:
• she will have a striking hat or crown
atop her royal head
• she will have a pocket book swinging from her
arm
• she will faithfully attend to her duties every day of her life
Pollsters indicate that her subjects are rather lukewarm on the idea of monarchy. That said, they are very fond of the current monarch. Elizabeth is incredibly popular with her subjects and is met by large crowds wherever she goes.
Her Majesty is one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history. The fact that her mother lived beyond age 100 suggests that Queen Elizabeth may yet capture the title of longest reigning monarch. She has expressed no interest in abdicating in favor of her eldest son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.
Like her mother and father did, she has an enormous sense of duty.
Criticism of the Queen is rare in this day of a great willingness to attack people in authority. She is focused on the work of the monarchy and by all accounts attends to her duties efficiently and effectively each and every day. Not one iota of scandal has touched this monarch.
Like many mothers in her generation, she has been disappointed in the antics of her children. The Queen is undoubtedly concerned about the future of The House of Windsor.
We have not seen the seriousness of purpose, the dedication to duty, or the appreciation of royal birth in any of her offspring. It is unlikely any of her children could equal her popularity or dedication to the people of the United Kingdom.
I have had an opportunity to be in her presence once. My wife and I were the only Americans at The Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey one year as guests of the Dean of Westminster Abbey. This is a service to which all the countries in the British Empire send representatives and the entire royal family is in attendance.
When the trumpets sounded and the organ took up the thrilling “God Save the Queen”, the small statured Elizabeth marched down the long aisle, colorful crown astride her head and ever-present pocket book carried on her arm. No one would say she made a powerful presence, or exuded charm or regality. The vibes she sent out were ones of competence, seriousness of purpose, and love of country.
In 1947 Elizabeth married Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
They have a family of four children and eight grandchildren.
On a couple of occasions, my wife and I have met His Royal Highness, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
On one occasion we had tea with him at the home of the British Consul in New York City. There were six of us and I found him to be an interesting conversationalist and a friendly host. However, there was no familiarity in his bearing and I felt certain meeting with us was simply one more burden of his daily schedule.
On another occasion, my wife and I had dinner with Prince Philip in a private dining room at a club in New York. There was a large round table and about twenty guests. On this occasion, I found him to be pompous and overbearing.
More importantly, he seemed completely unappreciative of the efforts our host had extended to make it an enjoyable night for him.
We attended a picnic with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in upstate New York one spring and later a dinner with him at the New York Yacht Club. He seemed very much like his father.
Like you, I have only read about the other children: Anne, Charles and Edward.
So Elizabeth has a handsome but seemingly distant consort in Philip, and four children, each of whom has demonstrated some public bad behavior and in their own way tarnished the family name in ways that could only pain their dedicated mother.
Presidents, dictators and other heads of state come and go.
Fortunately for her subjects, Elizabeth continues.
As the world is roiled in politics, she stands out as a beacon of service, patriotism and class.
It is easy to see she truly cares for her subjects. She loves them and they love her.
The rest of us are living in times that permit us to be her contemporaries. We are seeing a reign like few others and her passing will be painful not just to her subjects.
I feel completely justified in stating that this Elizabeth has set the standard for “reigning” in her 58 years as Queen and that standard will not be met by any future British monarch nor any other person ascending the throne in any other land.
God Save the Queen.
…Jack Blair
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on April 21, 1926 and is known as Queen Elizabeth II of England to the world and “Lilibet” to her family.
I am in Canada as I write this column and Her Majesty has just visited this country. As I read the various newspapers I see her picture daily in a number of different colorful hats. I read that she brought fifty hats with her.
This seems to be her habit. They write that she tries to have hats designed to cover both the possible “weather” as well as the symbolism of whatever event she attends.
Three things are very predictable with reference to Her Majesty:
• she will have a striking hat or crown
atop her royal head
• she will have a pocket book swinging from her
arm
• she will faithfully attend to her duties every day of her life
Pollsters indicate that her subjects are rather lukewarm on the idea of monarchy. That said, they are very fond of the current monarch. Elizabeth is incredibly popular with her subjects and is met by large crowds wherever she goes.
Her Majesty is one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history. The fact that her mother lived beyond age 100 suggests that Queen Elizabeth may yet capture the title of longest reigning monarch. She has expressed no interest in abdicating in favor of her eldest son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.
Like her mother and father did, she has an enormous sense of duty.
Criticism of the Queen is rare in this day of a great willingness to attack people in authority. She is focused on the work of the monarchy and by all accounts attends to her duties efficiently and effectively each and every day. Not one iota of scandal has touched this monarch.
Like many mothers in her generation, she has been disappointed in the antics of her children. The Queen is undoubtedly concerned about the future of The House of Windsor.
We have not seen the seriousness of purpose, the dedication to duty, or the appreciation of royal birth in any of her offspring. It is unlikely any of her children could equal her popularity or dedication to the people of the United Kingdom.
I have had an opportunity to be in her presence once. My wife and I were the only Americans at The Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey one year as guests of the Dean of Westminster Abbey. This is a service to which all the countries in the British Empire send representatives and the entire royal family is in attendance.
When the trumpets sounded and the organ took up the thrilling “God Save the Queen”, the small statured Elizabeth marched down the long aisle, colorful crown astride her head and ever-present pocket book carried on her arm. No one would say she made a powerful presence, or exuded charm or regality. The vibes she sent out were ones of competence, seriousness of purpose, and love of country.
In 1947 Elizabeth married Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
They have a family of four children and eight grandchildren.
On a couple of occasions, my wife and I have met His Royal Highness, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
On one occasion we had tea with him at the home of the British Consul in New York City. There were six of us and I found him to be an interesting conversationalist and a friendly host. However, there was no familiarity in his bearing and I felt certain meeting with us was simply one more burden of his daily schedule.
On another occasion, my wife and I had dinner with Prince Philip in a private dining room at a club in New York. There was a large round table and about twenty guests. On this occasion, I found him to be pompous and overbearing.
More importantly, he seemed completely unappreciative of the efforts our host had extended to make it an enjoyable night for him.
We attended a picnic with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in upstate New York one spring and later a dinner with him at the New York Yacht Club. He seemed very much like his father.
Like you, I have only read about the other children: Anne, Charles and Edward.
So Elizabeth has a handsome but seemingly distant consort in Philip, and four children, each of whom has demonstrated some public bad behavior and in their own way tarnished the family name in ways that could only pain their dedicated mother.
Presidents, dictators and other heads of state come and go.
Fortunately for her subjects, Elizabeth continues.
As the world is roiled in politics, she stands out as a beacon of service, patriotism and class.
It is easy to see she truly cares for her subjects. She loves them and they love her.
The rest of us are living in times that permit us to be her contemporaries. We are seeing a reign like few others and her passing will be painful not just to her subjects.
I feel completely justified in stating that this Elizabeth has set the standard for “reigning” in her 58 years as Queen and that standard will not be met by any future British monarch nor any other person ascending the throne in any other land.
God Save the Queen.
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