LOOSE ENDS 1/29: Stanley Katz ×
By Pam Hersh
In these recent times of unbearable political anxiety, I have relied on three things for comfort and sustenance:
1. Cheetos; 2. Music; 3. Bartender – with coffee as the drink being served.
I have written a lot about the curative qualities of Cheetos, comprising chemicals and dust with a smattering of real cheese – I think. I am hoping that my orange-stained fingers and mouth scare away COVID as effectively as it has scared away people.
My music selection was enormously satisfying – and something I recommend to everyone. Jazz musician, composer and jazz education entrepreneur Wynton Marsalis, a Princeton favorite (he has performed numerous times at McCarter Theatre, lectured to Princeton University students and received a Princeton University honorary degree), released an extraordinary new album titled “The Democracy! Suite” – a masterful musical metaphor for democracy. It is a bit atonal and unsettling at times,
LOOSE ENDS 1/22: Jack Morrison ×
By Pam Hersh
The last time I saw Princeton businessman and entrepreneur Jack Morrison was at the gym – one year ago.
A few weeks prior to the gym encounter, I had interviewed Jack, along with Chef Nicolas Demurge, at Jack’s most recent Princeton restaurant endeavor, the French bistro Kristine’s. Located in the heart of Princeton at Hinds Plaza, aka Library Plaza, Kristine’s, thanks to Chef Demurge’s culinary skills and business background, grew into a popular lunch and dinner destination and had just started offering breakfast. My health-conscious daughter-in-law, whose name happens to be Christine, had eaten there and was wowed by the creativity, simplicity, freshness, “no heaviness” of the offerings. The menu also included vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free options – something very crucial to the insane food restrictions of my family members, whose only food option suitable for everyone is Styrofoam.
Loose Ends 1/15: Crystal Pruitt
By Pam Hersh
Twelve months ago, I attended the municipal reorganization meeting of the Franklin Township Council that featured, among other agenda items, the swearing in of a co-worker – Ms. Crystal Pruitt – as a Franklin Township Council member. Having just turned 34 years old and holding down a full-time job as chief of staff for Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, Crystal gave a speech that at the time I thought was brilliant and unsettling.
One year later, I know her words were brilliant, unsettling, but also prescient and surprisingly comforting to me during this discomforting time. Now 35 years old with a new job at the NJ Board of Public Utilities as head of its Office of Clean Energy Equity, Crystal represents the clear-eyed, unsentimental, determined millennial leadership that society needs right now to strengthen democracy and achieve concrete social justice changes.
LOOSE ENDS 12/25: Princeton Trivia is not trivial
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Ruth Simmons, former PU administrator and now president of Prairie A&M University that was the recipient of Ms. Scott’s philanthropic gift of $50 million.
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Ruth Simmons, former PU administrator and now president of Prairie A&M University that was the recipient of Ms. Scott’s philanthropic gift of $50 million.
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By Pam Hersh
I am trying to get a date with Josh Ellis for New Year’s Eve. Totally irrelevant are the facts that he is happily married to Katy Glickman, the daughter of a longtime Princeton friend of mine, Elyse Pivnick; is 40 years younger than I am; and will be nowhere near me on Dec. 31. I have asked him to meet me at his virtual bar and host a Princeton Trivia party for several of my friends/relatives, as a way of welcoming 2021 and saying good riddance to 2020.
LOOSE ENDS 12/18: Steve Kornacki and Ingrid Reed ×
By Pam Hersh
In New Jersey, Steve Kornacki has achieved Bruce Springsteen rock-star status among the politically passionate and electoral nerdy set. His chinos are now as iconic as Springsteen’s denims. And Ingrid Reed, the producer of Steve’s Princeton speaking events, has the appeal among New Jersey political aficionados of a Dolly Parton at a Country Music Awards ceremony.
Working far more than nine to five and often 48 hours nonstop without sleep, Kornacki, the NBC News national political correspondent, whose granular coverage of election results has earned him national acclaim, spoke on Dec. 10 at a virtual Princeton Public Library/Princeton Adult School event.