Here are a few photos of my lovely Mother’s Day celebration at the park yesterday in San Marino.  The best part of the day was when my three daughters honored a request I had made, which was to write down one happy memory of their childhood for me.  These brought tears from me, of course,…

Tomorrow we are celebrating both Mother’s Day and Sarah’s birthday since she is starting a grueling 8-week rotation on Monday, which is her actual birthday.  Our family is meeting at the Arboretum in Arcadia at 12:30 to tour the gardens and have a picnic of bagels, cream cheese, juice and coffee.  Then afterward, we’ll head…

Here’s to my beloved Lona Tehrani, who learned today that she has been accepted to Brown University beginning in the fall.  Lona is currently finishing her first year at Barnard, but decided by mid-year that she wanted a less urban school and also one that gave her more freedom in terms of curriculum.  Brown was…

Today we received the sad news that  Glen Armstrong, the stepfather of one of our closest friends in Texas, passed away unexpectedly.  He fell last week and broke his hip, but he was recovering from surgery and was already on his way to getting stronger. He was in a rehab facility and had had breakfast…

For Ray’s birthday, our kids gave him tickets to hear Rodney Crowell sing at the Troubador.  That event was tonight.  Liz, Ron and Rachael went with us. Rodney Crowell was even better than I expected.  His voice was strong, his fiddle player and guitarist were exceptional and the songs on his new album are lyrical,…

Ray, Rachael and I were working on eBay this morning in the living room here in LA when we heard a knock at the door. Usually, those knocks mean that FedEx is delivering a package. However, when I peeked out the front window, there stood my nephew Hutch Leatherwood looking back at me.  This wouldn’t…

The famous editor Max Perkins wrote: I think, in truth, that the best writing of all is done long after the events it is concerned with, when they have been digested and reflected upon unconsciously, and the writer has completely realized them in himself. It is good journalistic writing that is done quickly while everything…

Today has been one of those mega-work days after my 10 days away in Texas.  I started at 6:30 this morning with a graduate student in Clinical Psychology who had a major term paper due. We had already devoted several hours to this project before I left for Texas.  Today, we worked for four additional hours…

When driving back from Texas, Ray and I had the chance to listen to Terry Gross interview Pulitzer prize winner, Richard Ford, on his new memoir, “Between Them,” which is about his relationship with his parents. I am including the interview in full below.  It is well worth the read.  Also, here is the link…

We are in Williams, AZ tonight after a full day of driving.  The dogs are curled up on one bed and Ray is on the other.  We hope to be back in LA by tomorrow early-afternoon. We had a successful trip with lots of business accomplished along with some good visits. Thank you, Shann Schubert…