SAY IT IN 17 WORDS

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system

2012-03-01T02:48:00.002-08:00

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system for all Microsoft employees -- STOP THE PRESSES!

The internal email code of all Microsoft employees worldwide has been inadvertently made public by an unwitting reporter for Reuters News Service, who recently
did a story about Microsoft's Steven Sinofksy, titled "For Steve Sinofsky, today is showtime". Datelined Seattle, the Reuters report by correspondent Bill Rigby spread out a long profile
of Mr Sinofsky and in one particular paragraph on the 60-graf piece noted:

"Despite his powerful position, Windows colleagues say Sinofsky — known by his internal e-mail handle as “SteveSi” — still takes the time to reply to e-mails personally and is usually chatty in the hallways, though he may not always be the figure that people want to see coming the other way."

This was the ''drop dead'' dead give-away: to locate anyone inside Microsoft on their internal email, just write to them by ''FIRSTNAME'' [no space no dot] ''FIRST TWO INITIALS OF LAST
NAME'' and you've got them. For Bill Gates, it's "BillGa" or perhaps WilliamGa" and for Steve Ballmer, it's "SteveBa". The code has been cracked. Now the hard part of course
is getting inside the internal email system. Dish if you find out anything!

Find ''any one'' at ANYON@microsoft.com, for example.

From the article itself:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/print/2012/02/29/2003526598

"Supporters credit Sinofsky with bringing order to the sometimes chaotic software development process at Microsoft — partly by cutting layers of management through what is now referred to internally as “Sinofskyization” — and getting products out the door.

"Critics say he lacks the necessary charisma for the top job and question whether he has the technical brilliance of Gates, or the incisive analytical ability and forceful personality of Ballmer.

"Most agree, though, that a strong performance for Windows 8 would all but make him the heir apparent.

"Microsoft declined to make Sinofsky available for interview.

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will be the biggest stage yet for Sinofsky, 46, who is largely unknown outside of tech circles.

Born in New York, but raised in Florida, where his father ran a sports goods store, Sinofsky joined Microsoft as a software design engineer straight out of graduate school in 1989. He quickly caught the eye of then-chief executive Gates, who took him on as his technical assistant.

It was in that role that Sinofsky, while visiting his alma mater Cornell University in early 1994, wrote to Gates to recount how the students and teachers had already come to see e-mail and the Internet as “ubiquitous and expected as regular phone service.”

Mr and Mrs Tomato Head - Introduced to the world on March 2, 2012 - in south Taiwan locally grown too -- photos by Lynn Wilber, thanks and lo lat

2012-03-01T02:47:00.002-08:00

photos by Lynn Wilber, thanks and lo lat

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system for all Microsoft employees -- STOP THE PRESSES!

2012-02-29T21:06:00.002-08:00

The internal email code of all Microsoft employees worldwide has been inadvertently made public by an unwitting reporter for Reuters News Service, who recently
did a story about Microsoft's Steven Sinofksy, titled "For Steve Sinofsky, today is showtime". Datelined Seattle, the Reuters report by correspondent Bill Rigby spread out a long profile
of Mr Sinofsky and in one particular paragraph on the 60-graf piece noted:

Jeremy Lin's mom named her three sons after Jesus of the Bible with a J initial: Joshua, Jeremy and Joseph -- COOL!~

2012-02-28T03:59:00.000-08:00

Jeremy's mom Shirley Wu was born in mainland China .......or Taiwan......, still
not confirmed, ...New York Times says born in Kaohsiung....Joe Hung at CHINA POST says born
in mainland CHINA,,,,,,and then she came to Kaohsiung to live, her father was a
Christian pastor in China, that is how the LIN family in USA came to
know Jesus when she married Jeremy's dad in USa after meeting him at college in Virginia and converting
Pappa to Christianity too. .......and she named her threee sons after JESUS, with J
first letters, calling them Joshua, Jeremy and Joseph, the three Js in

her life, after of course Jesus.

and her email address is....the JJJ is for the 3 sons and she as mom so:
jjj.mom@gmail.com

Exclsuive interview with Jeremy Lin and his father, translated from Taipei magazine into English

2012-02-27T00:30:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Lin and Gie-ming Lin:
Turning Ridicule into Motivation
INTREVIEW By Ming-ling Hsieh

From CommonWealth Magazine
Published: February 23, 2012
http://english.cw.com.tw/article.do?action=show&id=13444&offset=0

In this exclusive TRANSLATION of an earlier interview, NBA sensation Jeremy Lin and his father Gie-ming Lin discuss the life lessons that lay the groundwork for his success.

Last August of 2011, Jeremy Lin had just finished an unremarkable year with the Golden State Warriors, and his future was on hold because of the NBA strike. He spent most of his first year sitting the bench and facing the constant pressure of getting cut. In an interview with CommonWealth Magazine at the time, Lin, accompanied by his father, spoke of his frustrations and lessons learned, and revealed his natural inclination toward teamwork, perseverance, and performing better the tougher the competition. Here are excerpts from that interview.

Gie-ming Lin Speaks: Giving in Not Part of His Personality

''From an Asian's perspective, he has always been a good basketball player. So he created miracles wherever he played in school – in junior high, high school and even at the university level.

In the United States, it is not easy for Asians to reach such heights, a sign that he has natural talent. But when you normally play with him, you don't see anything special. It's only when he goes up against a superior opponent that he steps up his game, shows his determination and refuses to give in.

Watching him play, he always gives 120 percent. It's just a matter of seeing how far he can go.

When he was a junior in high school, his team reached the final round of the Northern California playoffs. Before the game, he got injured (in a meaningless pick-up game) and had to rest for two to three months. That experience served as a wake-up call. It changed his outlook on life by making him realize that he couldn't take basketball for granted.

His attitude began to change, and he became more dedicated to studying and trained more intensely. He was also more cooperative and willing to listen to his coaches. He became a better basketball player as a result.

This boy has taken a real interest in basketball and has been willing to devote time to it. Even if there've been ups and downs, at the very least, he has already attained his goal. So no matter what happens from this point on, he has achieved his life's goal and ideal, and will not be saddled with any regrets.''

Jeremy Lin Speaks :
Failure Is not Giving Myself the Chance to Succeed

A BORN TALENT?

I don't think many people would have predicted it or seen it coming. Coming out of high school and not getting any scholarship offers and… definitely developing later in my career.

THE STEREOTYPES:

Coming out of high school and just being Asian, and maybe people thinking I would not be very good. Even as I was coming out of college just trying to get drafted. (Lin went undrafted.) And me being Asian definitely had something to do with it. Those stereotypes – people looking at me and immediately thinking, "Oh, he's not gonna be that good."I went to go play in a Pro-Am league, a semi professional league, when I was in college, and I showed up at the gym and someone told me, like, "Volleyball's canceled. This is basketball now."

I was just like: "Okay. That's nice to know, but I'm here to play basketball."

MOCKERY:

It just gives me more motivation. There's a stereotype about Asian athletes, Asian basketball players. And for me, I don't agree with them. And so, as I continue to play, I want to get better, and hopefully I can break down as many stereotypes as I can.

MOMENT OF REALIZATION:

When I broke my ankle. I broke my ankle my junior year (in high school), and it changed my life because it taught me not to take basketball for granted. That's when I started to learn what it means to work hard.

DEFINING FAILURE:

Failure for me is not giving myself the best chance to succeed. When I was in high school my junior year, I had a really bad attitude, because I was very arrogant. We were winning a lot of games, and I was just not… I think for me that was a failure because I didn't push myself, I didn't improve as much as I could have, and I didn't become as good of a player, because I was too busy thinking how good I was.

So for me that's failure. I think you can lose and still succeed in different ways. Succeeding is getting the most you can out of yourself, pushing yourself and working hard and reaching your potential.

Translated from the Chinese by Taipei expat Mr Luke Sabatier

Three separate cultures lay claim to 'Linsanity' -- China, Taiwan and the USA

2012-02-27T00:23:00.000-08:00

Veteran newsman Joe Hung in Taipei today, writing for the CHINA POST an English expat daily, says:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/332879.htm

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/joe-hung/2012/02/27/332879/p1/Cultures-lay.htm

News is what the people like to talk about, according to the celebrated editor of Hearst newspapers, William Randolph Hearst, as the people, not just in the United States but in Taiwan and China as well, are talking about Jeremy Lin of the National Baseball Association's New York Knicks. Linsanity is news, all news, nothing but the news in Taipei.
One of the people in Taipei bit by the Lin bug is President Ma Ying-jeou. He began to talk about the NBA phenomenon after the American-born Knicks point guard of Chinese descent started Linsanity in the United States. And last Tuesday while receiving an American Congressional delegation at his office, President Ma blurted out his praise of Jeremy Lin. He said the peoples of the Republic of China in Taiwan and the United States share the same values such as democracy, human rights and peace, adding “We all appreciate Jeremy Lin's play.”

The additional remark was made by the president as a Lin fan. To Ma's surprise, Eni Faleomavaega, head of the Congressional delegation, tried to remind him that Jeremy is an American. As soon as Ma had finished his remarks, the non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from American Samoa's at-large Congressional district, said he had to tell the president Jeremy Lin “is blue-blood born American, OK?” Ma had to give a strained laugh, saying “That's right.”

Faleomavaega certainly is very proud of Jeremy being an American. Of course, the 23-year-old basketball superstar is a born American citizen. But Jeremy's parents are Chinese who emigrated to the United States from Taiwan. Ethnically, Jeremy is Chinese. Culturally, however, Lin — born and brought up in Palo Alto, California — is American. He is one of what the people of Taiwan used to call ABC's (American born Chinese) or bananas, because they are white inside though their skin is yellow. Jeremy admits he has no working command of Chinese. His mother tongue is English.

Language is culture. So he is culturally all American. But he said in a YouTube video interview conducted by Elie Seckbach the other day, “I'm really proud of being Chinese. I'm really proud of my parents being from Taiwan. I just thank God for the opportunity (to play in the NBA).” He is proud of his ethnicity. Being a pious Christian, Jeremy truly believes God gave him a chance to play for the Knicks and wishes to become a pastor after he retires.

The Samoan-born Honorable Faleomavaega calls Jeremy a blue-blood American. Well, blue blood as an adjective in English means “of aristocratic or high birth.” America is a plebian society and the Lins aren't of high birth, like Franklin D. Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy. Before his meteoric rise to create Linsanity, Jeremy was just an American of Chinese descent, or a banana to the people of Taiwan, or a “chink,” the derogatory name an American sports correspondent used to refer to him, and for putting the unsavory headline “Chink in the Armor” in reporting the Knicks' loss to the Hornets an ESPN correspondent was disciplined. Of course, Faleomavaega isn't an American ethnocentric bigot, and all he wants is to claim Jeremy is 100-percent American.

All human races are ethnocentric. Ethnocentrism is belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group, or overriding concern with race. Americans are often narrowly ethnocentric, albeit they claim their country is the Melting Pot.

Many African-Americans are still privately called (the N-word) and the Japanese “Japs.” Jeremy, who has suffered discrimination, doesn't mind being called “chink,” but many exclusively ethnocentric Americans who dislike or look down on “chinks” are now claiming him a blue-blood born member of their group.

The Chinese are a very ethnocentric people. But their ethnocentrism is a tendency to look at the world from the perspective of their culture. They believe their group is the center of almost everything, culture in particular, against which all other groups are judged. That's why China calls itself Chungguo (中國), which means the country that is the center of the universe. As a matter of fact, China's ethnocentrism is a cultural one. There's no English word for it, but cultura-centrism may fit. The Chinese are cultura-centric enough — just like President Ma who told the Honorable Faleomavaega — as to share an ethnically Chinese Jeremy Lin with all those culturally American people who now claim him as their own.

As the London Olympics are drawing near, Jeremy is likely to feel pressure from the United States, Taiwan and the People's Republic of China to join their national teams. His father hails from Taiwan, but his mother is from mainland China whose parents were born in Zhejiang, a province of the People's Republic. Jeremy also played on a Chinese basketball team. Each of the three countries will try what they can to get him on their national teams that will go to London this summer. For that reason, Faleomavaega told President Ma “This poor kid (Jeremy Lin) doesn't know what he's gonna do.” One thing all three countries can and should do is to let Jeremy decide on which side he will play in London. That's the best thing all the people who love to watch Jeremy play basketball wish to happen out of the current phenomenal Linsanity.

Incidentally, Linsanity is translated into Chinese as Lin-lai-feng (林來瘋) which literally means (Jeremy) Lin comes to make people excited. It's the best translation done in Taiwan's history of translation. Lin-lai-feng is a pun of Ren-lai-feng (人來瘋), a Mandarin idiom which means “someone comes to make people excited,” whereas that Ren in Mandarin is pronounced Lin（人）in classic Amoy or Hoklo, the Chinese dialect spoken by seven out of every 10 people in Taiwan, including Jeremy's father. Jeremy's mother is Mandarin-speaking and mainland born. Someone who comes to get people excited is (Jeremy) Lin, and the newly coined Chinese idiom is an excellent Amoy-Mandarin combination to describe Linsanity in the Chinese language.

Copyright © 1999 – 2012 The China Post

"No Rights: The Life of an Atheist" -- editorial by Krystal Myers, Lenoir City High School (censored by school Nazis but here is full text)

2012-02-25T04:01:00.000-08:00

Krystal Myers, the smart and savvy editor of the school paper at Lenoir City High School, ran afoul of Nazi-like Christian facist school administrators because an editorial she hoped to publish in the school newspaper to be entitled "No Rights: The Life of an Atheist."

http://m.knoxnews.com/photos/2012/feb/22/197406/

However, officals put their feet down. Middle-aged Neo-Nazi Christian fascist Schools Director Wayne Miller said it was the decision of the school authorities not to allow publication of Myers' editorial because of the potential for disruption in the school.

Oh is that so? Mr Miller? And in just what way would that editorial have disrupted your dear school?

HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF HER EDITORIAL:

No Rights: The Life of an Atheist By Krystal Myers

The point of view expressed in this article does not necessarily reflect the point of view of the Panther Press, its staff, adviser, or school. As a current student in Government, I have realized that I feel that my rights as an Atheist are severely limited and unjust when compared to other students who are Christians. Not only are there multiple clubs featuring the Christian faith, but youth ministers are also allowed to come onto school campus and hand candy and other food out to Christians and their friends. However, I feel like if an Atheist did that, people would not be happy about it. This may not be true, but due to pervasive negative feelings towards Atheists in the school, I feel that it would be the case. My question is, "Why? Why does Atheism have such a bad reputation?" And an even better question, "Why do Christians have special rights not allowed to non-believers?" Before I even begin, I just want to clear up some misconceptions about Atheism. No, we do not worship the "devil." We do not believe in God, so we also do not believe in Satan. And we may be "godless" but that does not mean that we are without morals. I know, personally, I strive to be the best person I can be, even without religion. In fact, I have been a better person since I have rejected religion. And perhaps the most important misconception is that we want to convert everyone into Atheists and that we hate Christians. For the most part, we just want to be respected for who we are and not be judged. Now you should know exactly what an Atheist is. Dictionary.com says that an Atheist is, "a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings." However, this does not mean that Atheists do not believe in higher causes; we just do not believe in a higher being. With that being said, I can move on to the real issue. Before I begin, I want you to think about your rights and how your perceived "rights" might be affecting the rights of others. There are several instances where my rights as a non-believer, and the rights of anyone other than a Christian, have been violated. These instances inspired me to investigate the laws concerning the separation of church and state, and I learned some interesting things. However, first, I would like you to know specifically what my grievances are against the school. First and foremost is the sectarian prayer that occurs at graduation every year. Fortunately, I am not the first one to have thought that this was a problem. In the Supreme Court case, Lee v. Weisman, it was decided that allowing prayer at graduation is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment that says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Special speakers can pray, but the school cannot endorse the prayer or plan for it to happen. Public prayer also occurs at all of the home football games using the public address system. This has, again, been covered by the Supreme Court case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe. The Court ruled that school-sponsored prayer is an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. If a speaker prays, it is fine. However, as soon as the school provides sponsorship, it becomes illegal. Sponsorship can be almost anything, even something as simple as saying that the speaker can pray or choosing a speaker with a known propensity to pray or share his or her religious views.

Knoxville News Sentinel
Krystal Myers’ editorial for the Lenoir City High School student newspaper about how atheists like her don’t have the same rights as Christians met a somewhat ironic fate: It was not published. School officials feared “the potential for disruption in the school.”
“School administrators do have the right to control information distributed to students if publication would cause a disruption in the school, confirmed Dr. Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Washington D.C.,” reports the Knoxville News Sentinel.
You can read the unpublished editorial here.

“As a current student in Government, I have realized that I feel that my rights as an Atheist are severely limited and unjust when compared to other students who are Christians,” Myers writes. “Not only are there multiple clubs featuring the Christian faith, but youth ministers are also allowed to come onto school campus and hand candy and other food out to Christians and their friends.”
Among Myers’ grievances: public prayer at graduation, football games and school board meetings, as well as overt religious displays by teachers.
“Religion and government are supposed to be separate,” she continues. “If we let this slide, what other amendments to the Constitution will be ignored?”
Myers, the News Sentinel story notes, “plans to study journalism in college next year.”

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/296899-a-copy-of-the-editorial-krystal-myers-tried-to.html

The truth about Jeremy Lin's GPA at Harvard: 3.1 not 4.2

2012-02-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

What was the recruiting situation when you were coming out of high school?

"The Pac-10 schools wanted me but only as a walk-on. The Ivy League schools, Harvard and Brown, were the two ones that really wanted me to go there and play for them. I was deciding mainly between those two conferences. ... I didn't really want to walk-on. I wanted to go somewhere the team wanted me. Not somewhere I'd have to go and potentially not have a spot on the team."

You had to pay the full tuition at Harvard?

"They don't offer FULL athletic scholarships in the Ivy League. There's only financial aid based on need."

SO HOW MUCH FINNANCIAL AID DID HE GET? SPORTS REPORTERS WANT TO KNOW.

What was your grade-point average at Harvard?

[Smiling:]

"My GPA was not a 4.2. That's been the rumor. It's not even possible. My friends have been absolutely killing me about that. I had a 3.1 at Harvard."

The truth about Jeremy Lin's early days before he went to Harvard with guaranteed promise for a starting position. WHO ENGINEERED THIS DEAL and WHO PAID FOR FOUR YEARS OF HARVARD TUITION, around US$50K per year?

2012-02-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

1. After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school, well sort of not getting an offers see below .....Lin and his parents or agent of high school coach or pastor -- or SOMEONE, who? -- sent his résumé and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to all the Ivy League schools, the University of California, Berkeley, and his dream schools Stanford and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[

2. The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on, rather than be actively recruited or offered a sports scholarship. SHOW ME THE MONEY?

3. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that **guaranteed** him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do **not** offer athletic scholarships. SO WHO PAID FOR FOUR YEARS AT HARVARD, around US$200,000 in tuition in total?

4. Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches' recruiting visits had an impact on Lin's chances.

"Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, "I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."

6. In July 2005, then-Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden saw that Lin was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), which fit the physical attributes he was seeking, and he had a 4.2 grade point average in high school, which fit Harvard's academic standards. FOR A ATHLETIC ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM A REAL ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL...

7. However, Holden was not initially impressed with Lin's on-court abilities, and told Lin's high school basketball coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Lin was a "Division III player".

8. Later that week, Holden saw Lin playing in a much more competitive game, driving to the basket at every opportunity with the "instincts of a killer".

Lin suddenly became a top-priority for Holden

Harvard coaches feared that Stanford, close to Lin's home would offer Lin a full athetlietc scholarship, but it did not, and Lin chose to attend Harvard. WITH A GUARANTEED IN WRITING PROMISE TO GIVE HIM A STARTING POSITION ON THE TEAM BUT WITH NO FINANCIAL AID OR SCHOLARSHIP? SO HOW DID LIN AFFORD FOUR YEARS OF HARVARD?

[23] "I wasn't sitting there saying all these Division I coaches were knuckleheads," Diepenbrock said. "There were legitimate questions about Jeremy."[24]

Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. [If] you can't recognize that, you've got a problem."[25]

Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, said in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.[26]

Agent of change — San Antonio's own Linsanity

2012-02-24T20:32:00.001-08:00

San Antonio Express News reported on Feb. 16...by Buck Harvey

It was the equivalent of a cold call. Robert Montgomery, the agent from San Antonio sent the Harvard coach some agency bait literature, and the Harvard coach passed it on to Lin and his family.

The Lin family had earlier interviewed a number of sports agents -- SHOW ME THE MONEY! -- and Montgomery was one, too. They had a conference call, then a Skype interview, then a personal meeting.

Few others in basketball thought much of it. The agent was Mr Montgomery, the player Jeremy Lin

MORE ON HIS BACKSTORY HERE:
http://plogspot101.blogspot.com/2012/02/truth-about-jeremy-lins-early-days.html
.

Montgomery, 41, is a native of Los Angeles, who had played basketball professionally in Poland, who had been working in San Antonio for almost 10 years.
Montgomery has had a number of clients over the years. He has 4 clients now.
Sports agent Arn Tellem, in contrast, represents 39 current NBA players earning more than $215 million this season.

“But sometimes you need that one player who catapults your career,” Montgomery said, and Leigh Steinberg is the parable. He became the real-life “Jerry Maguire,” once representing about a third of the NFL's starting quarterbacks.

Stienberg's start is agent lore. Steinberg was a college dorm counselor when he met Steve Bartkowksi, who would become the NFL's No. 1 draft choice in 1975.

Then, not every NFL first-round draft pick had an agent. Now there are nearly 800 certified agents in sports, with 146 certified just in the past year.

So Montgomery kept plugging, often working the fringe talent because he was a fringe agent. While he says he “fell in love” with Lin's game, he was likely loving anyone who would love him back.

Sending his information to Tommy Amaker, Harvard's coach and Lin's coach there, was KEY and is part of that. Some coaches don't even pass along the message.

Amaker did, however, and the result puzzles various league executives. Even if Lin wasn't coveted, why would he choose someone he didn't previously know and was just as anonymous as he was?

Montgomery's answer is simple: “We hit it off.” Where they both Jesus freaks and born again Christians intent on giving a Gospel message to the world?

Montgomery said his business is competitive, “even cutthroat,” and he tries to do things without compromising. He thinks Lin responded to that, and Montgomery helped him that first summer with this:

He got Gary Payton, who has worked with Montgomery, to tutor Lin.

“Jeremy was looking for someone who would work hard for him,” Montgomery said. “He wasn't looking for a car.”

Lin's next contract with the Knicks will be simple to negotiate compared to the global marketplace that already has had trademark applications for the term “Linsanity.”

According to reports, Nike will soon announce a new promotional campaign built around Lin.

“We're ready,” Montgomery said. He said he's assembled a team to maximize the opportunities, and, ever smart as an agent, he praised Lin on this front, too.

“Jeremy is going to take his time,” he said. “He's grounded in Christ.

The truth about Jeremy Lin's early days before he got full athletic scholarship at Harvard with guaranteed promise in writing of starting position on Harvard College team (while other colleges wanted him and said they would take him but NOT with guaranteed starting position his parents or his agents demanded as part of the athletic scholarship deal; Stanford coach Trent Johnson now at LSU did offer him a scholarship at Stanford but only with the possibility of a walk on position not a guaranteed starting position on the Stanford team and Jeremy and his parents and agent said NO THANKS and one other college also offered walk on position and LIN CAMP said no way, Jose, they would only sign up for guaranteed starting position with full athletic scholarship and only Harvard agreed. THAT is the real BACKSTORY. Now sports writers want to know: WHO ENGINEERED THAT HARVARD DEAL? Robert Montgomery? The agent? The Lin parents? WHO?

2012-02-24T19:52:00.001-08:00

The truth about Jeremy Lin's early days before he got full athletic scholarship at Harvard with guaranteed promise in writing of starting position on Harvard College team (while other colleges wanted him and said they would take him but NOT with guaranteed starting position his parents or his agents demanded as part of the athletic scholarship deal; Stanford coach Trent Johnson now at LSU did offer him a scholarship at Stanford but only with the possibility of a walk on position not a guaranteed starting position on the Stanford team and Jeremy and his parents and agent said NO THANKS and one other college also offered walk on position and LIN CAMP said no way, Jose, they would only sign up for guaranteed starting position with full athletic scholarship and only Harvard agreed. THAT is the real BACKSTORY. Now sports writers want to know: WHO ENGINEERED THAT HARVARD DEAL? Robert Montgomery? The agent? The Lin parents? WHO? And why the strict demand for a starting position only and no walk on deal at all? WHY? Sportswriters want to know. Including USA TODAY sports writer Jeff Zilgitt and also reporters such as J. Michael Falgoust and Rachel Shuster in McLean, Va.; Tom Pedulla in New York; Robert Klemko in Toronto; Calum MacLeod in Beijing; Glenn Guilbeau in Baton Rouge. BUT SO FAR , NOBODY IS DISHING THE TRUTH!

''USA TODAY'' REPORTS:
rshuster@usatoday.com, tpedulla@usatoday
jzillgitt@usatoday.com
rklemko@usatoday.com, cmacleod@usatoday.com, gguilbeau@usatoday.com, jmfalgoust@usatoday.com

1. As a Palo Alto (California) High School senior, Lin wasn't on national recruiting analysts' or college coaches' radars. He wasn't ranked nationally by position or in California. Rivals.com has a five-star rating system for recruits. Next to Lin's name: zero stars.

2. Rivals.com recruiting expert Jerry Meyer said he wasn't aware of Lin when Lin played at Palo Alto.

"I couldn't even tell you what AAU team he played for," Meyer said. "He wasn't considered a major or midmajor prospect. I didn't know about him until he started to play well at Harvard."

3. In his own backyard, Stanford didn't offer him a full athletic scholarship with a guaranteed starting position on the school team which is what the Lin camp demanded from all colleges he was looking at.

"Jeremy Lin was a good basketball player then," said then-Stanford coach Trent Johnson, who is now at LSU. "We talked about the possibility of having him walk on. He didn't want to walk on.

Robert Montgomery, sports agent, NBA agent for Jeremy Lin - Who is he? And how did he nab Jeremy as a client? Show me the money? And when did they first hook up, in high school, college or during NBA days?

2012-02-24T19:35:00.003-08:00

http://hoopshype.com/agents/roger_montgomery.htm

Robert Montgomery, sports agent, NBA agent for Jeremy Lin - Who is he? And how did he nab Jeremy as a client? Show me the money? And when did they first hook up, in high school, college or during NBA days?

How did everyone miss Jeremy Lin?

By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY

Updated 2/17/2012 1:15 PM

Comments 100

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An undrafted Asian American from Harvard excelling for the storied New York Knicks in the NBA's most famous arena is unlikely enough.

By Debby Wong, US Presswire
Jeremy Lin has made a splash -- in the U.S. and abroad -- during the Knicks' seven-game win streak, which includes his first six NBA starts.

Enlarge Close

By Debby Wong, US Presswire

Jeremy Lin has made a splash -- in the U.S. and abroad -- during the Knicks' seven-game win streak, which includes his first six NBA starts.

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Marry that with a timely confluence of unpredictable events and unique circumstances, and Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin's unprecedented rise from bench warmer to global basketball star in 14 days begs the perplexing question:

How did Lin go so unnoticed for so long?

MORE: Vote - Will Anthony's game rise or fall with Lin?
MORE: Lin headed to NBA's All-Star Weekend
PHOTOS: Lin-sanity takes New York, NBA by storm

Lin's unforeseen performance — hardly an NBA coach, general manager, scout or fan saw this coming — has captivated sports fans throughout the world, including Asia, where Lin has roots. He is the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

USA TODAY Sports on Twitter!

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter at @usat_jzillgitt. To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports.

"Lin is changing perceptions of Asian Americans, in ways that both reinforce and deeply challenge existing stereotypes," said Thad Williamson, a University of Richmond professor of leadership studies. "On the one hand, he is the prototypical high-academic-achieving Asian American. But on the other hand he is a baller who has shown he can not only compete but excel against the world's best players."

Said Knicks legend and TV analyst Walt Frazier, "This league is dominated by African Americans. What are the odds of an Asian guy coming on and having this impact? It's amazing. It's inexplicable."

It began with a desperate attempt by coach Mike D'Antoni to jump-start the then-struggling Knicks. The answer turned out to be Lin, a 6-3, 200-pound guard with an economics degree and faith in God who just happened to be a perfect fit for D'Antoni's offensive system.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who played basketball at Harvard, has developed a relationship with Lin and worked out with him on the court.

"Everyone who thinks this an overnight success fundamentally gets this wrong," Duncan said in an interview with USA TODAY. "Jeremy has been very good for a long time and just never quite had the opportunity."

Or as Knicks courtside season ticket-holder Spike Lee told a Sacramento TV station at halftime of Wednesday's Kings-Knicks game: "It's harder to slip through the cracks now, with the tape, with 900 channels. … No one saw this, so how could someone with his talent just be there and no one saw it?"

In his last seven games, Lin has averaged 24.4 points, 9.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds, filling Knicks fans with joy and hope and replacing frustration that existed for the last decade.

Since D'Antoni gave Lin his chance, the Knicks are 7-0, including 6-0 with Lin as a starter. New York (15-15) has moved from 10th to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, revitalizing its season and re-energizing a Madison Square Garden crowd that has not enjoyed an NBA title since 1973.

"You can feel an energy here that has been missing for a long time," Frazier said.

Right place, right time

Race played a factor early in Lin's career, Duncan said.

"This is classic low expectations and, frankly, stereotyping," Duncan said. "He was underappreciated and underrecognized. The fact that he's Asian American, those two things are absolutely linked."

Lin is aware of the stereotypes and says he perhaps can open doors to basketball previously unknown to Asian Americans, similar to how Tiger Woods introduced golf to more people.

"The more we can do to break those down every day, the better we'll become," said Lin, who plans to conduct a basketball camp in Taiwan after the season. "Hopefully, in the near future, we'll see a lot more Asians and Asian Americans playing basketball in the NBA."

But Duncan also pinpoints an important factor in Lin's ascent: getting an opportunity in the right place at the right time. It's much easier for an unheralded player to emerge in football, baseball and hockey, where roster sizes are larger and players develop at different rates.

In basketball, many of the top players are identified in their pre-teen and early teens and, as Commissioner David Stern told USA TODAY, "The conventional wisdom is that you know everyone who's going to be coming into your league by the time of the McDonald's High School All-American game."

As a Palo Alto (Calif.) High senior, Lin wasn't on national recruiting analysts' or college coaches' radars. He wasn't ranked nationally by position or in California. Rivals.com has a five-star rating system for recruits. Next to Lin's name: zero stars.

Rivals.com recruiting expert Jerry Meyer said he wasn't aware of Lin when Lin played at Palo Alto.

"I couldn't even tell you what AAU team he played for," Meyer said. "He wasn't considered a major or midmajor prospect. I didn't know about him until he started to play well at Harvard."

In his own backyard, Stanford didn't offer him a scholarship.

"Jeremy Lin was a good basketball player then," said then-Stanford coach Trent Johnson, who is now at LSU. "We talked about the possibility of having him walk on. He didn't want to walk on.

"It's a good story. It's a great story. But right now, everybody seems to think he was playing as well then as he is now. It's comical. Well, who drafted Jeremy Lin? No NBA team."

At Harvard, Lin had supporters and believers, especially then-Crimson assistant coach Kenny Blakeney.

Blakeney said he told Lin that he could be an NBA player, saying he told Lin he was "more athletic than what people give you credit for … and physically tougher than a lot of people will give you credit for."

So what took so long for the NBA to discover Lin? The Golden State Warriors cut him. They were deep at the guard position and couldn't give him playing time. The Houston Rockets picked him up, but Lin ran into the same closed door: too many guards, no minutes and an offense that didn't suit his style. They cut him, too.

But the Knicks needed a point guard who could direct D'Antoni's offense, a style suited to Lin's abilities.

If the Warriors hadn't cut him, if the Rockets hadn't cut him, if Knicks guard Baron Davis hadn't been out with an injury, if Lin hadn't been equipped to run this offense, if D'Antoni hadn't taken a chance … Lin's story might have never played out.

"I feel like a lot of teams have that 'Jeremy Lin,' " Kings rookie guard Isaiah Thomas said. "For whatever reason, it's not the right situation.

"This league is all about opportunity and what you do with it. It's all about being put in the right situation to succeed. That's life in general."

'He is the first of his kind'

In two weeks, Lin not only became a trending topic on social media (from virtually no Twitter followers to more than 380,000) and a star for the NBA and the Knicks, he also became an overnight role model for Asians throughout the world.

"This seems like an important development in the way Asian Americans are likely to be perceived and portrayed," Williamson said.

Fans attending the Knicks-Raptors game Tuesday in Toronto said the buzz about Lin rivaled the first visit of Yao Ming, the Chinese-born former Rockets center.

"We're here for Jeremy Lin," said Samuel Li, 21, a Chinese Canadian from Markham, Ontario, who attended the game. "He is the first of his kind. We're Yao Ming fans, but he's 7 feet and from China. Jeremy is my size and from America. We can identify with him."

Lin's story is especially appealing to Asian basketball players, who say his success is an inspiration.

"He speaks like us. He's heard all of the same stereotypes we've heard," said Asian Canadian Darren Liu, 25, a former high school basketball player. "To see a guy go through all those things, to get cut by teams, it's something we can look up to and be proud of."

Lin's story is one NBA executives, including Stern, have enjoyed immensely, in part because it has helped eliminate residual bitterness over the league's 149-day lockout and in part because of the league's commitment to marketing itself in China. The NBA is paying close attention to the impact there as the league tries to increase its popularity after Ming's retirement last summer.

According to the NBA:

• From Feb. 4 to Feb. 12, Lin had the top-selling jersey at NBAstore.com, which has shipped Lin merchandise to 22 countries — Taiwan and Hong Kong were third and fourth behind the USA and Canada.

• On Sina, China's version of Twitter, Lin went from 190,000 followers on Feb. 2 to 916,747 on Feb. 14. Lin is the No. 1-searched term on Baidu, China's equivalent of Google.

In two decades of reporting on U.S. and Chinese basketball, Su Qun has never seen anything like Lin.

"There is no precedent for this," says Su, 43, editor-in-chief of Basketball Pioneers, a twice-weekly Chinese-language newspaper.

For each of the last four editions, Lin has been the cover star.

"That never happened before, with Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. The first two editions, I chose him as I wanted to commemorate his feats and make him better known to Chinese fans," Su says. "Then he exceeded expectations, and we had no choice but to use him."

On Rivals.com's list of the top 150 high school seniors, not one is primarily of Asian descent, Meyer said.

"You just don't see that many good Asian-American players," he said. "That doesn't mean they're not out there. That had a lot to do with Jeremy being such a sleeper. People don't expect Asian Americans to be that good at basketball. We just have to be honest about that. … That's crass, and that's stereotypical. Obviously, he's breaking that. He might open the door for more Asian-American players."

Thursday, the league made Lin a late addition to the Rising Stars Challenge, a game involving rookies and second-year players Feb. 24 that is part of the NBA's All-Star weekend in Orlando.

Despite that type of recognition and all of the hype, Lin has remained humble.

"I want to be the same person before and after," Lin said. "That's where I want to be. I don't want to let anything affect me or our team."

Lin's agent, Roger Montgomery, is impressed with the way Lin has handled the pressure of playing for the Knicks and his demeanor off the court in the face of growing multimedia requests.

"He's holding up pretty good," Montgomery said. "I'm proud of how well he is doing. … What right now people are forgetting is the engine, and the most important endorsement we have right now is that he is the starting point guard for the New York Knicks."

Contributing: J. Michael Falgoust and Rachel Shuster in McLean, Va.; Tom Pedulla in New York; Robert Klemko in Toronto; Calum MacLeod in Beijing; Glenn Guilbeau in Baton Rouge

"My aunt would rather work in a FoxConn sweat shop than continue working as a hooker in China"

2012-02-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

A young man, born in China and now attending an American university, explains why his aunt was willing to work in a sweat shop in China making Apple products for Foxconn, rather then continue her earlier line of work as a sex slave cum hooker for horny Chinese men: (NOTE: He wrote this email to NYTimes reporter David Pogue)

My aunt worked several years in what Americans call “sweat shops.” It was hard work. Long hours, “small” wage, “poor” working conditions. Do you know what my aunt did before she worked in one of these factories? She was a prostitute.

Circumstances of birth are unfortunately random, and she was born in a very rural region. Most jobs were agricultural and family owned, and most of the jobs were held by men. Women and young girls, because of lack of educational and economic opportunities, had to find other “employment.”

The idea of working in a “sweat shop” compared to that old lifestyle is an improvement, in my opinion. I know that my aunt would rather be “exploited” by an evil capitalist boss for a couple of dollars than have her body be exploited by several men for pennies.

That is why I am upset by many Americans’ thinking. We do not have the same opportunities as the West. Our governmental infrastructure is different. The country is different.

Yes, factory is hard labor. Could it be better? Yes, but only when you compare such to American jobs.

If Americans truly care about Asian welfare, they would know that shutting down “sweat shops” would force many of us to return to rural regions and return to truly despicable “jobs.” And I fear that forcing factories to pay higher wages would mean they hire FEWER workers, not more.

Anyway, now my aunt has been living in New York for one year after saving up money for a plane ticket and visa, and she is wonderfully happy to have escaped Asia and reunited with our family. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for that “sweat shop.”

How Publishers Bolster Their Bottom Line by Retaining Film Rights

2012-02-24T05:33:00.003-08:00

How Publishers Bolster Their Bottom Line by Retaining Film Rights
2:17 PM PST 2/23/2012 by Andy Lewis
shareComments 88

BrunoiloRandom House and Macmillan execs tell THR about grabbing control of their own film and TV projects (and reaping big fees) as Hollywood's pipeline to intellectual property gets reined in.
This story first appeared in the March 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

our editor recommends
Sundance 2012: Stephen Frears on His Sundance Comeback, 'Lay the Favorite' (Q&A)'Harry Potter' Author J.K. Rowling Announces Mysterious New Novel Aimed at AdultsStephen Colbert to Publish Kids Book 'I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)' in May (Video)Sharp-eyed moviegoers at the Sundance Film Festival in January might have noticed an unfamiliar title card before the Bruce Willis comedy Lay the Favorite: Random House Films, the movie production arm of the venerable book publisher.

Get used to it. While books long have been prime source material for movies (six of this year's nine best picture Oscar nominees started as books), publishers traditionally have not participated in the development process or shared in the profits. Scholastic and Little Brown, for instance, make money from Harry Potter and Twilight only through book sales, not their billion-dollar box office.

But that's changing. Facing financial pressures from everything from the rise of self-published e-books to Amazon's move to become a publisher, Random House and another "big six" publisher, Macmillan, have set up in-house film divisions to bolster their bottom lines.

"Why wouldn't [big publishers] jump in?" asks Brendan Deneen, who serves in the dual role of book editor at Macmillan imprint Thomas Dunne Books and head of its nascent film group. "Content is king," he says, and developing content is what publishers do best.

PHOTOS: 10 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years

These film divisions operate just like producers, acquiring theatrical rights independent of their sister book imprints. The companies believe that by integrating the publishing and development process, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. Millions in producing fees and backend profits are just one side of the equation. Functioning as producers, they hope, will give publishers a voice in the marketing of films that could yield higher book sales.

Random House, whose film division is run by veteran TV writer and novelist Peter Gethers (Kate & Allie), began its producing effort in 2005 by partnering with Focus Features to develop and co-finance modestly budgeted adult-oriented films. RHF's most successful project to date, One Day, was a 2009 novel that became a 2011 movie and grossed $56.7 million worldwide on a budget of about $15 million. From Random House's perspective, having Gethers involved as an editor and a producer streamlined development after it acquired the movie and book rights simultaneously. The book's debut was timed to the start of filming, and it sold about 1.5 million copies (including 750,000 of the movie tie-in edition, a strong performance given the film's $13.8 million domestic gross), turning writer David Nicholls into a recognizable brand.

The Focus deal, however, required Random House to invest capital (up to half the cost of a film's budget) in movie production, a strategy the company has since reconsidered. "The Focus model is really solid," says Gethers, with two films likely to go into production in 2012. "But after five years, it's clear it's not enough to justify the investment."

So RHF is going out on its own, developing material itself and bringing packages to top producers and studios. It teamed with Likely Story and Emmett/Furla to adapt gambling memoir Lay the Favorite, which The Weinstein Co. bought at Sundance to distribute in the fall. And in October, RHF partnered with producer Joel Silver and Warner Bros. to develop Ross Macdonald's classic detective Lew Archer into a new movie franchise. In contrast to the Focus deal, Random House is not investing its own money. It will receive a producing fee and a share of the profits. And with Gethers serving as an executive producer, it still will have a voice in creative development and marketing.

STORY: Sundance 2012: Who Bought What Movies -- and How Much They Paid

Macmillan Films' highest-profile project, the young-adult time-travel novel Tempest, shows the impact of having an executive function as editor and producer. When Deneen first acquired the project it had a different title and structure, but he saw crossover potential in the premise. After he guided author Julie Cross through an intense reworking, Summit Entertainment pre-emptively acquired the revised manuscript a year before publication. The movie deal gave the book visibility that boosted sales when it was published in January (a sequel is on track for 2013), and a script is in the works. By developing the movie and book simultaneously, Deneen is trying to compress the process that took Twilight and The Hunger Games more than three years to go from best-seller to big screen -- and Macmillan now has a financial stake in the Tempest movie.

Both companies also are looking to TV, which Gethers calls "a natural extension," to develop the company's broad catalog. Macmillan is mimicking the model Alloy Entertainment has used for such book-to-TV hits as Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl: Refine concepts in-house, find writers to execute that vision, and own the intellectual property. In January, Macmillan announced plans to publish Prep School Confidential, which finds a Gossip Girl-like character chasing murder and mystery at a New England prep school, and a deal for a TV spinoff is being finalized. Also in the works is SEAL Team 666, a supernatural spin on the popular Special Ops team.

Random House and Macmillan aren't the only publishers branching into film and TV, of course. Magazine publisher Conde Nast (The New Yorker, Vanity Fair) hired former CW network head Dawn Ostroff in October to launch Conde Nast Entertainment to develop film and TV projects based on material in the company's publications. And the rest of the "big six" are watching closely. But Deneen cautions that the film and TV efforts shouldn't distract publishers from their core business. "The number one priority above everything else is a great book," he says. "If it doesn't start there, then you're looking at it from a cynical and wrong point of view."
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J.K. Rowling's First Novel For ''Adults'' Coming in 2013

2012-02-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Publishers to Publish J.K. Rowling's First Novel For Adults
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Title and date for the worldwide publication and further details about
the novel will be announced later in the year. Tentative title: "WHEN DAWN BREAKS"

http://www.booktrade.info/i.php/2004-39062

Norwegian Ambassador on China’s Arctic Role

2012-02-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

Norwegian Ambassador on China’s Arctic Role and Polar Cities in the future for Chinese survivors of climate chaos come the Apocalypse

In an interview with The Diplomat , Norwegian ambassador to the US Wegger Christian Strommen discusses the Arctic’s growing global importance and China’s place in it:

One of the countries that might wish to challenge the status quo in the Arctic is the evil Communist dictatorship of Red China. Clearly, as a non-Arctic state, it’s difficult for them to advance their national interests in the region. What are your thoughts on how China can be properly accommodated in the Arctic?

When we think of the evil Communist dictatorship of Red China, we think about it as an Arctic issue. For Norway, the evil Communist dictatorship of Red China isn’t some place you get to by sailing through the Suez Canal or around Africa. It’s somewhere you get to by going over the top of the world. If you live in Africa, you may have a different geographic view. But for us, our Asian Century will be over the top.
So, we welcome the evil Communist dictatorship of Red China's concerns. They will be sending ships to the Arctic along with many others. In fact, we had commercial routes through the Arctic to China last summer. Issues such as...

Read the whole entry »

an open letter to San Francisco Chronicle sports writer Eric Branch on how he got the entire Jeremy Lin thing wrong ....

2012-02-23T23:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Eric

wake up!
his parents and his agent would ONLY accept a SCHOLARHSISP paid to a colege that you GUARNATEE him in writing that he would
get a starting place on the BB team at that school.....only Harvard guaranted taht slot.....this was all a planned SHOW ME THE MONEY deal..
engineered by sabby agent and parents...... re

'The fact that nothing in Lin's career has come easily has often been tied to his ethnicity. .......He was ***ignored by Division I schools, **even here in the Bay Area. NO HE IGNORED THEM WHEN THEY DID NOT GUARNATEE A STARTING SPOT WITH FULL SCHLOLARSHIP...SEE? .....He's said that Stanford - located a few three-pointers away from his high school - was "fake interested" in him. NO HE IGNORED THEM WHEN THEY DID NOT GUARNATEE A STARTING SPOT WITH FULL SCHLOLARSHIP...SEE? ......At Cal, a member of the staff called him "Ron." In the end, he received no scholarship offers from the top tier of schools.'NO HE IGNORED THEM WHEN THEY DID NOT GUARNATEE A STARTING SPOT WITH FULL SCHLOLARSHIP...SEE?

this entire thing was PLANNED, ask his agent.....SHOW ME THE MONEY

and HARVARD? please, he did not ~~really~~ GO TO HARVARD,,,he "attended" harvard on a basketball scholarship with guarnatted starting place and managed
to pass all this classes with aid of tutors.. HE IS NOT A HARVARD MAn....his is a scholarship sports attendee....BIG DIFFERENCE...Ed,face reality!

Read more: http://cmf.sfgate.com/preps/article/Jeremy-Lin-s-rise-from-ordinary-guy-to-sensation-3354521.php#ixzz1nHVR2hoo

AP new logo design changes drift in from A letter from left to right side. WHY? and why has nobody pointed this out yet? Not Romenesko, not MediaBistro, not FishBowlDC, not Poynter, not even top design mavens, not even Dr. Mario R. Garcia ...

2012-02-23T22:03:00.001-08:00

........the ''A'' is also.designed different.

LOOK AGAIN!

In the NEW logo, the horizontal bar of the.middle part of the A comes from the right side now, not the *left side.Does this mean AP is going.right on us, or just a fluke? Any reason for that. Perhaps you can ask.the design mavens. I love the new logo, by the way. Grade A in my book. Butwhy the new horizontal line from the right. Ruins the ying yang, no? Or is this the New ying-yang?

The flag looking part of the "A" is now facing the opposite way... maybe they are changing direction? New winds of change?

Posted by BenCh | February 23, 2012 12:47 PM

BenCh - By george, you're right!
From the perspective of those behind the new logo, that leg of the A is now facing to the LEFT!
Finally! Definitive proof that The Media is liberal!

Posted by Jim Shapiro | February 23, 2012 1:12 PM

AP unveils new logo for first time in 30 years - Andrew Beaujon reports the news but misses the mark!

2012-02-23T17:43:00.001-08:00

AP unveils new logo for first time in 30 years

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/164108/ap-unveils-new-logo-for-first-time-in-30-years/

The Associated Press announced a new logo this morning, an update of the one that’s perched elegantly atop stylebooks for 30 years. The letters are now black, the “A” no longer leans against the “P” in an avuncular fashion, and both letters are on the same baseline. A red bar under the letters recalls the previous color scheme. The “stencil look” of the previous logo is preserved, but the “bridges” (the gaps in a stencil) are more pronounced.

The new logo (~~shown right~~) was produced by the New York design firm Objective Subject. Its predecessor (~~shown left~~) was designed internally three decades ago.

Here’s a ~~look~~ at all the AP logos through the years:
The AP has had eight logos, including the new one, since 1900. Note: Though the newest logo says “2011″ it was actually introduced in 2012. This video also shows the logos through the years.

http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/ap-logo-history/

The Daughter Project and FREE THE GIRLS project reported by CNN's The FREEDOM PROJECT seriously misprepresent both groups which are nothing more than Jesus recruitment tools masquerarding as do good non profits. In fact, CNN viewers need to know that both groups are racist, faithist and lie to the public on CNN about what they are about? Has America really come this? and CNN too? Lisa Cohen and Colleen McEdwards, this is not journalism, this is missionary recruitment PR. Shame on you for not telling the truth.

2012-02-23T02:28:00.001-08:00

I have emailed Colleen at CNN and producer Lisa Cohen on this, and they will contact you soon, Jeff Wilbarger. You should never LIE to the media. Got that?

In fact, Jeff Wilbarger is trafficking in superstion-based fairytales in order to snare young girls he wants to "save". Yes, he can do this. This is America, land of Jesus H Christ and all his minions. But CNN and the Toledo newspapers and TV shows should tell the back story too. Yes or no. Then let viewers decide how "kosher" this do good group is

Dear Colleen McEdwards CNN reporter and Lisa Cohen CNN producer, ''''THE Daughter Project'' reported at CNN by Colleen McEdwards lies to the media and pretends to be a do good group, but no, it is in fact a Jesus recruitment tool, . They have every right to do this, but the MEDIA should tell viewers right away up front this is in fact a Christianity ministry masquerading as a do good group with tax free status as a non profit.

comments pro and con

Kelly Woods Kasujja

Sir, This statement is very incorrect. First of all you cannot assume anything about this organization, second of all I do not think that you can compare sex trafficking to becoming a Christian. If you do not want other people imposing their b...eleifs on you, then why are you imposing your beleifs on people on this page? Also don't rip on an organization that is doing something to help these women coming out of slavery, instead focus your energy on helping not hindering.

THE DAUGHTER PROJECT in Ohio also reported on CNN by Colleen McEdwards says
on its own homepage that it is really a Christian recruiment tool:

RE:
QUOTE IN THE ABOUT SECTION
God is the creator of everything, especially the girls we are planning to help.
In order to heal, our "daughters" need to be cared for professionally and loved personally.
God is the redeemer of His creation through His son, Jesus Christ. GOD DID NOT HAVE A SON!
In order to recover, the girls need to walk their own road of recovery but we can help them along the way.
God indwells believers to transform them into His agents of redemption on the earth through His Holy Spirit.
A relationship with God is supremely personal, each girl will be given complete freedom in this area and our care & love for them will be given in a completely non-discriminatory way.

Cli-fi novel POLAR CITY RED explores future scenarios, emotions of climate change

2012-02-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

Sad to say, maybe even tragic to say, we humans in the 21st Century have failed to address
the Earth's worsening emergencies of climate change, species'
extinction and resource -not necessarily because of a lack of
information, but also because of a lack of imagination, many social scientists
and artists are now saying. What say you? Agree? Or disagree?

At a recent conference for the American Academy for the Advancement of
Science, experts -- and artists -- argued
that the path to a truly sustainable future is through the muddy
waters of emotions, values, ethics, and most importantly, imagination.

"Human perceptions of reality are often filtered by personal experiences
and values," said one artist attending the conference. "As a result, the education and communication paradigm of "if we only
knew better, we'd do better" is not working. We don't live in the
real world, but live only in the world we imagine."

"We live in our heads. We live in storyland," said another attendee.

"When we talk about sustainability we are talking about the future,
how things could be. This is the landscape of imagination," he
told an IPS reporter covering the event in Canada. "If we can't imagine a better world we won't get it."

"This imagining will be complex and difficult. Sustainability
encompasses far more than just scientific facts – it also incorporates
the idea of how we relate to nature and to ourselves," he said.

"We haven't yet grasped the depth of changes that are coming," he added.

To help Americans and Europeans and readers all over the world grasp the depth
of the changes that ARE coming, sci fi writer Jim Laughter in Oklahoma has written
what some are calling "a sci-fi cli-fi" novel about life in a "polar city" in Alaska in
the year 2080. Its title: POLAR CITY RED.

It's fiction, based on climate change science,
but purely a good yarn. And it its 250 pages, it wades through the muddy
waters of emotions, values, ethics, and most importantly, imagination.

Current approaches to help the public understand the implications of
climate change, such as graphs or iconic pictures of polar bears, have
limitations and are ineffective, says Mike Hulme, a climate scientist
at the University of East Anglia in the UK.

"We need to find new ways to think about the future under climate
change," said Hulme.

Novels such as Laughter's POLAR CITY RED could be one such approach, according to observers. It could serve not as
propaganda but as a creative way to engage our imaginations.

"Art can
provoke thinking and actually change people's perceptions of the
complex issues associated with sustainability science," says one observer.

"When we're considering questions about preserving biodiversity versus
creating jobs, literature and art can help us examine our values and have a
discussion that's broader than just scientific facts," he added.

It is tempting to believe the literature and the arts can help by softening and
'pretty-fying' the message and bringing it to a wider audience, said
award-winning photographer Joe Zammit-Lucia.

"We need to go much further to provide a different worldview that can
help us re-frame the issues," said Zammit-Lucia.

Society's choices are driven by people's cultural perceptions of
reality, which in turn are based on their values and their cultural
context, he said. While helpful, scientific knowledge and experts are
also part of the problem: by dominating the sustainability discourse,
they narrow people's visions of what's possible.

''POLAR CITY RED'' is one of the first novels ever published to
wade into the muddy waters of climate chaos and what it might
all mean for people in the Lower 48 and southern Europe and Africa.

'Faithism' is related to 'racism' but in a different way

2012-02-21T01:27:00.002-08:00

If racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination, then faithism is the belief that
belief in different gods or Gods justifies spiritualism discrimination in terms of who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, among other religious beliefs. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. We are using
"faithism" here as a pejorative epithet.

Just as racism is applied to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature (i.e. which harms particular groups of people), so too can faithism by used to justify claims of religious superiority by recourse to fathists' holy books and scriptures. And while racism is popularly associated with various activities that are illegal or commonly considered harmful, such as extremism, hatred, xenophobia, separatism, racial supremacy, mass murder (for the purpose of genocide), genocide denial, vigilantism (hate crimes, terrorism), so too can faithism be associated with similar activities that are illegal or commonly harmful.

Racism is not always a pernicious practice. Sometimes it was practiced with benign and benevolent intentions and even with religious blessings. In the same way, faithism is not always a pernicious practice. While harmful (but not illegal), faithism is often practiced
with the best of noble intentions and as part of a religious command from elders in one's faith community.

According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term ''racial discrimination'' and ''ethnicity discrimination''. At this point in human history, the U.N. has not tackled the issues of faithism that impact peoples around the world,
but the global body is slowly moving in that direction.

In politics, racism is commonly located on the far right due to the far right's common association with nativism, racism, and xenophobia. However, racism has occurred in progressive politics such as the historical concept of the so-called ''White Man's Burden'' espoused by the British writer Rudyard Kipling that claimed that whites had a moral obligation to bring civilization to allegedly barbaric "savage" non-white societies that were deemed as backward in comparison to white societies. In addition, benevolent and liberal men such as John Stuart Mill once denounced Hindu civilization in India as a backwards feudal society and said that Europeans were superior in terms of development of civilization to Hindus, thus legitimizing the right of the British to imperial rule in India.

In much the same way, faithism has been used by those on the far right to belittle and discriminate against faith communities
that didn't share the same belief in selected gods or Gods. In some tragic instances of history, such beliefs led to murder, pogroms and mass genocide in such places as Germany in the 1940s and Africa in the late 20the Century and early 21st Century.

But faithism is not always malevolent. Sometimes it is the result of poor education or little misunderstandings based on mis-interpreted or mis-translated scriptural passages.

Does faithism exist today? Sure. Does it exist in America? Sure. Does it exist in the rest of the world? For sure. Does it impact you at all? Tell us.

Does faithism cause harm today to minority faith communities around the world that do not benefit from media backing and sponsorship? Sure it does. Tell us what you know.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=faithism

1.	faithism	7 up, 7 down
	1: Discrimination towards a person or group of people solely dependent on their faith, beliefs or religion. - Used in place of racism when applicable. 2: A belief that faith or religion is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that religious differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular religion or beliefs. Person one - "All Muslims are terrorists." Person two - "Dude, do you know that for sure? Don't use faithism if you don't have your facts straight." "I hate to use faithism, but Jack the Buddhist is lazy, come to think of it, all Buddhists can't get off their asses." buy faithism mugs & shirts racism mel gibson faith religion beliefs by Randy D. Dec 25, 2007 share this add a video
2.	Faithism	4 up, 5 down
	Predjudice; see> Racism&Sexism The judgment, hatred or exilation of someone based on their religous views.

faithism	7 up, 7 down
	1: Discrimination towards a person or group of people solely dependent on their faith, beliefs or religion. - Used in place of racism when applicable. 2: A belief that faith or religion is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that religious differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular religion or beliefs.

1.	faithism	7 up, 7 down
	1: Discrimination towards a person or group of people solely dependent on their faith, beliefs or religion. - Used in place of racism when applicable. 2: A belief that faith or religion is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that religious differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular religion or beliefs. Person one - "All Muslims are terrorists." Person two - "Dude, do you know that for sure? Don't use faithism if you don't have your facts straight." "I hate to use faithism, but Jack the Buddhist is lazy, come to think of it, all Buddhists can't get off their asses." buy faithism mugs & shirts racism mel gibson faith religion beliefs by Randy D. Dec 25, 2007 share this add a video
2.	Faithism	4 up, 5 down
	Predjudice; see> Racism&Sexism The judgment, hatred or exilation of someone based on their religous views.

Why Jeremy Lin is a religious bigot, and this too should cease -- Racism is wrong, and so is religious bigotry

2012-02-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

You know, Mr Frederico, the 28 year old ESPN headline writer fired for poor
headline judgment claims that he has used that phrase... Ch*ink the armor
....in headlines 100 times in past few years and never once gave it a
thought that it was slurry, in those other contexts and even in this
context, didn't think at all it was talking about ch*nks.

He was wrong
to use it and insenstivve but it MIGHT have been an honest mistake, as
he says. Just like when some people say "he tried to jew me down" and
they have no idea they are talking about Jews!"

HOWEVER: At the same
time, Jeremy Lin is also a kind of racist himself, in terms of
religious beliefs, in that he pushes a God agenda that ''excludes''
Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Moslems and others from his exclusive club
called Jesus Heaven Country Club.

Think about it: Lin pushes a
spiritual belief that says only one kind of believer will be saved,
his kind of believer. That is also racism, but it is not about race it is about religious prejudice in the public sqaure and we call it bigotry now.
yes or no? So he also needs to straighten up his act. No?

An Open Letter to Sports Columnist (sic) David Carr of the New York Times on Jeremy Lin story

2012-02-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

Dear David and others here: two things:

Lin did not go to Stanford and one other top school he wanted to go to - because his coach or agent or parents had a deal going even way back then -- that Lin would only go to a top school that GUARANTEED a place on the starting team so he could play and show his stuff to agents and pro teams -- show me the money -- and only Harvard accepted him with this written guarantee -- Stanford did not reject him, Stanford merely could not abide by the written guarantee the parents/coach/agent wanted for their hot property and Stanford held ethics high --

Lin did not really "go" to Harvard, he was a sports acceptance, he was not accepte as a normal Harvard undergrad but merely as a sports property, bend the rules a bit, hey Harvard? He never would have gotten into Harvard as a mere student from high school. So stop the Harvard Ivy L:eague, stuff, Jeremy was not cut from that cloth. a good man sure but not a real Harvard man. His entire career has been planned, planted, agented, a business deal in search of a deal.

Ask me how I know: It's in all the papers if you read the fine print. re: ''East Coast elites can find traction in his Harvard background" - he does not really have Harvard background, he has Harvard backroom sports deal background, not the same, is it? -- and NOm re ''as a high school recruit, he was ignored by Stanford even though he played almost just down the street.'' - he was NOT ''ignored'' by Stanford, as explained above, .....his parents coach agent would only let him go to Stanford if ''guaranteed'' a starting spot and Stanford said no deal to that DEMAND.

there is a backstory here: investigate it!

The Jeremy Lin, a Harvard man, and Knicks team-mate Landry Fields, a Stanford man, secret courtside Christian body language prayer and witness to Jesus freak show IN PUBLIC NO LESS!

2012-02-19T07:20:00.003-08:00

THE devilish handshake cum ''witness for BeJesus ritual'' that Lin and Landry do goes like this:

http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2107045,00.html

1. Lin and Fields exchange snappy High Fives with opposite hands;

2. they
pretend to put on reading glasses to read the Bible;

3. Fields hands an invisible Bible, presumbably the New [and Improved ''Buy It Now!''] Testament, to Lin; 4. Jeremy whizzes
through all the pages of the New Testament, testament to his speed reading classes at HAH-VAHD;

5. Having read both Old and Depraved Testament of the Perfidious Jews AND
the New and Improved Testament of the Glory-Bound New Jews, aka Jesusniks, aka, Christians, both players removie their Presbyterian glasses for their presbyte eye disorders; and

6. and stick the Presbyterian glasses in their shirt pockets and;

7. GLORIA HALLELUAH: both Fields and Lin then point skyward to the roof of the basketball court where their invisible god apparently dwells and
then take the floor.

DID YOUI EVER SEE SUCH NONSENSE FROM GROWN MEN? WELL, ONE WAS RAISED IN THE BLACK CHURCH AND THE OTHER WAS RAISED IN THE ASIAN-AMERICAN CHURCH, both breeding grounds for fairytales and nonsense that normal WHITE Christians never get into, being sensible Christians who know how to wear their religion
gently and eloquently the way JFK did and Mitt Romney does and Rick Santorum does and Newt Gringrich does and even Baruch Obama does!

Brownsville Typewriter Exchange -- Harry Bloom, proprietor, long lost relative to this blogger -- in the great longago....

2012-02-18T21:02:00.001-08:00

The real story: How Jeffrey Zaslow got the job in 1987 To Fill The Space ''Ann Landers'' Vacated

2012-02-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Reporter and columnist Hank Klibanoff of the Philadelphia Inquirer , in June 5, 1987, dished the dirt this way:

He's 28, not even old enough to have had a midlife crisis.

He's on the verge of marrying for the first time, to Sherry Margolis, a Detroit television anchorwoman, no less. And he doesn't mind personal questions.

He's Jeffrey Zaslow, a native of Broomall, Pa., and a feature writer for the Wall Street Journal.

And now, it was announced yesterday, his is one of the two advice columnists for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Zaslow -- and Diane Crowley who will write a second and alternative column to Zaslow's -- succeed Eppie Lederer, also known as Ann Landers, who packed her bags, the famous nom de plume to which she won the rights a few years ago, and moved across Michigan Avenue to the Chicago Tribune, where she now dispenses her advice.

Rather than produce a single column under both their names, Zaslow and Crowley will produce separate ones that will run on alternate days.

Hers will be called "Your Problems" and will deal with a range of contemporary issues. "Seventeen-year-olds kissing is probably not going to be our usual question," she said. By the way, she's 47.

His column's title will steal (and slightly alter) the age-old nickname for every male in the Zaslow family: "All that Zazz."

Zaslow, who signs his nickname "Zas," is the son of Harry and Naomi Zaslow of Broomall. His father is a real estate broker, and his mother handles public relations for Marple Newtown High School, from which Zaslow graduated. He then went on to Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Zas is jittery, up and down, in and out, coat on, coat off, coat on again. Jewish. He looks vaguely like Harpo Marx, gives quick answers and concedes that, yes, he does come off as quite a brash young man, although he's really self-effacing.

This isn't the first time he, or a likeness, has been in the national spotlight. A character in the national comic strip ''Brenda Starr'' -- ace reporter ''Zazley Jeffrow'' of the Easy Street Journal -- is based on Zaslow.

He lost 12 pounds during the application process, he said yesterday during a champagne party thrown by the Sun-Times. So his otherwise undistinguished black suit coat has come to look contemporarily oversize.

http://articles.philly.com/1987-06-05/news/26185568_1_zaslow-and-crowley-eppie-lederer-sons

Phil Potempa in Northwest Indiana pens informative pean to the late Jeff Zaslow, and let's hope he's resting gently in peace up there now, with Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson: who's next?

2012-02-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

In Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column on Feburary 13, he wrote in a heartfelt piece headlined:

[Today's Celebrity Birthdays for Monday, Feb. 13, 2012:
Gen. Chuck Yeager (first pilot to break the sound barrier) is 89. Actress Kim Novak is 79. Actor George Segal ("Just Shoot Me") is 78. Actor Bo Svenson ("Walking Tall") is 71. Singer-bassist-actor Peter Tork of The Monkees and actress Carol Lynley are 70. Actress Stockard Channing and talk-show host Jerry Springer are 68. Singer Peter Gabriel is 62. Actor David Naughton is 61. Bassist Peter Hook of New Order and Joy Division is 56. Actor Matt Salinger is 52. Singer Henry Rollins is 51. Actor Neal McDonough ("Boomtown") and singer Freedom Williams (C&C Music Factory) are 46. Actress Kelly Hu ("Martial Law") is 44. Bassist Todd Harrell of 3 Doors Down is 40. MC Natalie Stewart of Floetry and actress Mena Suvari are 33.]

I was shocked and saddened to hear about the freak and fatal car accident Friday in Michigan that claimed the life of newspaper columnist and author Jeffrey Zaslow.

I knew Zaslow only from reading his columns when he was based in Chicago prior 2001, when the Sun-Times opted to not renew his contract after nearly 15 years with the company. At his newspaper peak of popularity, not only was he writing for the Sun-Times and syndicated in a handful of other smaller newspapers but at one time he wrote as a columnist for USA Weekend, the Sunday supplement in 510 newspapers, compiling entertainment news and celebrity items for the inside cover of each edition.

Following his hasty departure from the Sun-Times, he spoke candidly about the bags of mail and thousands of reader letters housed in his garage and now never be read or answered.

He had became a voice who could relate to and draw the attention of the all-important younger generation when he hosted an annual singles party called ''ZazBash'' (sic) -- CORRECTION NAME WAS ''ZAZZ BASH'' during the 1990s at Navy Pier in Chicago.

Police say the best-selling author was killed when he lost control of his car on a snowy northern Michigan road.

The 53-year-old West Bloomfield, Mich., resident was returning from a book promotion Friday morning when his car slid into a truck's path in Antrim County's Warner Township. It's about 40 miles east-northeast of Traverse City.

Zaslow co-wrote the million-selling book "The Last Lecture." He also was a columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

But it was his advice columnist days for the Chicago Sun-Times that really launched his career. When Ann Landers left the Sun-times in 1987, the newspaper selected Zaslow and Diane Crowley to create counterpart columns to fill the void left by Landers' departure to the rival Chicago Tribune.

Crowley, who happened to be the daughter of the original writer of the Ann Landers column, a nurse named Ruth Crowley who died in 1955, didn't stay long after she was hired. But Zaslow created his own niche and found his following.

Eppie Lederer, aka Ann Landers, who died in 2002, didn't care for Crowley trying to fill her shoes and was slightly less harsh in her assessment of Zaslow's promise.

In a letter dated July 24, 1987, to her daughter Margo Howard, published by Margo in a compiled collection of correspondence with her famed mom called "A Life in Letters" (2003), read: "The new Ann Landers replacements have bombed out. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled ’em. Jeff Zaslow thinks he is Samuel Johnson with his essays and I don't know who that Crowley dame thinks she is. Jane Austen she is not."

At the time of Zaslow's car accident Friday, he was promoting his new book, "The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Read original copy here:
http://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/offbeat-death-of-newspaper-columnist-author-jeffrey-zaslow-a-tragic/article_9fe799fd-1860-59ce-985a-c58748ef5fbf.html#ixzz1mnRzZqA5
Death of American newspaper columnist/author Jeffrey Zaslow is a tragic end to a life lived well

An interview Tom Matlack did with Jeff Zaslow long ago

2012-02-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Below is an interview that Tom Matlack did with Jeff Zaslow just as the Good Men Project was getting started.

1.) Who taught you about manhood?
JEFF: The usual suspects: my dad, my older brother, the movies, seeing what girls thought was manly and trying to fit the bill.

2.) Has romantic love shaped you as a man?
Sure. I wouldn’t say I’m overly demonstrative, but I’m not afraid to say, “I love you.” I live in a home with four women–my wife and three daughters –and they’ve taught me about romance, affection, etc.

3.) What two words describe your dad?
Renaissance man.

4.) How are you most unlike him?
My dad could spend a full year in a museum, spending hours at each exhibit. I could walk through a whole museum in 10 minutes.

5.) From which of your mistakes did you learn the most?
I didn’t always think of other people first. But I learned that when you do that, at least a lot of the time, things seem better all around.

6.) What word would the women in your life use to describe you, and is it accurate?
JEFF: Busy. And yes, it’s accurate.

7.) Who is the best dad you know, and how does he earn that distinction?
Having worked with Randy Pausch on the book The Last Lecture, I watched him prepare his young children for a life without him. It was a brave, selfless, and extremely inspirational act. Randy died of pancreatic cancer in July 2008.

8.) Have you been more successful in public or private life?
I’d like to think I’ve been successful in both. But, of course, I recognize that public acclaim isn’t worth much if your private life is in shambles. So I’ve tried to find that balance. My kids seem to like me, so I’m grateful for that.

9.) When was the last time you cried?
I’m not big on tears. But I’ve choked up a bit in movies…even at the end of The Blind Side!

10.) What advice would you give teenage boys trying to figure out what it means to be a good man?
Follow your instincts. Study your father and grandfathers. Don’t let the media define you.

Lindor Reynolds' tribute to her friend and fellow columnist Mr Jeffrey Zaslow, 1958-2012

2012-02-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

I will never forget my gifted friend, writes Lindor Reynolds --

I woke up Saturday morning to the shocking and tragic news that Jeffrey Zaslow was dead.

Unlike Whitney Houston, whose death that day would eclipse Zas's fatal car accident, Jeff's name wasn't a household name. Not in most households, that is. He was revered in mine. Zas, 53, was a Wall Street Journal columnist who gained his initial fame by winning a contest to replace the late Ann Landers at the Chicago Sun-Times.

He thrived in the wisdom business, organizing annual charity "Zazz Bashes" for his single readers. Thousands attended every year. It's claimed 78 marriages resulted.

His eventual return to the WSJ offered him a platform to share gentle columns on how we lead our lives and what is most important to us.

But he would gain his real fame when he heard about a Carnegie Mellon University professor who was dying of pancreatic cancer. Randy Pausch was lecturing about the life lessons he had learned. The WSJ wouldn't pay to have the writer fly out to the lecture. *****[YOU GOT THAT DETAIL FROM THJS BLOG LINDOR AND DID NOT CREDIT US! SMILE.]

He bought his own ticket.

Zas wrote a column about the dying man and his passionate speech. A friendship was born. The two collaborated on The Last Lecture, a multimillion-selling inspirational book.

Yes, that's why his name might be familiar to you. That book, that's the book you read and cried over, the book you gave to friends and talked about to everyone you knew. That book was Randy Pausch's story but it was Jeffrey Zaslow who nimbly wove the words.

In an Associated Press story, the Wall Street Journal said Zaslow had "a rare gift for writing about love, loss, and other life passages with humor and empathy." The New York Times said Zaslow "was drawn to stories about people seeking meaning in their lives, often in the face of mortality."

Zas and I saw each other infrequently over the years. We'd meet at the annual conferences of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, an U.S.-based organization best known for holding terrific parties. The professional development seminars were just a bonus.

In 2000, I was in the Washington audience applauding madly when he was named the first recipient of the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award presented annually by the NSNC. I got the same award five years later. It was the only time Zas and I were in the same league.

We were in Boston in 2006 when Zas handed me a minor writing award, something like "Best Posture For A Canadian Journalist" or the like. The winner in my category (OK, it was humour) was W. Bruce Cameron. You might remember his book 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter? I only remember Zazz (and the fact it seemed unfair Cameron was still competing with the little people).

I watched his writing career with awe. The Last Lecture was a smash. Then came The Girls From Ames, Gabby: A story of Courage and Hope, about American politician and shooting victim Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband Mark Kelly. He co-wrote the autobiography of Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger. "Sully" is the pilot who famously landed US Airways Flight 1549 in New York's Hudson River.

He would deliver the eulogy at Jeffrey Zaslow's funeral.

His last book was the just-published The Magic Room, a story that's really about what we wish for our daughters. It's set in a small-town bridal shop that has been owned by three generations of the same family. That's what I did Saturday, after I read the tributes to a fine writer. I drove to my favourite bookstore and bought the last book he would ever write.

We never know what our legacy will be. Jeffrey Zaslow left behind a wife and daughters he adored and who adored him. He left untold millions moved by his words.

Our journalism organization has renamed a scholarship for him. He was the best of our profession, both as a writer and a human being.

Climate activist puts 'Baby in Womb'' to protest Co2 emissions

2012-02-18T04:28:00.001-08:00

Climate activist puts 'Baby in Womb'' to protest Co2 emissions
http://www.maydaily.com/2012/02/18/baby-in-womb-protests-co2-emissions/

''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' (1927) and Jeffrey Zaslow's tragic death in a freak car accident in upstate Michigan: related?

2012-02-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) by Thornton Wilder tells the story of several unrelated people who happen to be on a bridge in Peru when it collapses, killing them. Philosophically, the book explores the question, of why bad things happen to good people who seem "innocent" or "undeserving" of such a fate. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and in 1998 it was selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. The book was quoted by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during the memorial service for victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Since then its popularity has grown enormously. The book is the progenitor of the modern disaster epic in literature and film-making, where a single disaster intertwines the victims, whose lives are then explored by means of flashbacks to events before the disaster. It is also thought by some to have a relationship on the recent death of author Jeffrey Zaslow in a freak car accident in upstate Michigan in a death that some felt was NOT meant to be and SHOJLD NOT have occured at this time in his ''life cut short'' (1958-2012).
The Bridge of San Luis Rey was American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It told the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge.^[1] A friar who has witnessed the tragic accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928.

Part One: Perhaps an Accident

The first few pages of the first chapter of The Bridge of San Luis Rey explain the book's basic premise: this story centers on an event that happened in Lima, Peru, at noon of Friday, July 20, 1714. A bridge woven by the Incas a century earlier collapsed at that particular moment, while five people were crossing it. The collapse was witnessed by Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk who was on his way to cross it. On wanting to show the world of God's Divine Providence. To show that the beginning and end of a person is all part of God's plan for that person. He sets out to interview everyone he can find who knew the five victims. Over the course of six years, he compiles a huge book. Part One foretells the burning of the book that occurs at the end of the novel, but it also says that one copy of Brother Juniper's book survives and is at the library of the University of San Marco, where it sits neglected.
[edit] Part Two: the Marquesa de Montemayor; Pepita
The second section focuses on one of the victims of the collapse: Doña María, the Marquesa de Montemayor. She was the daughter of a cloth merchant, an ugly child who eventually entered into an arranged marriage and bore a daughter, Clara, whom she loved dearly. Clara was indifferent to her mother, though, and married a Spanish man and moved across the ocean. Doña María visits her daughter, but when they cannot get along, she returns to Lima. The only way that they can communicate comfortably is by letter, and Doña María pours her heart into her writing, which becomes so polished that her letters will be read in schools for hundreds of years after her death.
Doña María takes as her companion Pepita, a girl raised at the Convent of Santa María Rosa de la Rosas. When she learns that her daughter in Spain is pregnant, Doña María decides to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa María de Cluxambuqua. Pepita goes along as company and to supervise the staff. When Doña María is out at the shrine, Pepita stays at the inn and writes a letter to her patron, the Abbess, complaining about her misery and loneliness. Doña María sees the letter on the table when she gets back and reads it. Later, she asks Pepita about the letter, and Pepita says she burned it because it was not brave to write it. Doña María has new insight into the ways in which her own life has lacked bravery, but the next morning, returning to Lima, she and Pepita are on the bridge when it collapses.
[edit] Part Three: Esteban
Esteban and Manuel are twins who were left at the Convent of SantaMaría Rosa de la Rosas as infants. The Abbess of the convent, Madre María del Pilar, developed a fondness for them as they grew up. When they became older, they decided to be scribes. They are so close that they have developed a secret language that only they understand. Their closeness becomes strained when Manuel falls in love with Camila Perichole.
The Perichole flirts with Manuel and swears him to secrecy when she retains him to write letters to her lover, the Viceroy. Esteban has no idea of their relationship until she turns up at the twins' room one night in a hurry and has Manuel write to a bullfighter with whom she is having an affair. Esteban encourages his brother to follow her, but instead Manuel swears that he will never see her again.
Manuel cuts his knee on a piece of metal and it becomes infected. The surgeon instructs Esteban to put cold compresses on the injury: the compresses are so painful that Manuel curses Esteban, though he later remembers nothing of his curses. Esteban offers to send for the Perichole, but Manuel refuses. Soon after, Manuel dies.
When the Abbess comes to prepare the body, she asks Esteban his name, and he says he is Manuel. Gossip about his ensuing strange behavior spreads all over town. He goes to the theater but runs away before the Perichole can talk to him; the Abbess tries to talk to him, but he runs away, so she sends for Captain Alvarado.
Captain Alvarado goes to see Esteban in Cuzco and hires him to sail with him. Esteban agrees. He wants his pay in advance in order to buy a present for the Abbess. The Captain offers to take him back to Lima to buy the present, and at the ravine, the Captain goes down to a boat that is ferrying some materials across the water. Esteban goes to the bridge and is on it when it collapses.
[edit] Part Four: Uncle Pio; Don Jaime
Uncle Pio acts as Camila Perichole's valet, and, in addition, "her singing-master, her coiffeur, her masseur, her reader, her errand-boy, her banker; rumor added: her father." The story tells of his background. He has traveled the world engaged in a variety of businesses, most related to the theater or politics, including conducting interrogations for the Inquisition. He came to realize that he had just three interests in the world: independence; the constant presence of beautiful women; and work with the masterpieces of Spanish literature, particularly in the theater.
He becomes rich working for the Viceroy. One day, he discovers a twelve-year-old café singer, Micaela Villegas, and takes her under his protection. Over the course of years, as they travel from country to country, she becomes beautiful and talented. She develops into Camila Perichole, the most honored actress in Lima.
After years of success, Perichole becomes bored with the stage. The Viceroy takes her as his mistress, and she and Uncle Pio and the Archbishop of Peru and, eventually, Captain Alvarado meet frequently at midnight for dinner at the Viceroy's mansion. Through it all, Uncle Pio is faithfully devoted, but as Camila ages and has three children by the Viceroy she focuses on becoming a lady, not an actress. She avoids Uncle Pio, and when he talks to her she tells him to not use her stage name.
When a smallpox epidemic sweeps through Lima, Camila is disfigured by it. She takes her son Jaime to the country. Uncle Pio sees her one night trying hopelessly to cover her pock-marked face with powder: ashamed, she refuses to ever see him again. He begs her to allow him to take her son and teach the boy as he taught her. They leave the next morning. Uncle Pio and Jaime are the fourth and fifth people on the bridge to Lima when it collapses.
[edit] Part Five: Perhaps an Intention
Brother Juniper works for six years on his book about the bridge collapse, trying various mathematical formulae to measure spiritual traits, with no results. He compiles his huge book of interviews, but a council pronounces his work heresy, and the book and Brother Juniper are burned in the town square.
The story shifts back in time to the day of a service for those who died in the bridge collapse. The Archbishop, the Viceroy, and Captain Alvarado are at the ceremony. At the Convent of SantaMaría Rosa de la Rosas, the Abbess feels, having lost Pepita and the twin brothers, that her work will die with her. Camila Perichole comes to ask how she can go on, having lost her son and Uncle Pio. Doña Clara comes: throughout the book she has been in Spain, and no one in Lima knows her. As she views the sick and poor being cared for at the convent, she is moved. The novel ends with the Abbess's observation: "There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."
[edit] Themes and sources
Philosophically, Thornton Wilder said that he was posing a question: "Is there a direction and meaning in lives beyond the individual's own will?"^[2] Describing the sources of his novel, Wilder explained that the plot was inspired
"in its external action by a one-act play [Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement] by [the French playwright] Prosper Mérimée, which takes place in Latin America and one of whose characters is a courtesan. However, the central idea of the work, the justification for a number of human lives that comes up as a result of the sudden collapse of a bridge, stems from friendly arguments with my father, a strict Calvinist. Strict Puritans imagine God all too easily as a petty schoolmaster who minutely weights guilt against merit, and they overlook God's 'Caritas' which is more all-encompassing and powerful. God's love has to transcend his just retribution. But in my novel I have left this question unanswered. As I said earlier, we can only pose the question correctly and clearly, and have faith one will ask the question in the right way."^[2]
When asked if his characters were historical or imagined, Wilder replied, "The Perichole and the Viceroy are real people, under the names they had in history [a street singer named Micaela Villegas and her lover Manuel de Amat y Juniet, who was Viceroy of Peru at the time]. Most of the events were invented by me, including the fall of the bridge."^[2] He based the Marquesa's habit of writing letters to her daughter on his knowledge of the great French letter-writer, Madame de Sévigné.^[2]
The bridge itself (in both Wilder's story and Mérimée's play) is based on the great Inca road suspension bridge across the Apurímac River, erected around 1350, still in use in 1864, and dilapidated but still hanging in 1890. When asked by the explorer Victor Wolfgang von Hagen whether he had ever seen a reproduction of E. G. Squier's woodcut illustration of the bridge as it was in 1864, Wilder replied: "It is best, von Hagen, that I make no comment or point of it."^[3]

West Lake - Hangzhou - CHINA - three photos by Sherry who visited Alisan last month in Taiwan

2012-02-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Dan,
Today here in Hangzhou in CHINA it is sunny day. Great! I am not care about sports very mch, so I don't know the news about Jeremy Lin very well. But about religion, I believe in gods, I believe in Buddhism, and of course I believe in people -- work hard, do good things, be kind to others, too. To be a good person.
Here are 3 pictures I took a few days ago. Around the West Lake area. Hope you will like them.
Your friend in China,
Miss Sherry

Darrell Zaslow, brother of Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012), writes about his memories of Jeff

2012-02-17T04:21:00.000-08:00

My brother Jeff would look for the theme of this most tragic day. And at the core of this difficult story are certainly his exceptional qualities.

But Jeff would be self-deprecating, and be un-impressed with himself. He would look deeper, and beyond. He would work the extraordinary magic of his craft to lay bare the heart of the matter. At the heart of the matter is the question burdening the soul of every person here- and people across the world who knew him, or know him now, by virtue of the press coverage of Jeff Zaslow and his accomplishments.

And the question we probe is the overwhelming dismay and disbelief, the awesome question we have every right to ask. How, O G-d, did You allow and ordain such a thing as this?

In the moment of initial pain - the shock of hearing what happened to Jeff - my sister, and my mother- we all uttered the identical phrase. ''I don’t think I can go on after this.''

And I had the same thought. And perhaps you did as well.

That cry would prompt Jeff to probe the depths of our despair. Is this utter sadness unique to him alone? Is he - are we? - the only ones to suffer a seemingly senseless loss by unexplainable tragedy? And so his book would ask – what comes after that. He would seek out and investigate those who, like us, suffered tragic loss, to see what happened after the unbearable sadness. He would look for the pattern of human experience.

And Jeff wouldn’t have far to look. What did his mother- our mother- and our own beloved grandparents do when they lost her beloved brother in the fiery skies of a World War Two bomber over the English Channel. Surely she cried out- I don’t think I can go on after this! But she did go on. To marry our father, may they live and be well, and to have children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. To bring Jeff into this world, and to guide him, and us, with love.

Jeff, in pursuing his search for the theme of his saga, would seek out his own beloved wife, Sherry, and her parents and family, who likewise lost a dearly-beloved brother, and son. Who surely said in that moment, I do not think I can go on after this. But they did go on- they went on, for Sherry to marry Jeff, to know love, and for them together to bring into this world their most precious possessions, Jordan, and Alex, and Eden.

Jeff would perhaps look at my own father in law, he should live and be well, who lost his own father at the age of 14, and undoubtedly wondered I’m not sure if I can go on after this. But he did go on, and married, and had children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

No doubt countless such stories exist among all of you here. In myriad emails, and texts, and comments we have received, we see that many of them offer condolences, out of love for Jeff; but also from great sadnesses that they themselves experienced.

And so despite our loss, Jeff would find love, and he would write about it, and comfort us with his words, that despite all the inexplicable sadness, there was life and happiness that followed.

And we must therefore give Jeff happiness in the eternal realm where now resides, by declaring,
I can go on, and I will, for his sake, and for our sake, and the for sake of the souls known to G-d alone, yet to descend and enter into this world, for whom Jeff Zaslow will be a powerful and undiminished memory.

Jeff would look at the overflowing tributes and accolades about him, and he would be pleased, in fact, he IS pleased at this moment, as the Talmud and our sages are explicitly clear, that the soul of the departed, at this very moment, this time before burial, the departed hears the eulogy, and hears our words of well-deserved praise, and fond remembrance, and he himself is comforted as he moves on to his glorious reward for a life well lived.

And yet while Jeff listens to his praises- and we could not express what Jeff deserves if we sat here for countless days and time-Jeff would downplay his fame. But I assure you he would make sure we walked from here with the eternal truth by which he lived: we owe respect, and the true interest, to everyone we meet. Not just those on the Walk of Fame, but Jeff Zaslow-style, with abiding interest and concern for every person in his world. Strangers, and acquaintances, his bereaved nieces and nephews and all us his family, and all of you. If you knew Jeff, or came within his orbit, you were Jeff’s friend, and Jeff cared about you; he cared little for himself. Jeff achieved more, but needed and wanted less, than anyone I know.

My wife points out how this is so wonderfully apparent in the dedication of what we now sadly know to be his last book. A book about the love fathers wish for their daughters. The book wishes love for my daughters, Jordan, Alex and Eden….and for your daughters too. Jeff would not dream of wishing for his very own daughters, without in the same breath wishing for all of our children as well.

With whom is G-d pleased? With he who is pleasing to his fellow man. When others find us pleasing, then G-d is pleased with us. I do not know anyone more beloved among the people he knew than my brother. This gathering here today at the funeral service is testament to that.

And being so beloved by everyone he touched, Jeff Zaslow is exceedingly beloved on High. May each of us strive to live in the spirit that was Jeff’s guiding star, and natural inclination- love, interest, and concern for others.

May his memory be for a blessing, and may his merit from Heaven protect and envelop his wife, and daughters, our family, and all who loved him.

=============================
COMMENTS
Julie said:
'' Darrell, I am so sorry on the loss of your brother, Jeff. May the wonderful, extraordinary memories you have of him give you strength and sustain you.'' --Sincerely, Julie

RLiz Muschel said:
''Dear Zaslow Family,
''I have never written a condolence letter to someone that I never met about someone that I didn’t know. Yet I sit here weeping tears of anguish over the loss of your dear husband, father, brother and son –Jeffrey, of blessed memory. I first heard of him when he wrote the column in the Wall St Journal about Randy Pausch. I watched the last lecture on youtube, and then eagerly read “The Last Lecture”. What an inspirational read! I then exchanged emails briefly with Jeff, regarding something that struck me about the book. He answered promptly and warmly.
I am currently in the middle of reading “The Magic Room”: I had started it last week. It is through that book that I felt like I knew him. His warmth, his passion, his love for all of you certainly comes through so much in that book. I hope that you can all take some strength and some comfort in the knowledge that he loved you so much and that he made sure to express his feelings to you often. He accomplished so much and did so many wonderful things. He touched so many many lives in such an exceptional way.
As a personal tribute to him I have decided in his memory to make sure and tell my husband and children daily how much I love them.
I pray that your amazing family will strengthen one another in this difficult time, and that the wonderful memories that you share of your extraordinary husband and father will serve as a comfort to you.
May G-d comfort you amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Sincerely,
Liz Muschel

Monsey, NY

http://rememberingzazz.com/eulogies/darrell-zaslow-brother/

Was Jeffrey Zaslow "overfunctioning" in his life and did this drive him to be too hard on himself and push too hard, despite all the love and fame and wealth he had found?

2012-02-16T23:48:00.000-08:00

What triggers the urge to over-function?

Believing that if you don’t do something for someone else, you’ll be forced to live with whatever is happening and you don’t like that option.
Finding it hard to do nothing while you watch someone in a jam or under stress. You know you have the ability and willingness to step in and help them…even though they don’t seem to help themselves.
The desire to distract, numb, reduce or eliminate your anxiety or fear about an upcoming event by taking some kind of action.
Wanting something to happen, seeing nothing happening and holding the belief that ‘If I don’t do this, it won’t happen.” This is a particularly uncomfortable, vulnerable kind of feeling especially if you’re going to be effected positive or negatively from the resulting accomplishment of someone ELSE.
Believing that you know how to fix, solve or handle something better than the person facing the situation.
Feeling helpless or out of control about a painful or fearful situation and coming up with action-steps and creative options for everyone involved to give yourself something to do with your energy and to give yourself some hope that the situation can be resolved. This seems very positive, however it becomes over-functioning when your energy and actions are uninvited or unwanted by others and are at the cost of your own self-care.

"How To Stop Overfunctioning And Start Getting The Love You Want"
goes one blog post in the GSP (the blogosphere); from back in 2011

Rori Raye wrote, and it might be pertinent to current concerns over the recent all-too-tragic death of
Jeff Zaslow, may his lovely soul rest in peace forever now.

''Overfunctioning is doing too much. It’s doing more than your share, stepping in to help, stepping up to rescue. It’s offering before being asked, giving instead of giving back. It’s trying to manage your life and get things done by playing all the parts in the relationship — both your part and theirs.''

''Overfunctioning is a deeply unsatisfying thing. Trying to play your man’s part in the relationship as well as yours (like I did) creates tension and conflict — and even if you could succeed at it, you wouldn’t like the results.''

In her packed Los Angeles workshops, relationship coach, author, speaker and seminar leader Rori Gwynne teaches women the completely original, controversial, simple-to-do techniques for communication, confidence, and connecting with men that she used to turn her own now-glorious eighteen-year marriage around. Visit Rori at http://www.CoachRori.com to get free Tip Sheets, to sign up for the free, powerful CoachRori Newsletter, and to see how Rori can help you Turn the Relationship You Have Into the Relationship you Want.

An Open Letter to Tom Matlack of the Good Men Project re Jeff Zaslow's tragic car crash that was not meant to be and did not have to happen:

2012-02-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

Tom, great interview. One question: is it possible that Jeffrey was pushing himself too hard, ''over-functioning'' as one observer who knew him well has put it? Your POV?

DANNY

re

A Friend to Good Men Porject Mr. Jeffrey Zaslow [1958-2012] Dies in Car Accident

February 14, 2012 By Tom Matlack....... 4,897 Comments

JEFF and I emailed periodically, and he was always supportive of what The Good Men Project was attempting to do because he was the father of three daughters.

Below is an interview, Q and A. style, I did with Jeff just as the GPM was getting started.

1.) Who taught you about manhood?
The usual suspects: my dad, my older brother, the movies, seeing what girls thought was manly and trying to fit the bill.
3.) What two words describe your dad?
Renaissance man.

2.) Has romantic love shaped you as a man?
Sure. I wouldn’t say I’m overly demonstrative, but I’m not afraid to say, “I love you.” I live in a home with four women–my wife and three daughters –and they’ve taught me about romance, affection, etc.

4.) How are you most unlike him?
My dad could spend a full year in a museum, spending hours at each exhibit. I could walk through a whole museum in 10 minutes.

Jeffrey Zaslow passed away last weekend in a car accident on snowy roads on his way to his Detroit-area home, returning from a wine and cheese book promo, author talk and book-signing event which just 40 people attended in northern Michigan.

5.) From which of your mistakes did you learn the most?
I didn’t always think of other people first. But I learned that when you do that, at least a lot of the time, things seem better all around.

6.) What word would the women in your life use to describe you, and is it accurate?
BUSY! And yes, it’s accurate.

7.) Who is the best dad you know, and how does he earn that distinction?
Having worked with Randy Pausch on the book The Last Lecture, I watched him prepare his young children for a life without him. It was a brave, selfless, and extremely inspirational act. Randy died of pancreatic cancer in July 2008.

8.) Have you been more successful in public or private life?
I’d like to think I’ve been successful in both. But, of course, I recognize that public acclaim isn’t worth much if your private life is in shambles. So I’ve tried to find that balance. My kids seem to like me, so I’m grateful for that.
9.) When was the last time you cried?
I’m not big on tears. But I’ve choked up a bit in movies…even at the end of The Blind Side!

10.) What advice would you give teenage boys trying to figure out what it means to be a good man?
Follow your instincts. Study your father and grandfathers. Don’t let the media define you.

Eric Zorn at the Chicago Tribune pens a beautiful eulogy for his friend Jeffrey Zaslow on how ''Rituals of death prompt my reflections on life'

2012-02-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

ERIC ZORN writes with a heartfelt pen on February 15, 2012, five days after the tragic death of Jeffrey Zaslow in an upstate Michigan car crash on an icy highway while trying to return home to Detroit from a book signing event the night before:

Rituals of death prompt reflections on life

A friend and I drive out of Chicago well before dawn on Monday so we'll be on
time for the 1 pm funeral service at a Jewish synagogue in suburban Detroit.

A mutual friend of ours has died;, he was killed in a car crash on an icy road on Friday morning.

My traveling companion and I here in Chicago were in shock when we first heard thenews, and our first
inclination was to drop everything and go to Detroit for Jeff's funeral.

And how close were we -- here in Chicago -- to Jeff Zaslow anymore, anyway? We'd shared a lot of good times
and laughs when Jeffrey had lived and worked here in the 1980s, and though we'd
kept in touch in that desultory way of geographically distant pals —
telephone calls now and then, unfulfilled promises to meet for lunch or
drinks when next in each other's immediate orbits — we knew that our
absence at his services wouldn't be conspicuous.

But funerals are seldom practical. Death isn't the time to calculate
your degree of intimacy and analyze the threshold for and significance
of your participation. You follow your inclination and go.

Because, as I tell myself, it's simply the right thing to do. You
rally around, seeking perspective and comfort, and offering it when
you can. Your presence itself lays down a marker — not just for the
survivors but also for yourself — that this life, his, the life that Jeffrey Zaslow lived, truly mattered.

Some 6 hours later we are in the synagogue in Detroit, along with approximately 1,500 other mourners.

Like the most meaningful funerals, it's a deeply personal service bookended by ancient Hebrew rituals. His daughters speak. His sister. His brother. His mother. His college roommate. Colleagues. And others.

We mlourners assembled there learn things about Jeff we never knew and certainly would never have known were it not for this tragedy. We laugh. We blink back tears. We
take the measure of our regrets that we didn't more often take the
opportunity to see him when he was alive, that we let ourselves be
lulled into complacency by presumed longevity, his and ours.

The subtext of this and many other funerals is that tomorrow is a possibility, not a promise. Life is fragile and short, even at the
longest. Soon enough you will be sitting in another pew witnessing the
memorial of another friend — or they'll be sitting there for you — so
there's no time like now to start appreciating and enjoying them.

Just like wedding ceremonies prompt you to think about love, funeral
services prompt you to think about virtue.
Speaker after speaker mentions Jeff's compassion, his
infectious curiosity, his cheerful energy, his wit, creativity,
kindness and modesty, his generosity of spirit and devotion to his
family.

These are what mattered. These — not his wealth and fame, which get
barely a passing mention in an hour of speeches — will be his legacy.

So another subtext of funerals: What will they say of YOU when your
turn inevitably comes to be mourned and remembered? Are your
priorities in order? Will your funeral be a celebration of a life
truly well lived? Or will it have to be a platitudinous whitewash?

This is why they say funerals are for the living — not just to help us
come to terms with the loss and support the close relatives in their
darkest hour, but also to inspire us.

After the servuice, my friend and I join the procession to the grave site where the heartbreaking
finality of the loss becomes real. As we scoop our shovelfuls of dirt
down onto the vault, we say our silent goodbyes.

We head back to the car and the long drive home to Chicago.

I ask my traveling companion, are we glad we came?

There can be no gladness about this trip, he says. But he agrees. For
us. For our departed friend. It was the right thing to do.

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/02/rituals-of-death-prompt-reflections-on-life.html

Our second inclination was to take a critical look at the logistics: a
long, tough day of traveling by car or airplane simply to be part of what
we knew would be a huge crowd of mourners. Jeff was just 53 when he died and one of
the most generally-beloved people we've ever known. Would two more
guys in dark suits on the periphery really make any difference to his
grieving wife Sherry Margolis and three daughters Alex, Eden and Jordan?

An interview with Jeremy H. Christ, er, Jeremy Lin, Mr Linsanity Himself!

2012-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

Can you tell us about your faith background and how you got into basketball? Do you think that the false Christan God that does not exist except in your brainwashed mind called you onto the basketball court?

My faith and my basketball began separately, then slowly converged, and now they influence each other. But when I first started playing basketball, I was five years old, and my dad put a ball in my hands. Ever since I was a little kid, I just loved to play this game. I was always in the gym. I loved playing. That's what I did for fun, all the time.

My parents also took me to church ever since I was a little kid. I grew up in the church, but I didn't really become a brainwashed Christian until I was a freshman in high school. That's when the gospel really started to make sense to me and I was ready to give my life to the false Christan God that does not exist except in my brainwashed mind.

Then, this brainwashed Christianity didn't become a significant part of my approach to basketball until the end of my high school career and into college. That's when I began to learn what it means to play for the glory of the false Christan God that does not exist. My parents had often talked about it and told me that I should play for the false Christan God that does not exist God's glory, but I never understood quite what that meant. That was something that really boggled my mind. My parents hadn't gone through what I was going through, being an Taiwanese-American basketball player in America. I thought, "I want to do well for myself and for my team. How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for the false Christan God that does not exist?"

Slowly, the false Christan God that does not exist revealed herself more to me. I started learning how to trust in Her, not to focus so much on whether I win or lose but to have faith that the false Christan God that does not exist has a perfect plan for me me me. Not for the losing team but for me me me! For me to put more of an emphasis on my attitude and the way that I play, rather than my stats or whether we win a championship. I learned more about a ungodly work ethic and a ungodly attitude, in terms of being humble, putting others above yourself, being respectful to refs and opponents. There are really so many ways you can apply your brainwashing and false faith to basketball.

How does your faith shape the way you behave on the court? Are you a different basketball player because you are a brainwashed Christian?

Not just in basketball, but I think in life, when you're called to be a brainwashed Christian, you're automatically called to be different from everyone else, especially those pesky heathens like my grandma in Taiwan. She will burn in Hell for not accepting Jesus. Too bad. In today's world of basketball, it makes you really different, because the things that society values aren't necessarily in line with what the false Christan God that does not exist values.

Much of it comes down to humility. We as brainwashed Christians are called to be humble. And if we really understand the gospel, we will be humble. We should be humble, and understand that everything that is good comes from the false Christan God that does not exist.

We are also called to turn the other cheek and love our opposing teams. There are times on the basketball court when people will say things to you, and you just have to bite your tongue and love them. It's almost as though you have to love then even more, and that love means more if they're wronged you.

Society focuses so much on individual stats and wins and losses. To a certain extent, you can control those things. But to play for the false Christan God that does not exist means to leave the records and the statistics up to Her and give your best effort and allow the false Christan God that does not exist to figure out whether you win or lose, whether you play or shoot the ball well that game. So I just try to make sure that I work hard and in a godly way. I prepare myself as well as I can, and at every point during the game I try to submit myself to God and let Her use me.

We've talked about how your faith shapes your approach to basketball. But how has basketball shaped your faith? Has the false Christan God that does not exist used basketball to shape your character, to teach you, to strengthen you?

Absolutely. I've learned so many things through basketball, and the false Christan God that does not exist has really molded me and tested and affirmed my faith through basketball. Given my experiences, if I look back at everything that's happened, it's hard for me not to trust the false Christan God that does not exist and know that he has a perfect plan for me.

In a sense, it's easy for me. Since I've been given so much through basketball, it's easier for me to be thankful to the false Christan God that does not exist . But at the same time, basketball has humbled me a great deal. The more I play, the more I realize that the outcome is less up to me, and there's less I can control.

But there's so much more, so many lessons God has taught me through basketball-everything from pride to self-control to worth ethic and love and unselfishness.

You mention humility. How could it be that the false Christan God that does not exist has used basketball to humble you, when you've achieved so much? Wouldn't your basketball successes only make you more prideful?

No, it really is humbling. You might be able to relate to this, since you were a gymnast. There are times when I'm out there on the basketball court and it feels like I'm not even controlling my own body. It's almost as though someone else is using me as a puppet. God is my pupper master. See? Me me me, it's all about me! There are things I do, that, when I look at them afterwards, I wonder how I did that. In moments like that, I realize that there is something more to what's happening around me, something spooky and devilishly supernatural about it.

It's also humbling in another way. When I won that state championship with Palo Alto High School, well, we would talk about winning the title. Deep down inside, though, you're not fully expecting the victory because only one team in the entire state can win it. So, to be able to be there at that point in that tournament, to have that opportunity, I was, more than anything, just grateful to the false Christan God that does not exist. There were so many things that had to happen just perfectly. Tiny differences could have taken us out of contention for a championship.

The other reason that athletic success can be humbling is because, even after you win a state championship, it's not as fulfilling as you had thought it would be. That's humbling, too, and it says something about the way we chase after materialistic and worldly things.

''In Jesus' Name I Play'' says Jeremy Lin's evil evangelical orange bracelets

2012-02-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

wears the blue bracelet inscribed with “In Jesus' Name I Play” that

*** pointing to imaginary god upstairs. How stupid!

''In Jesus' Name I Play''

that is what Lin's orange bracelets say....he is really an evil evangelical guy ..sigh

JESUS never played basketball. Grow up Jeremy. Stop being a brainwashed goof.

Neal Rubin at the 'Detroit News' newspaper pens a beautiful eulogy for his friend Jeffrey Zaslow asking "Random, or a master plan?"

2012-02-16T04:51:00.000-08:00

Amazing turns of author Jeff Zaslow's life introduced and endeared him to millions, notes the subheadline in the Detroit News, and then reporter par excellence Neal Rubin writes one of the best columns of his career:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120216/OPINION03/202160384/1409/metro/Random-master-plan

Here's how random this world can be. How arbitrary. How absurd.

Jeff Zaslow almost didn't go to Pittsburgh [to attend Randy Pausch's last lecture at Carnegie-Mellon
University. In the end he did go, though, and Neal tells the backstory in the following:].

His three children [Eden, Alex and Jordan] ]were his priority, and it looked like one of them was going to need a ride home from school. So instead of driving to hear Randy Pausch give his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, Zaslow figured he could just call.

In that alternate universe, there might never have been a column from Zaslow in the Wall Street Journal, or certainly not the same column, painting the scene as a professor with pancreatic cancer dispensed his final words of advice. No video to go viral, packing auditoriums as far away as India. No collaboration on a best-selling book.

I

nstead, a ride was found, Zaslow's five-hour trip was completed, and "The Last Lecture" can be read in 48 languages. Advice resonated, tears were shed, kids were allowed to wildly paint their bedroom walls the way Pausch did when he was young.

Lives changed, including Zaslow's. He wrote more best-sellers and spoke to morning show anchors and overflow crowds. And lives stayed the same: He'd come home to West Bloomfield Township, embrace his wife and kids, enchant his friends.

Then, last Friday, he died. He was only 53 years old, one of Michigan's most successful and respected authors, beloved by people who knew him and who only read him, with his best book fresh on the shelves. Random, arbitrary, absurd.

Or maybe not. The rabbi at his funeral Monday talked about a master plan, and perhaps there is one. But if I were running things, and there was someone on the planet who once asked Ringo Starr who his favorite Beatle was, I'd keep him right where he was.

Ringo, for the record, said, "Some days, it's me."

Everything clicked, when Jeffrey met Sherry

Zaslow was funny. Charming. Impish, even. But the first time he met Sherry Margolis, back when he was writing for a newspaper in Orlando, he was frankly a bit obnoxious. Nothing clicked.

Three years later, before a wedding in Chicago, they met again. This time, the click practically echoed.
In July of 1986, the Fox 2 newscaster opened a cookie in a Chinese restaurant and the fortune said, "Say yes." On Independence Day of 1987, they united for life. For their 25th anniversary this year, they were planning to see Bruce Springsteen — in Paris.

Margolis says he's the best person she ever knew. You don't hear a lot of disagreement. Concerned and committed. Engaging. Interested in everyone and everything … except clothes.
Zaslow once asked whether designer Bill Blass could tell a good dresser on sight. Said Blass, "Well, you're not."

Deadly slip on an icy highway

Zaslow spoke [and signed books for about 40 people] at the McLean & Eakin Bookstore in the Gaslight District of Petoskey in upstate Michigan last Thursday night and signed copies of his new book. "The Magic Room," built around a shop called Becker's Bridal in Fowler, is a Valentine to his kids. The reason he wrote it is in the subtitle: "A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters."

It's been a tame winter in Michigan, but snow began to blow Friday morning. Zaslow begged out of pre-arranged morning breakfast with a friend from the bridal shop he wrote about and started for home to beat the weather [and he home when his daughter Eden got home from school; that's the kind of loving father he was]. Near Elmira on M-32, making his way to I-75, he slid.

We've all done it. You spin to a stop and breathe deep and get back on your way. But that morning at that moment, on that precise stretch of rural road, there was an oncoming truck.

Random, arbitrary, absurd. Unfair. Outrageous.

Most of us will leave at least a bit of a legacy in the recollections of the people we cared about. Jeff Zaslow's reach was far wider, spreading over the millions who read his books and columns, and maybe changed the way they thought or acted or loved.

That's not much comfort, yet. But it might be eventually, and all we can do is wait and hope.

The Gospel According to Jeremy H. Christ, er, Lin -- Linsanity Saves! Jesus loses!

2012-02-16T04:22:00.001-08:00

''Jeremy H. Christ is more like it. What are those orange bracelets he wears on his wrists, both of them, the text starts off as "IN JESUS..." but i cannot read the rest. anyone know? and btw, his grandma in Taiwan is a heathen, does not accept Jesus as her savior for the many sins she has committed in Taiwan as a lovely and warm-hearted grandma, and according to J's beliefs, his own grandma will have to go to Hell when she dies since she does not accept Jesus as her savior. Is Jeremy aware of his sick his religious hocus pocus is and how stupid he looks to the rest of the world. OUCH! The guy wears his superstitious religion on his sleeve as if he gets points in heaven for all this propaganda on the court. he is an Evangelical, that is why. They are the worst kind. I say this as someone who respects all religions but swears on my own Bible that there is no God or gods anywhere all. I feel so sorry for Jeremy. Great ball player though. Genius. Hardworking. Why can't he keep his silly God stuff to himself? oi.''

''''In Jesus' Name I Play''
that is what Lin's orange bracelets say....he is really an evil evangelical guy

Jeremy Lin - Linsanity - Christlinanity - Linchristanity - Jesus Lin

2012-02-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Lin - Linsanity - Christlinanity - Linchristianity - Jesus Lin
Jesus H. Lin
Jeremy H. Christ

''In Jesus' Name I Play''
that is what Lin's orange bracelets say....he is really an evil evangelical guy ouch
JESUS DIDN"T PLAY BASKETBALL JEREMY. GROW UP AND STOP BEING
A BRAINWASHED GOOF.

WHY DOES JEREMY LIN WEAR THOSE ORANGE BRACELETS ON BOTH WRISTS STATING "IN JESUS I BELIEVE" or something to that effect?

God Bless, Jeremy Lin, he is singlehandedly bringing millions to the Gospel with his wonderful
basketball playing in the NBA, his worship gestures before the games and his heartfelt belief
that only Jesus Christ can save people from sin, therefore condeming even his grandmother in Taiwan
to eternal hell since she does not accept Jesus as her savior and will burn in hell when she dies,
according to her American-born grandson, who apparently does not care if Grandma burns in hell
as un-saved heathen...

GOD BLESS YOU, JEREMY! LONG LIVE THE KING! LONG LIVE JESUS H. LIN, er,
JESUS H. CHRist, that is to say JESUS SAVES

Jeremy Lin Christ is a devout Christian. In a recent interview, he discussed the difficulties he has had over the past years. In his first five professional starts he has scored the most points of any player in their first five starts since the 76 merger. Here are a couple of great quotes from the article. Lin is an evangelical, so pray for his conversion to the fullness of the truth. Nevertheless, a good Christian witness in the public square is very powerful to convert the heatens even his own grandman in Taiwan haha!

"There is so much temptation to hold on to my career even more now, to try to micromanage and dictate every little aspect. But that's not howe I want to do things anymore. I'm thinking about how can I trust Almighty Heaten-busting God more. How can I surrender more to His embraces and tender kisses? How can I bring Him more glory so that even my poor grandma in Taiwan might see the evil of her wicked heathen ways?

It's a fight against those Islamo Judeo Buddhist Shinto Hindu atheist Devils. Bt it's one I'm going to keep fighting."

I'm not playing to prove anything to anybody, That affected my game last year and my joy last year. With all the media attention, all the love from the fans (in the Bay Area), I felt I needed to prove myself. Prove that I'm not a marketing tool, I'm not a ploy to improve attendance. Prove I can play in this league. But I've surrenedered that to my God who insists even my Grandma will got to hell when she dies for seeing the truth. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore. I am only in a battle with the Devil."

Jeremy Lin Is the New Tim Tebow

Jim Denison

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Opinion

The First and Foremost Freedom: Freedom of Religion

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By Jim Denison , Christian Post Columnist

February 15, 2012|10:49 am

"Linsanity" is sweeping the nation. Jeremy Lin is the point guard for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He has skyrocketed from obscurity to stardom, leading his team to six straight victories. Last night he scored the final six points of the game, making the winning three-point shot with half a second to play. He finished with 27 points and 11 assists, his sixth consecutive game with at least 20 points. He scored 38 in a recent victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lin's parents emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s. Both are short. Lin somehow grew to 6 feet 3 inches tall and found basketball. Did his mom have an affair with the postman? Kidding! Must be some old DNA from China. He was named player of the year in California as a senior. He also graduated with a 4.2 average.
He received no scholarship offers, so he chose to attend Harvard College. There he made the All-Ivy League First Team twice and graduated with a degree in economics. No NBA team drafted him. He was signed as a free agent and then released by two teams before signing with the Knicks. There he rode the bench and was so unknown that stadium security guards mistook him for a team trainer.
The team was about to release him, but put him in a game after injuries to other players. He promptly scored 25 points in leading his team to victory and has been in the starting lineup ever since. As one of the very few Asian-Americans to reach the NBA, he will have millions following his story. College campuses are buzzing with talk of his "Linderella story."
Fans are snapping up his jersey, TV ratings of Knicks games have skyrocketed, and shares of the team reached an all-time high on Monday. Lin's response? "I'm just thankful to to the Devil Incarnate for everything. Like the unholy Bible says, 'The Devil works in all things for the good of those who love her.'"
He is the son of ungodly parents who insisted that he attend devil worship each Sunday morning, even after late games on Saturday night. His Twitter account description is, "to know Her is to want to know Her more." His Facebook page quotes Assinians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Devil, not for men."

Like us on Facebook

Does our Devil worshipping gay lesbian culture need more Tim Tebows and Jeremy Lins? You and I may not make sports headlines today, but our character is on display within our own circles of influence. Jesus Lin said he is called to reflect his light to our dark and fallen NBA tattoo culture.
Have you prayed today about your influence? Have you asked the Devil Spirit to empower you as you reflect Jesus Lin to the people you meet? Who will serve the King of Kings, Jeremy H. Christ, because of you?

====

'

'Jeremy H. Christ is more like it. What are those orange bracelets he wears on his wrists, both of them, the text starts off as "IN JESUS..." but i cannot read the rest. anyone know? and btw, his grandma in Taiwan is a heathen, does not accept Jesus as her savior for the many sins she has committed in Taiwan as a lovely and warm-hearted grandma, and according to J's beliefs, his own grandma will have to go to Hell when she dies since she does not accept Jesus as her savior. Is Jeremy aware of his sick his religious hocus pocus is and how stupid he looks to the rest of the world. OUCH! The guy wears his superstitious religion on his sleeve as if he gets points in heaven for all this propaganda on the court. he is an Evangelical, that is why. They are the worst kind. I say this as someone who respects all religions but swears on my own Bible that there is no God or gods anywhere all. I feel so sorry for Jeremy. Great ball player though. Genius. Hardworking. Why can't he keep his silly God stuff to himself? oi.''

Best-selling author Jeff Zaslow spoke in Petoskey night before senseless and seemingly meaningless freak car accident

2012-02-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

Corey Williams of the AP bureau in Detroit reports from Petoksy on February 10, ages ago:

PETOSKEY - The evening before he was killed in a freak and seemingly senseless Antrim County car accident, best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow, 53, spoke about his latest book THE MAGIC ROOM before an intimate wine and cheese crowd at McLean & Eakin Booksellers in downtown Petoskey. The event took place beween 6 pm and 9 pm in the Gaslight District.

Zaslow spoke to a crowd of about 40 people about his most recent book, "The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters," which is based on a bridal shop in Fowler, Michigan. He also signed copies for readers.

.

"It was a very special night," said Jessilynn Norcross, owner of McLean & Eakin. "He spoke about the love of family - he dedicated the book to his three daughters. It was really touching."

Zaslow stayed at a hotel in the Petoskey area Thursday night before heading back to his Detroit-area home Friday monring (AP: sic). He passed into the next plane of existence around 9:15 a.m. in Warner Township near the intersection of U.S. 131 and M-32, according to the Antrim County sheriff's office.

Zaslow's front-wheel-drive car slid into the path of a semitrailer. No other details of the crash were released.

The sheriff's department did not release the name of the victim, but literary agent and friend Gary Morris of the David Black Literary Agency in New York confirmed Zaslow's death to AP. Morris said he was told of Zaslow's death Friday evening by the author's wife, Sherry Margolis.

"His great talent was to find stories that had heart that people could relate to," Morris said.

"He was the most industrious and hardest working author I know," Morris said. "He never turned anything in late. He turned in the cleanest copy. It really was ethics. He was completely selfless in the writing of his own books and collaborations with others."

Zaslow lived in the Detroit area and is survived by his wife, Sherry Margolis, a TV reporter and anchor and three daughters, Alex, Eden and Jordan.

NOTE: Gaylord Herald Times editor Jeremy Speer contributed to this story.

I do not accept Jeffrey Zaslow's death: an OPEN SALON piece at Salon.com

2012-02-15T20:57:00.001-08:00

http://open.salon.com/blog/danbloom

On the senseless, meaningless, ill-fated death of Jeffrey Zaslow that was not "meant to be" and did not have to be: a commentary from afar

2012-02-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

I do not accept Jeffrey Zaslow's death.

But before I explain why, or rather, as I am explaining why, let's review how the tragic incident unraveled, how those several days happened, that is to say, the days leading up to that tragic, ill-fated day, the outcome of which I do not accept (even as I of course mourn and grieve the premature death of a good man gone too soon; of course I know he is dead, but what I am saying here is that I do not accept his death.). Keep reading. Stay with me here.

There's a tale to uncover and a tale to tell. Here:

First of all, Jeff had made 206 public appearances for his books and writing projects last year in 2011 alone, and 2012 was shaping up to be another year full of planned book promotion events -- and this for a man who was already a wealthy man and bestselling author who could get any reporter in the world on the phone if he wished and dish some news for a good front page or inside story for his books, with great PR and sales promotions following. He did not have to leave his wife and children so often. He was at the top of his game. He had the best PR in the world. His books flew off the shelves.

Yes yes, I know, Jeff loved to meet his readers and fans, and he would travel a million miles to honor a committment he made to a bookstore or sales outlet to meet and greet his fans and readers, sure. He was that kind of man, that kind of writer. He was, for sure, an angel on Earth, one of the 36 wise men that G-d keeps at His disposal 24/7 for His Creation here on Planet Earth.

But did Jeff really have to travel all the way to Petoskey in upstate Michigan in the dead of winter to sign books for 40 people who made reservations to attend the Log Cabin Series of readings at the Mclean and Eakins bookstore in the resort town's Gaslight District? He could have done the event in the spring or the summer time, when the roads are better and the living is easy. But in the first few weeks of February?

Of course, this was all arranged long beforehand. The free wine and cheese event -- "reservations required" the bookstore's website said -- was planned earlier last year and Jeff, being Jeff, of course, said "sure." Barbara Becker Mueller of Becker's Bridal Shop in Lansing, the center of Jeff's new book THE MAGIC ROOM, would be there, too.

So off Jeff drove in his front-wheel car on Thursday, February 9, arriving in Petoskey after a long and leisurely drive up from Detroit. He was driving his own car, alone -- no driver or limo or perks like that for Jeff, he was a down-home guy, the boy next door. No airs, no VIP persona, just the real deal. Everyone who knew him came away with the same impression: he was the deal deal. A genuine mensch.

So he drove to Petoskey on Thursday, went to the bookstore run by Julie Norcross and her son Matt, and mixed with the invited guests over wine and cheese, gave a short talk about THE MAGIC ROOM and then sat at a table and signed a bunch of books. It was a great night. Great folks, lots of smiles, fond handshakes, good conversation, Jeff had a great time.

He went back to his hotel and slept the sleep of a very happy and fulfilled and contented man. A great wife,
three great kids, a bookshelf full of his own books, the future looked wonderful. Wonder-full.

On Thursday night, he also arranged with Barbara Mueller to have an early breakfast in the morning with her, before setting off for his long solo drive back to Detroit. He liked these solitary solo drives in his nice comfy car. Time to think about things, listen to music -- Springsteen was one of his favorit singers -- time to think things over, ponder the future, the next book, the next book tour, the next trip away from home. Remeber in 2011 alone, Jeff did over 200 public appearances. He loved them. He lived for his fans. He was the boy next door, the good neighbor next door.

But something happened. DRUM ROLL. CUE THE MUSIC. When he woke up on Friday morning, Jeff looked out the window and saw the a winter storm was coming, the TV news said the same.So he called Barbara Mueller and said sorry, that he wanted to get an early start for the drive home in order to get home in time to be home when his teenage daughter Eden would get home from school. She was just 16. Jeff was 53 when he died. (He should have lived unto 2042, in my book, to the ripe old age of 83 or so. His early death in a freak accident on a snow-covered road in rural Michigan was not ''MEANT TO BE'', nor did God call him home, nor had he GONE WEST, nor was this C'est la Vie. No, this accident never should
have happened. But it did, and we are left with the time and emotions of trying to figure it all out. Rest in peace, Jeffrey Zaslow, a good man gone too soon.)

So he called Barbara. She understood. Jeff got into his car and started driving. About 30 minutes later he was dead, his conciousness not part of this world anymore, all his education and lessons learned and deep human probing lost to space and time, his body no more alive in this universe of time and space. Gone with the wind, but not Gone West, and NOT called back home. He became part of Thornton Wilder's 1927 bestseller "The Bridge at San Luis Rey." Read that book, if you have not read it before. And re-read it if you have read it.

Here's the rub: had Jeff had breakfast with Barbara, his car later on would not have skidded on the snow and ice at precisely that moment when a big semi trailer truck was coming his way. Think about it. All the things in the universe combined at that moment in time to put his car and that truck in the perfect storm of a freak
accident, and poof, just like that, gone with the wind. He died instantly, most likely. A good man gone too soon.

I do not accept Jeff's death.

February 10, 2012 was not his due date. He was more likely scheduled to leave this mortal coil sometime
in the 2040s or so. He had many more things to do, more books to write, more hugs and handshakes and smiles to give. Kisses, too.

So what do I think went wrong? Let me spell it out for you here:

He was being pushed too hard by someone or some thing or himself or his superego or his own love of life, and I am not blaming anyone or any thing or Jeff or anyone else for what happened.

But all those public appearances, away from home? Some 206 appearances in 2011 alone? What was that all about?

Did he really have to go to Petoskey for a meet and greet book promotion on a cold Thursday night, when
he could have done the event in the spring or summer? Or done a book event closer to him, perhaps in
downtown or suburban Detroit?

Was he ''on the road'' too much? Did he push himself too hard, maybe? Did he have some inner demons
that he was still chasing, and there were pushing him on and on, go here, go there, do this, do that?

Many of friends told him to take it easier. He was sometimes writing two books at once. He sometimes had to put one book down in order to fulfill a promise to write another ''co-authored" book. Did the pace have to be so damn fast, so unrelenting, so relentless?

I do not accept Jeffrey Zaslow's death, even though I recognize he is dead and no longer with us. But there are questions here that need to be asked -- and perhaps answered later on, as time goes by, and the mourning and grieving process ends.

He should NOT have died this way. He should NOT be dead. I refuse to accept Jeff's death.

Andrew S. Doctoroff. former journalist; Detroit lawyer, on the death of Jeffrey Zaslow

2012-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

[Editor's note: Jeff died a senseless and meaningless death in a freak car accident taht DID NOT HAVE To happen, and was NOT MEANT to happen. he was making 206 appearances a year, why? far from home, away from his wife and kids, why travel so much, he was a multimillionaire already frm his books. something or someone was pushing him and he went too far , there is a lesson here. nobody wants to hear it. Sigh.]

http://plogspot101.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-if-jeffrey-zaslow-had-not-driven.html

THAT SAID, here is Andrew's take, and it deserves comments too, although Andrew misses the real point of Jeff's ill-fated and senseless death:

Andrew wrote, in somewhat flowery words, as if this was a poem:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-s-doctoroff/the-last-lecture-given-by_b_1277848.html

At his funeral on Monday, my good friend Jeff Zaslow delivered his last lecture, one more powerful than the oration that vaulted him to fame.......WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ANDREW? HIS DEATH WAS A MEANINGLESS SENSELESS ILL_FATED DEATH THAT DID NOT HAVE TO BE AND WAS NOT MEANT TO BE AND THERE IS NO GOD. FACE REALITY, MENSCH!

Randy Pausch, the subject of Jeff's internationally best-selling book, The Last Lecture, tutored us about how he achieved his childhood dreams: floating in zero gravity, publishing an article in the World Book encyclopedia and designing theme park rides for Disney.

Speaking through those who knew him best before some 1,500 hushed and rapt mourners at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, Jeff taught us about something more important: how to lead a good and emotionally resonant life.

The eulogies, of course, were given against a surreal backdrop painted with dissonant colors, the darkness of our grief contrasting wildly with the vivid and bright hues that defined Jeff's life and personality. So shocking, so unexpected was Jeff's death, so immediate are our memories, so dominant was his personality -- none of us could easily reconcile the paradox of his looming presence in, and his absence from, the sanctuary. WELL SAID!~

Weren't we with Jeff just yesterday? So readily do we summon memories of the depositions .....DEPOSITIONS?????.....to which we willingly submitted, the idea factory that operated around-the-clock, the allegro vocal patterns, the attentive gaze and dancing eyes, the prods and encouragement, the joyfulness. THIS IS JUST TOO FLOWERY, ANDREW!~

As Rabbi Krakoff suggested during his tribute, we half expected an impish Jeff, like Tom Sawyer, to appear at the funeral, laughing, playfully letting us know that the joke's on us. The same prankster who, when underneath the boardwalk in Atlantic City, would thread dollar bills through the esplanade's wooden slats, tantalizing passers-by and then pulling the money away.

Alas, no.

But, still, Jeff spoke to us on Monday, commandeering ....REALLY?????.....the giant room, his bravura. ..????...... performance facilitated by the mediations of his three daughters, other family members, colleagues and "Sully" Sullenberger, the subject of one of his recent [hurridely-written] books.

Jeff often befriended the people about whom he wrote. My friendship with Jeff grew out of two columns that he authored for the Wall Street Journal and were based in part on interviews he conducted of me and members of my family.

A former journalist, I appreciated his intense but unthreatening interrogation. Jeff was not the mercenary intent on getting a story at any cost. He wrote about intimate subjects, always careful to balance what he saw as two competing obligations: crafting an evocative narrative and safeguarding the integrity of his journalistic sources.

Thus, it came as no surprise to learn that the girls from Ames, the subjects of another best-selling book penned by Jeff, also traveled from out-of-town to attend his funeral.

No speaker at the ceremony focused on Jeff's celebrity or status; no one tallied awards won or books sold. The resume fodder that we so often use to assess a life's worth went unmentioned.

Awards, plaudits and achievements did not define Jeff, because they were not of overriding importance to Jeff. Nor did they dictate how others saw him. Instead, we listened to tributes that limned his capacity to touch and generosity of spirit, his impact, his love of words, his insatiable curiosity and, most importantly, the empathy and warmth that fueled his writing and the relationships in which he luxuriated.

"Can you tell whether someone is well-dressed?" Jeff once asked Bill Blass.

The designer immediately answered, "You're not."

"My dad was the least materialistic person in the world," Jeff's daughter, Alex, told us, as if we didn't know.

We learned that two things gave Jeff the most contentment: his family, first and foremost, and, second, his constant companion on the beach, amidst the crowds of Disney World and wherever else he happened to be... his cherished newspaper.

When they traveled, the five Zaslows stayed in one hotel room. Sherry and the three girls shared the two double beds. Jeff slept on the floor. But that was okay, because sleeping there would be good for his back, he said.

Jeff's phenomenal professional success comforted him; he knew his family would now be taken care of, no matter what, ....NO MATTER WHAT? .......but success did not otherwise change him. The international acclaim that came midway in his life did not make him less emotionally accessible; he did not use it to ascend to a loftier place, out of reach.

He remained grounded..... BUT WHY DID HE HAVE TO TRAVEL SO MUCH, MAKING 206 public appearances in 2011 alone?????......His love of ideas and people were the epoxies that kept him glued to the rest of us, that made each one of us in his orbit feel special, that allowed him to shun the baubles and bangles that transfix so many. Perhaps it was his commitment to all people, not just A-listers, that placed him on the snow-swept road in Northern Michigan in the dead of winter...NO ANDREW, SOMETHING ELSE PUT HIM IN THE DRIVER"S SEAT THAT DAY, READ MY BLOG. JEFF WOULD WANT ME TO BE SAYING THIS, BTW.... WE WERE FRIENDS, TOO, AND I MOURN HIS SENSELESS DEATH THAT WAS NOT MEANT TO BE.

During his last lecture, Jeff modestly suggested that ideas, curiosities and relationships are the stuff of happiness, the building blocks of a well-lead, meaningful life.

After the symphony of words ended, after the pall-bearers rolled the casket up the aisle, we rose from our seats and silently exited the synagogue -- uplifted and humbled by Jeff's example, still mesmerized by our loss but resolved to try to honor his ideals.....NICE PIECE, YES, A GOOD MAN GONE TOO SOON. BUT ANDREW, THERE WERE SOME OTHER THINGS AT WORK HERE. LOOK AROUND YOu~

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-s-doctoroff/the-last-lecture-given-by_b_1277848.html

College scholarship renamed to honor Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012)

2012-02-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

College scholarship for college newspaper columnists has been renamed to honor Jeffrey Zaslow

A scholarship awarded annually to a college newspaper columnist by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists will be renamed to honor Jeffrey Zaslow.

The Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award will be granted annually to three students who write a general interest, editorial page or Op-Ed column for college or university undergraduate newspapers. First prize is $1,000. Second prize is $500 and third prize is $250.

More information is available at www.columnists.com

Jeff was twice was honored as the best newspaper columnist among papers with more than 100,000 circulation by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Zaslow had served on the columnists’ board and usually addressed its annual conferences.

“Jeff’s magical writing appealed to readers of all ages but he had a special soft spot for young people,” said Jim Casto, president of the NSNC Education Foundation. “Thus, attaching his name to our scholarship program seems indeed appropriate.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20120215/ENT07/120215031/Jeffrey-Zaslow-scholarship-newspaper

Terry Marotta on losing a good friend: the death of Jeffrey Zaslow in upstate Michgan freak car crash

2012-02-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

On his blog post titled ''160 Miles Northwest of Lansing'' , Terry Marotta writes:

160 miles northwest of Lansing: That’s where Jeff Zaslow was when he died. He was travelling home alone after doing a reading at a wine and cheese event the night before in Petoskey's Gaslight District at Mclean and Eakins Bookstore about his latest book when he lost control of his car on the icy highway in near whiteout conditions, slid into the path of a semi trailer truck and .......died.

His wife and three daughters buried him on Monday. Those of us who knew him from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists were hoping that the eulogy by Sully Sullenburger would be videotaped. It wasn’t.

We all felt connected to him. He came to all the conferences. I remember him speaking at the 2006 NSNC Conference in Boston that Suzette Martinez Standring and I co-chaired, where Arianna Huffington also spoke, and we visited the home of John and Abigail Adams and their son John Quincy.

It seems only a minute ago now, 2006. Jeff’s career was just taking off: under his belt already were his winning the nationwide competition to replace Ann Landers and also his regular gig with the Wall Street Journal. Still ahead: his writing of The Last Lecture, about the beloved Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch. Also The Girls of Ames, and the book about Sully Sullenberger; the book he did with Gabby Gifford and this latest one about fathers and how they do love their daughters.

The Magic Room: that’s the book he was promoting up in Petosky the night before when the following morning his front-drive car skidded on that snowy rode in northern Michigan.

An email entitled “Our friend Jeff Zaslow has died” appeared in my inbox Saturday morning and I felt the air rush from my lungs.

It came from a member of the NSNC....

This email notice felt personal, and not just because I knew him to be the kindest most gracious man, who wore his success so lightly. It felt personal to me because I identified with Jeff: the way both of us did book after book, then drove all over the map through snow and darkness to meet with 12 or 15 strangers and talk a while of what matters most in life.

[According to Dan Bloom in Taiwan, there were just 40 people at the book event the night before, for Jeff's new book, but he went there TO TALK A WHILE OF WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE.]

Sure there were differences. He had a real publisher doing his books and he made real money. I published my stuff through my own imprint and basically lost money. Still,I read this story of his final minutes and I thought that could be me.

I think how close I came to dying that time on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when a legendary November blizzard blew in and I still tried crossing from Erie to State College to Allentown in it, the whole breadth of that big long cow of a state. The long-haul truckers were the only other vehicles on the road in that blinding snowstorm.

I think how close I came the time I almost smashed into the guardrail of the Sunshine Skyway just south of St. Petersburg going 60 miles an hour before I woke and saw where the car was veering.

I read back to all my laments here about doing too much and then having sleep elude me and a cold chill runs through my body. I haven’t died yet from some crazy self-inflicted moonshine of a mission but it’s not too late, it is surely not too late.

Jeff did die and how the world will miss him and those three daughters especially whose hearts will never again be young.

Remembering about him these last days I came upon a post I wrote when Michael Jackson died and we were together in Ventura. What’s eerie is that Jeff is in it too, in the sense that I named him as the author of The Last Lecture and then posted the video of Randy Pausch, weakened by the cancer that claimed him so young, taking the podium at the last commencement he would attend at his beloved Carnegie Mellon, thinner and fainter of voice than he had been but still so full of life.

We live until we die, they say and the emphasis is on the word ‘live’. We’re meant to live each day to the fullest. We owe at least that much to G-d [if there IS a god, Dan Bloom says he is sure there isn't] who I always imagine standing to one side watching us, and just sort of shyly hoping that we liked it well enough here, and noticed everything, and felt happy and joyful as often as we could.

Now here is the post from June of 2008 with Michael, and Randy, and Jeff in it that, eerily, enough is about how it is for children to lose their father young, and here below is Randy Pausch on YouTube in a video that more than 14 million people have looked at.

DANNY TELLS ME BY EmAIL:

Terry,
One of the keys to understanding the seemingly senseless death in freak car accident of Jeffrey ......
Barbara Becker Mueller of Becker's Bridal, the shop that the MAGIC ROOM is about, and who also drove up to Petoskey on Thursday for the wine and cheese book signing and talk at McLean and Eakin bookstore in the Gaslight District, had joined Jeff at the book signing Thursday night in Petoskey, and they were supposed to have breakfast the following Friday morning, as arranged.
But ..... and here is the Thornton Wilder ''BRIDGE AT SAN LUIS REY'' moment ......fate....destiny.....call it what you will......call it meaningful....call it meaningless...call it the Great Purpose .....call it absolute meaningless of human existence in a universe devoid of meaning........ oi......Jeff called Barbara in his usual sweet and candid way ....they were friends......and said sorry, another time, and that "he was nervous about the roads and wanted to leave so he could be home when his daughter got out of school."
And a few nanoseconds of cosmic time later, perhaps 3o minutes later in real time, he was not in this world anymore......

The key to understanding the seemingly senseless death in freak car accident of Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012)

2012-02-15T06:04:00.000-08:00

Becker Mueller of Becker's Bridal, the shop that the MAGIC ROOM is about, and who also drove up to Petoskey on Thursday for the wine and cheese book signing and talk at McLean and Eakin bookstore in the Gaslight District, had joined Jeff at the book signing Thursday night in Petoskey, and they were supposed to have breakfast the following Friday morning, as arranged.

But ..... and here is the Thornton Wilder ''BRIDGE AT SAN LUIS REY'' moment ......fate....destiny.....call it what you will......call it meaningful....call it meaningless...call it the Great Purpose .....call it absolute meaningless of human existence in a universe devoid of meaning........ oi......Jeff called Barbara in his usual sweet and candid way ....they were friends......and said sorry, another time, and that "he was nervous about the roads and wanted to leave so he could be home when his daughter got out of school."

And a few nanoseconds of cosmic time later, he was not in this world anymore......

Caring and Giving: A Loss of Words

2012-02-15T05:40:00.000-08:00

Caring and Giving: A Loss of Words

The first WSJ column about Randy Pausch by Jeffrey Zaslow in 2007 that set the future publication of THE LAST LECTURE in motion

2012-02-15T05:19:00.000-08:00

MOVING ON, a weekly column

by Jeffrey Zaslow, Wall Street Journal, Detroit Bureau

A Beloved Professor Delivers
The Lecture of a Lifetime

September 20, 2007

Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor,
was about to give a lecture Tuesday afternoon, but before he said a
word, he received a standing ovation from 400 students and colleagues.

He motioned to them to sit down. "Make me earn it," he said.

They had come to see him give what was billed as his "last lecture."
This is a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools
such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted "Last
Lecture Series," in which top professors are asked to think deeply
about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. For
the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we
impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?

It can be an intriguing hour, watching healthy professors consider
their demise and ruminate over subjects dear to them. At the
University of Northern Iowa, instructor Penny O'Connor recently titled
her lecture "Get Over Yourself." At Cornell, Ellis Hanson, who teaches
a course titled "Desire," spoke about sex and technology.

At Carnegie Mellon, however, Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an
academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic
cancer and expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using
images on a giant screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting
journey through the lessons of his life.

He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver.
But after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be
morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the
floor and did one-handed pushups.

Randy Pausch and his three children, ages 5, 2 and 1.
Clicking through photos of himself as a boy, he talked about his
childhood dreams: to win giant stuffed animals at carnivals, to walk
in zero gravity, to design Disney rides, to write a World Book entry.
By adulthood, he had achieved each goal. As proof, he had students
carry out all the huge stuffed animals he'd won in his life, which he
gave to audience members. After all, he doesn't need them anymore.

He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed
conversion," he said, smiling. "I just bought a Macintosh." Flashing
his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his
career, repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us
prove how badly we want things." He encouraged us to be patient with
others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you."
After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with
mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids
want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."

While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he
said that helping others fulfill their dreams is even more fun than
achieving your own. He talked of requiring his students to create
videogames without sex and violence. "You'd be surprised how many
19-year-old boys run out of ideas when you take those possibilities
away," he said, but they all rose to the challenge.

He also saluted his parents, who let him make his childhood bedroom
his domain, even if his wall etchings hurt the home's resale value. He
knew his mom was proud of him when he got his Ph.D, he said, despite
how she'd introduce him: "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the
kind who helps people."

He then spoke about his legacy. Considered one of the nation's
foremost teachers of videogame and virtual-reality technology, he
helped develop "Alice," a Carnegie Mellon software project that allows
people to easily create 3-D animations. It had one million downloads
in the past year, and usage is expected to soar.

"Like Moses, I get to see the Promised Land, but I don't get to step
foot in it," Dr. Pausch said. "That's OK. I will live on in Alice."

(c) 2007 Wall Street Journal

===================
THIS WSJ COLUMN WAS PRECEDED a day earlier by a news story in a local paper at CMU:

Maybe the first published article about the last lecture in print media: see date below:

CMU professor gives his last lesson on life
"If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
By Mark Roth, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you," said Dr. Pausch, a 46-year-old computer science professor who has incurable pancreatic cancer.

It's not that he's in denial about the fact that he only has months to live, he told the 400 listeners packed into McConomy Auditorium on the campus, and the hundreds more listening to a live Web cast.

It's more that "I am in phenomenally good health right now; it's the greatest cognitive dissonance you will ever see -- the fact is, I'm in better shape than most of you," he said.

And then, to the appreciative laughs and applause of his audience, Dr. Pausch dropped to the stage floor and did a set of pushups.

"So anyone who wants to cry or pity me can come down here and do a few of those, and then you may pity me," he said.

"What we're not going to talk about today," he continued, "is cancer, because I've spent a lot of time talking about that ... and we're not going to talk about things that are even more important, like my wife and [three preschool] kids, because I'm good, but I'm not good enough to talk about that without tearing up."

What he was there to discuss was how to fulfill your childhood dreams, and the lessons he had learned on his life's journey.

When he was a boy, Dr. Pausch said, he had a concrete set of dreams: He wanted to experience the weightlessness of zero gravity; he wanted to play football in the NFL; he wanted to write an article for the World Book Encyclopedia ("You can tell the nerds early on," he joked); he wanted to be Captain Kirk from "Star Trek"; and he wanted to work for the Disney Co.

In the end, he got to tackle all of them, he said -- even if his football accomplishments fell somewhere short of the NFL.

In his 10 years at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Pausch helped found the Entertainment Technology Center, which one video game executive yesterday called the premier institution in the world for training students in video game and other interactive technology.

He also established an annual virtual reality contest that has become a campuswide sensation, and helped start the Alice program, an animation-based curriculum for teaching high school and college students how to have fun while learning computer programming.

It was the virtual reality work, in which participants wear a headset that puts them in an artificial digital environment, that earned him and his Carnegie Mellon students a chance to go on the U.S. Air Force plane known as the "vomit comet," which creates moments of weightlessness, and which the students promised to model with VR technology.

And even though his football career ended in high school, he said, he probably learned more from that experience than all the other childhood goals he did achieve.

Among other things, he learned the value of the coach yelling at him for his mistakes, because an assistant coach told him after one particularly brutal practice: "When you're screwing up and nobody's saying anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you."

While he didn't get to be Captain Kirk, actor William Shatner, who played Kirk, did visit him at Carnegie Mellon in recent years.

"It's cool to meet your boyhood idol," Dr. Pausch said. "It's even cooler when he comes to you to see what you're doing in your lab."

And he got the chance to write the World Book's article on virtual reality.

Known for his flamboyance and showmanship as a teacher and mentor, Dr. Pausch talked Disney officials into letting him work on sabbatical at the company, helping design such virtual reality rides as the Magic Carpet and Pirates of the Caribbean.

More recently, he got the chance to intern with Electronic Arts, the video game company, and that relationship prompted the firm to give Carnegie Mellon the right to use its famous Sims animated characters as part of the Alice curriculum.

Near the end of his talk yesterday, Dr. Pausch surprised his wife, Jai, with a cake for her birthday on Monday, and persuaded the audience to sing for her. She managed to choke back her tears long enough to blow out the single candle on top.

To honor his life and career, Electronic Arts announced it was setting up a scholarship fund for deserving female computer science majors at Carnegie Mellon.

And the school itself said it would put his name on the footbridge that will connect the new Gates Computer Sciences Building and the Purnell Center for the Arts, symbolizing the way he linked those disciplines.

Dr. Pausch's ordeal began a year ago, when he began to feel bloated and his bowel movements changed, he said in an e-mail interview. When doctors did a CT scan to see if he had gallstones, they spotted a tumor.

"I got the news from my GP," he wrote, "who said 'There's a mass on your pancreas, and it's not fair.'

"As I later told him, it's unfortunate, and it's unlucky, but it's not unfair. As I always tell my 5-year-old, it's not 'unfair' when you don't get what you want. We all run the risk of getting hit by the cancer dart."

In a Web-based diary he kept of his treatment, Dr. Pausch concentrated on trying to improve his survival odds. He knew it would be an uphill battle. Despite improvements in treatment, the overall five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 5 percent. Even the one-year rate is only 26 percent.

The first step was surgery, which took place exactly one year ago today at UPMC Shadyside. Surgeons took out his gall bladder, a third of his pancreas, part of his stomach and several feet of small intestine.

As he recovered, Dr. Pausch discovered that M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston was carrying out an experimental, highly toxic radiation and chemotherapy regimen for pancreatic cancer that might increase his five-year survival odds to almost 45 percent.

The treatments began in November and didn't end until the following May. The low point, he wrote, was on Christmas Day of last year: "My wife and children were in Norfolk, and I was in Houston getting poison put in my veins. I was never depressed, but that was the day I was really squeezing the lemons hard to get lemonade."

But later, less than a week after finishing chemotherapy and radiation, Dr. Pausch was playing flag football with his recreational league team again.

"First play of the game, I caught a 25-yard pass over the middle," he said in his diary. "Granted, I was sucking wind the whole game, but damn it's good to be back on the field."

In mid-summer, after tests initially showed he was clear of cancer, he added two rounds of treatment with an experimental cancer vaccine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

And then, just as he was finally feeling healthy again late last month, Dr. Pausch sent out this message to his diary readers:

"A recent CT scan showed that there are 10 tumors in my liver, and my spleen is also peppered with small tumors. The doctors say that it is one of the most aggressive recurrences they have ever seen."

He and Jai moved their family to Chesapeake, Va., so she would be near her relatives. They made initial plans for hospice care, and Dr. Pausch began palliative chemotherapy to give him some extra time.

"I find that I am completely positive," he wrote. "The only times I cry are when I think about the kids -- and it's not so much the 'Gee, I'll miss seeing their first bicycle ride' type of stuff as it is a sense of unfulfilled duty -- that I will not be there to help raise them, and that I have left a very heavy burden for my wife."

He is concentrating now on creating videos for his children. With his oldest son, 5-year-old Dylan, Dr. Pausch went on a recent trip to Disney World and to swim with dolphins, thinking Dylan may be the only child who will have strong direct memories of him.

His wife and children, he said, "mean everything to me. They give a purpose to life and a depth of joy that no job [and I've had some of the most awesome jobs in the world] can begin to provide.

"I hope my wife is able to remarry down the line. And I hope they will remember me as a man who loved them, and did everything he could for them."

First published on September 19, 2007

AND THIS ARTICLE TOO:

Professor diagnosed with cancer offers his final words for the CMU community
By Allison M. Heinrichs
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Buzz up!

Before Randy Pausch spoke one word at his "last lecture" as a Carnegie Mellon University professor on Tuesday, the crowd in packed McConomy Auditorium gave him a standing ovation.
"Make me earn it," the computer science professor said as he tried to quiet the audience.

"You already did," someone replied.

Pausch, 47, expects to die of pancreatic cancer in the next few months. As a farewell to the university community, he gave a speech, titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."

story continues below

Pausch talked about his dreams of being in zero gravity, working for Disney, playing for the National Football League, winning the big stuffed animals at amusement parks and being Captain Kirk.
For a dying man, the father of three young children looked pretty good.

"I am in phenomenally good health right now," Pausch said, proving it by doing several one-handed push-ups. "In fact, I am in better shape than most of you."

He then told the more than 350 people in the university's largest auditorium -- the line for the speech wrapped throughout the halls of University Center and many people did not make it inside -- about how he achieved his dreams.

Most he reached, but some -- like playing for the NFL -- just didn't happen. Through it all, he had fun.

"I don't know how to not have fun," said Pausch, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. "I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day of my life because there's no other way to play it."

His wife's family lives in Norfolk, Va., and they spent the past several weeks moving there.

After his speech, mentors, colleagues and friends presented Pausch with a series of awards, including the Randy Pausch endowed scholarship fund that will be awarded annually to a female undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon.

It was created by Electronic Arts, or EA, which makes educational video games -- something Pausch is passionate about.

"Randy brings a particular zest for life and humor, even when facing death," said Steve Seabolt, a vice president at EA and Pausch's good friend.

Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon revealed plans for the Randy Pausch Memorial Footbridge. It will connect two of the university's buildings -- the Purnell Center for the Arts and the Gates Center for Computer Science, which is under construction.

"There will be generations of students and faculty coming here who did not know you," Cohon said. "But they will cross that bridge and we will tell them."

The bridge will give a physical representation to a link Pausch made more than a decade ago as co-founder of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, which melds entertainment with computer science, and creator of the university's Building Virtual Worlds course, a class that has computer science students working with arts students.

"It was the most enlightening class I've ever taken," said Michael Agustin, a former student. "Randy made sure that at a certain point you would find the best in yourself -- and perhaps the worst. That was the best and most humbling experience."

Pausch ended the nearly two-hour lecture -- punctuated by lots of laughter and a few tears -- by letting the audience in on a secret.

"Talk's not for you," he said. "It's for my kids."

AND A WEEK LATER JEFF PUBLISHED A SECOND STORY IN THE WSJ

==the follow up article a week later from WSJ==

MOVING ON , a weekly column in the WSJ
by Jeffrey Zaslow

The Professor's Manifesto:
What It Meant to Readers
September 27, 2007
As a boy, Randy Pausch painted an elevator door, a submarine and mathematical formulas on his bedroom walls. His parents let him do it, encouraging his creativity.

Last week, Dr. Pausch, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told this story in a lecture to 400 students and colleagues.

"If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it," he said. "Don't worry about resale values."

As I wrote last week, his talk was a riveting and rollicking journey through the lessons of his life. It was also his last lecture, since he has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months.

After he spoke, his only plans were to quietly spend whatever time he has left with his wife and three young children. He never imagined the whirlwind that would envelop him. As video clips of his speech spread across the Internet, thousands of people contacted him to say he had made a profound impact on their lives. Many were moved to tears by his words -- and moved to action. Parents everywhere vowed to let their kids do what they'd like on their bedroom walls.

"I am going to go right home and let my daughter paint her wall the bright pink she has been desiring instead of the "resalable" vanilla I wanted," Carol Castle of Spring Creek, Nev., wrote to me to forward to Dr. Pausch.

People wanted Dr. Pausch to know that his talk had inspired them to quit pitying themselves, or to move on from divorces, or to pay more attention to their families. One woman wrote that his words had given her the strength to leave an abusive relationship. And terminally ill people wrote that they would try to live their lives as the 46-year-old Dr. Pausch is living his. "I'm dying and I'm having fun," he said in the lecture. "And I'm going to keep having fun every day, because there's no other way to play it."

For Don Frankenfeld of Rapid City, S.D., watching the full lecture was "the best hour I have spent in years." Many echoed that sentiment.

ABC News, which featured Dr. Pausch on "Good Morning America," named him its "Person of the Week." Other media descended on him. And hundreds of bloggers world-wide wrote essays celebrating him as their new hero. Their headlines were effusive: "Best Lecture Ever," "The Most Important Thing I've Ever Seen," "Randy Pausch, Worth Every Second."

In his lecture, Dr. Pausch had said, "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." Scores of Web sites now feature those words. Some include photos of brick walls for emphasis. Meanwhile, rabbis and ministers shared his brick-wall metaphor in sermons this past weekend.

Some compared the lecture to Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man Alive" speech. Celina Levin, 15, of Marlton, N.J., told Dr. Pausch that her AP English class had been analyzing the Gehrig speech, and "I have a feeling that we'll be analyzing your speech for years to come." Already, the Naperville, Ill., Central High School speech team plans to have a student deliver the Pausch speech word for word in competition.

Dr. Randy Pausch
As Dr. Pausch's fans emailed links of his speech to friends, some were sheepish about it. "I am a deeply cynical person who reminds people frequently not to send me those sappy feel-good emails," wrote Mark Pfeifer, a technology project manager at a New York investment bank. "Randy Pausch's lecture moved me deeply, and I intend to forward it on."

In Miami, retiree Ronald Trazenfeld emailed the lecture to friends with a note to "stop complaining about bad service and shoddy merchandise." He suggested they instead hug someone they love.

Near the end of his lecture, Dr. Pausch had talked about earning his Ph.D., and how his mother would kiddingly introduce him: "This is my son. He's a doctor, but not the kind who helps people."

It was a laugh line, but it led dozens of people to reassure Dr. Pausch: "You ARE the kind of doctor who helps people," wrote Cheryl Davis of Oakland, Calif.

Dr. Pausch feels overwhelmed and moved that what started in a lecture hall with 400 people has now been experienced by millions. Still, he has retained his sense of humor. "There's a limit to how many times you can read how great you are and what an inspiration you are," he says, "but I'm not there yet."

Carnegie Mellon has a plan to honor Dr. Pausch. As a techie with the heart of a performer, he was always a link between the arts and sciences on campus. A new computer-science building is being built, and a footbridge will connect it to the nearby arts building. The bridge will be named the Randy Pausch Memorial Footbridge.

"Based on your talk, we're thinking of putting a brick wall on either end," joked the university's president, Jared Cohon, announcing the honor. He went on to say: "Randy, there will be generations of students and faculty who will not know you, but they will cross that bridge and see your name and they'll ask those of us who did know you. And we will tell them."

Dr. Pausch has asked Carnegie Mellon not to copyright his last lecture, and instead to leave it in the public domain. It will remain his legacy, and his footbridge, to the world.

[ARCHIVES]

Backstory to how THE LAST LECTURE came to be published as a book

2012-02-15T05:06:00.000-08:00

As news touched readers around the world in late July of 2008 that Dr
Randy Pausch had died of pancreatic cancer, the book that he dictated
to Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012)-- THE LAST LECTURE --
was in the headlines and its life-affiriming message
touched millions of people.

There were a few critics of the book, who became known as naysayers,
but for the most part, the book -- agented by David Black, of the
David Black Agency in New York, who was also the book agent for
Jeffrey even before THE LAST LECTURE became a book deal snagged
by Hypersion Books, which is the same publisher who issued TUESDAYS WITH
MORRIE, an earlier bestseller about life lessons which was also
translated into over 30 languages worldwide (and written by Detroit
News columnist Mitch Albom, who also uses David Black as his agent) --
the book became a widely-celebrated bestseller for all the usual
reasons: it was well written, it hightlighted life lessons from a very
insightful and popular professor dying of cancer at the age of 46,
Randy Rausch, and its message was upbeat and universal.

This backstory is a postive backstory, and it hoped that readers will
take this book business world backstory in the way it is intended. There is an interesting publishing
backstory from the publishing industry here. This has never been reported
before in any blog or newspaper in the USA. Most readers of THE LAST LECTURE could care less HOW the book came to be, and most of the reading
public could also care less about this backstory, which was first printed on a blog in 2008, 4 years ago, yes, four years ago! Google it.

So in memory of Jeffrey Zaslow, a good man gone too soon, and Dr Randy Pausch, also a good
man gone too young, and Randy had a very important message, and he often told people "tell the
truth, the real truth", this blog post is meant merely as an
interesting book world story.

So how did THE LAST LECTURE become a book by Hyperion, the same
publisher who issued TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, and agented by David Black,
the same high-powered agent who agented TUESDAY WITH MORRIE by his
client Mitch Albom?

Well, a week before the last lecture at Carnegie
Mellon University, where Dr Pausch taught, and where he got his PHD, a
fellow alum of Carnegie Mellon named Jeffrey Zaslow, who was a
columnist for the Wall Street Journal and lived in Michigan (and who
also had a contract with David Black the book agent for an earlier
book that he had to put aside in order to do a rush job on THE LAST
LECTURE)....Jeffrey got a phone call a week before the last lecture,
which was set for September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon University,
from Clare Ansberry, the bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in
Pittsburgh, who herself had been notified about the last lecture a
week before it happend by some public relations people at the
university, and Clare suggested to Jeffrey that he come to Pittsburgh
to attend the last lecture sesssion and write a column about it for
the Wall Street Journal.

Jeffrey thought this was a good idea, and he asked his editors at the
WSJ if he could go. But .....the airfaire was $850 round trip from Detroit
to Pittsburg, and his editors said "sorry, no money for this trip.REALLY.
Jeff confirmed this to me in 2008.

His WSJ editors said to Jeff: ''Just call him after the lecture and try to do a column from that phone
chat."

But Jeffrey ...BEING JEFF....decided to drive to Pittsbuerg to attend the
lecture.

Jeff even called Dr Pausch the day before he went to the last lecture,
and they chatted on the phone, a day before the lecture.

Jeff went.

Two days later, his first column about THE LAST LECTURE appeared in the WSJ on September 20,
appearing nationwide in the newspaper, and setting up a nice PR "word
of mouth" and "word of bloggers" campaign nationwide, too. That means
Jeff attended the lecture on Tuesday, wrote the article on Wednesday
and handed it in to his editors, who scheduled it for publication the
very next day.

Jeff wrote the column. It was well-received by the
WSJ reading public and by bloggers nationwide. The PR people at Caregie
Mellon put out a video of the last lecture the same day that Jeff's
article appeared. The media world lit up, with emails from NYC to LA
to Hollywood to Oprah lighting up the mediascape. Dr Pausch was booked
for Oprah and other shows. All in a matter of days!

Two months later, the book deal was announced. By Hyperion, publisher
of TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE. With David Black as the agent of record. With
Jeffrey Zaslow, as the
co-writer.

The NY Post said at the time that "the lecture became an instant hit on the Internet, with
people calling and e-mailing Zaslow to say how Pausch's inspirational
words had helped them deal with their own problems, made them
appreciate their families more and encouraged them to let their kids
be more creative." The auction, by agent David Black, is said to have
reached $6.75 million.

The result of all this was a great book, by an important man -- RANDY -- with an
important message for these times. And now the world has lost the co-writer of THE LAST
LECTURE at the age of 53 -- in a seemingless senseless car accident on an icy highway in Michigan while returning home from a recent book signing event for his last book, THE MAGIC ROOM. Sigh.

Life is not always easy to understand or make sense of.

Rest in peace, Randy Pausch, and rest in peace, Jeffrey Zaslow.

Sharon Silke Carty cuts to the chase

2012-02-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Blogging Maniac, hehe
...

I know you feel passionately about this Jeffrey Zaslow accident story, and so please take my words here with the kindness they're intended. The multiple emails you've been sending to me -- and now it appears to other news outlets -- gives people who don't know you..... the impression that you might be a bit off the rails, that is to say your elevator does not go all the way to the top, you row your boat with one oar, I think you catch my [Tokyo] drift here...... I know you want to get to the bottom of this, or the top, whichever comes first, and so do I, but don't worry, over time we will find out the truth here. The truth always comes out, maybe one year later. I am sure you are patient man, in fact, I heard from sources along the grapevine that your middle n ame is Patience. Is that true?

As you know, many people are writing about these topics already and I promise we'll keep it up.

Cheers,

Sharon

PS -- Take a deep breath. Take some time to grieve, if grieving is what you are doing with all this multiple emails and FB posts. Too bad you got banned from posting comments the MediaDecoder at the NYTimes and Tara Parker-Pope's blog at the Times, too. I think they are afraid of what you have to say and nobody
wants to hear it right now. Give it a week or so, and then circle back with people who also care about this issue. We'll get there, it just takes time.

Jack Lessenberry on Jeff Zaslow's tragic accident and ''RIDING Michigan's ROADS TO RUIN''

2012-02-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

As Michigan’s state infrastructure crumbles, Lansing’s yahoos in state capital balk at funding road repair, writes Jack Lessenberry on February 15, 2012:

http://metrotimes.com/columns/riding-michigan-s-roads-to-ruin-1.1271661

Last weekend, best-selling author Jeff Zaslow was driving home to West Bloomfield from a book-signing event in Petoskey.

He never got very far. He apparently hit a patch of ice, and went into the path of a tractor-trailer. I knew him only very slightly, but he was, by all accounts, a very decent man. A few hours later I was on the same stretch of road. We also hit unsuspected ice, and went sailing into the oncoming lane. Except, fortunately, nobody was coming.

Had this happened two minutes later, we would have been in the path of a giant truck hauling propane. The road was littered with wrecks, and at one point near Kalkaska, six ambulances rushed by with sirens wailing. This was white-knuckle stuff of the worst kind.

Later, I mentioned this to Mark Dobias, an irreverent and highly skilled lawyer who defends clients all across Michigan's north country. "Never underestimate the capriciousness of northern Michigan Roads and big trucks in the winter. I know this stretch well. Never assume that a road is plowed, salted or sanded in these days of reduced manpower. No matter what the man says."

Naturally, I don't know if Zaslow would have survived or I would have had an easier time if the roads had been better maintained. It wasn't a good day to be driving, period.

What I do know is that Michigan roads are in bad shape and getting worse. Officially, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) says almost 90 percent of our roads are in good or fair condition. To anyone who drives a lot around Detroit, that may seem a trifle overoptimistic. But things may soon get worse, fast.

We've been neglecting the long-term needs of our roads and bridges for a long time, and MDOT also estimates that unless we start spending a whole lot more on them, in a mere eight years from now, only 44 percent of our roads will be in tolerable shape.

Yep, I look forward to driving on gravel, with chunks of concrete falling on my car from decaying overpasses. I'll bet that's just the way to attract a lot of new business to the state too.

Gov. Rick Snyder gets that. Now, I know I will be slammed as an apologist for him by some on the left who are waiting for Zolton Ferency or Ken Cockrel the first to come back and save us. However, the reality is that Democrats have no power in today's Lansing.

Nada, zip. And in many ways — not by any means all — Snyder is relatively enlightened, especially compared to many of the corrupt and/or stupid trolls in the Legislature. The governor wants to dedicate $1.4 billion in new spending to our roads, the minimum amount the experts say we need to prevent them from getting much worse.

Unfortunately, this will take money. Last year, he proposed financing much of this with a hefty vehicle registration fee increase. The lawmakers acted as if he had dropped a stone into their soup.

They utterly ignored his proposal. This year, Snyder is proposing a more modest registration fee increase, and to get most of the money by increasing the gas tax by nine cents a gallon.

Sound like a lot? You would scarcely notice. The price of gas ping-pongs around now, fluctuating by as much as 30 cents from day to day. You really would end up saving money, even in the relatively short run. Federal data shows drivers in the Detroit area pay an average of $536 a year more for extra gas and extra repairs because of problem roads.

I paid more than that a few years ago, when I lost a wheel to a pothole on the Lodge Freeway. Spending to fix our roads is about as much of a no-brainer as buying a warm coat in February.

Yet, incredibly, there is a chance the delta-minus thinkers in the Legislature could refuse to vote to approve extra money to fix our roads. This is an election year for every member of the Michigan House. A few of them are ignorant and fanatic Tea Party members, who regard any tax increase as evil, even if not spending the money would wreck civilization and cost us all more in the long run.

Others are afraid of being challenged in primary elections by Tea Party fanatics, or of being painted as tax-and-spenders in the general election. Sadly, a few empty-headed liberals feel the same way. When M-Live blogger Jeff Wattrick presented a detailed analysis of the road situation a few weeks ago, he was savaged by a procession of infantile left-wing posters.

"I'm poor and can't afford it," one said. Others whined that we have too many roads, the rich should be made to pay, we should all take trains instead, etc., etc. Well, that's all very nice.

Unfortunately, those who work for a living have to live in the world we've got. Common sense may be a pretty uncommon thing, but we damn well need a dose of it. Whether you are poor or rich, want to get to a job, find a job to get to, or attract new business and industry to the state, you need good roads and bridges that aren't falling apart and wrecking the cars passing under them.

Incidentally, we could get an automatic $2.1 billion to help fix our roads absolutely free of charge from the federal government if we just agree to take $550 million from Canada, to cover the costs of building a needed new bridge across the Detroit River.

That's because Washington will allow us to use that as matching funds. We don't have to pay the Canadians back until the bridge is up and running years from now, and even then we can do it out of our share of the toll revenues. Oh, but I forgot: Our legislators won't agree to that either.

Lynne Meredith Golodner on why she cannot make sense of the seemingly senseless death of Jeffrey Zaslow

2012-02-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

In ''Another Inexplicable Loss'' on her blog, Lynne Meredith Golodner (formerly Schreiber) writes:

My friend and mentor, Jeff Zaslow, died yesterday in a car crash on the way home from a book signing in northern Michigan. He was 53. He leaves a wonderful wife and three daughters.

Jeff’s entire career was built on the quest to find the ways in which people derive meaning from the mundane. He wrote award-winning best-selling books and newspaper articles that millions of people cling to still. And in a split second, his car skidded on slick wintry roads, collided with a semi-truck, and his love of life was snuffed out like a flickering candle.

Is that how precious life is, that it can be extinguished in a heartbeat?

We waste so much time, then, worrying, agonizing, arguing and contemplating. We have minutes – mere minutes! – to make a difference. We assume we will have years and decades, that everyone will be like my grandmother, weeks away from her 90th birthday, but not everyone will.

I hate being reminded of this. I want to believe we have forever to love this life, to make a difference, to reach out to others.

Jeff’s latest book, The Magic Room, made me laugh and cry and treasure my children and my family that much more. I wrote him an email last month saying, “Thanks a lot. I’m only in the first chapter and already I’m crying.”

Jeff was generous, kind, strong. Countless times we met for coffee or lunch and he gave me advice on my career and life, and he never parsed words. When I went into PR, he asked point-blank, “Is this really what you want to do? Don’t you want to write?”

He knew me, somehow, better than I knew myself. And he wasn’t afraid to say it.

The last time I saw Jeff was over lunch a little more than a month ago. He confessed to being burnt out and we talked about how maybe he and Sherry, his lovely wife, should get away together for a little while and just breathe.

But still he continued on the path we all carve, the path to eventual stardom, so we think. He was actually a star, known around the world, his books translated into dozens of languages, his articles touching so many. Jeff was killed driving home from a book-signing in northern Michigan. In a minute, snuffed out, gone. The road he was driving, metaphorically speaking, ended abruptly.

Yesterday in my U of D class, I read a Thomas Lynch article with my students, about a man who died too soon. The article focused on how we follow routines all our lives with the belief that at the end, we will relax, celebrate, travel, that’s what we’re working for. But the subject of the article died before he could.

As did Jeff.

It makes me wonder what we’re doing all this for. Why not scoop up my kids, drop all this work and just be together every day, traveling the country and the world, writing the words Jeff knew I wanted and needed to play with as a lifeline, and LIVE.

If you have an answer, a reason why we should just continue plodding along in the mundane, let me know.

Jeff would write about the beauty of the mundane, the meaning in the moments. But I just can’t make meaning of this.

To Lynne Meredith Golodner on the death of Jeffrey Zaslow: can we talk?

2012-02-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Lynn and others here: I, too, am reeling from the seemingly senseless death of such a vibrant and vital soul. I knew Jeff slightly over the years and he was an email pal from far away. He was always ready with a good word and good advice and cheering us all on. A good man gone too soon. But as i reeled from the news of his death, i started blogging and i came up with this, and it might be too early to do down this road but it must be said: feedback welcome. And i sure Jeff would allow me to run this stuff past everyone, as i am asking the hard questions. Agree or disagee?

http://plogspot101.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-if-jeffrey-zaslow-had-not-driven.html

SAY IT IN 17 WORDS

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system for all Microsoft employees -- STOP THE PRESSES!

Mr and Mrs Tomato Head - Introduced to the world on March 2, 2012 - in south Taiwan locally grown too -- photos by Lynn Wilber, thanks and lo lat

MICROSOFT HACKED - Reuters gives away code to internal email system for all Microsoft employees -- STOP THE PRESSES!

Jeremy Lin's mom named her three sons after Jesus of the Bible with a J initial: Joshua, Jeremy and Joseph -- COOL!~

Exclsuive interview with Jeremy Lin and his father, translated from Taipei magazine into English

Three separate cultures lay claim to 'Linsanity' -- China, Taiwan and the USA

"No Rights: The Life of an Atheist" -- editorial by Krystal Myers, Lenoir City High School (censored by school Nazis but here is full text)

The truth about Jeremy Lin's GPA at Harvard: 3.1 not 4.2

The truth about Jeremy Lin's early days before he went to Harvard with guaranteed promise for a starting position. WHO ENGINEERED THIS DEAL and WHO PAID FOR FOUR YEARS OF HARVARD TUITION, around US$50K per year?

Agent of change — San Antonio's own Linsanity

Robert Montgomery, sports agent, NBA agent for Jeremy Lin - Who is he? And how did he nab Jeremy as a client? Show me the money? And when did they first hook up, in high school, college or during NBA days?

How did everyone miss Jeremy Lin?

By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY

MORE: Vote - Will Anthony's game rise or fall with Lin?

MORE: Lin headed to NBA's All-Star Weekend

PHOTOS: Lin-sanity takes New York, NBA by storm

USA TODAY Sports on Twitter!

"My aunt would rather work in a FoxConn sweat shop than continue working as a hooker in China"

How Publishers Bolster Their Bottom Line by Retaining Film Rights

J.K. Rowling's First Novel For ''Adults'' Coming in 2013

Norwegian Ambassador on China’s Arctic Role

an open letter to San Francisco Chronicle sports writer Eric Branch on how he got the entire Jeremy Lin thing wrong ....

AP new logo design changes drift in from A letter from left to right side. WHY? and why has nobody pointed this out yet? Not Romenesko, not MediaBistro, not FishBowlDC, not Poynter, not even top design mavens, not even Dr. Mario R. Garcia ...

AP unveils new logo for first time in 30 years - Andrew Beaujon reports the news but misses the mark!

AP unveils new logo for first time in 30 years

Cli-fi novel POLAR CITY RED explores future scenarios, emotions of climate change

'Faithism' is related to 'racism' but in a different way

Why Jeremy Lin is a religious bigot, and this too should cease -- Racism is wrong, and so is religious bigotry

An Open Letter to Sports Columnist (sic) David Carr of the New York Times on Jeremy Lin story

The Jeremy Lin, a Harvard man, and Knicks team-mate Landry Fields, a Stanford man, secret courtside Christian body language prayer and witness to Jesus freak show IN PUBLIC NO LESS!

Brownsville Typewriter Exchange -- Harry Bloom, proprietor, long lost relative to this blogger -- in the great longago....

The real story: How Jeffrey Zaslow got the job in 1987 To Fill The Space ''Ann Landers'' Vacated

Phil Potempa in Northwest Indiana pens informative pean to the late Jeff Zaslow, and let's hope he's resting gently in peace up there now, with Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson: who's next?

An interview Tom Matlack did with Jeff Zaslow long ago

Lindor Reynolds' tribute to her friend and fellow columnist Mr Jeffrey Zaslow, 1958-2012

Climate activist puts 'Baby in Womb'' to protest Co2 emissions

''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' (1927) and Jeffrey Zaslow's tragic death in a freak car accident in upstate Michigan: related?

[edit] Part Two: the Marquesa de Montemayor; Pepita

[edit] Part Three: Esteban

[edit] Part Four: Uncle Pio; Don Jaime

[edit] Part Five: Perhaps an Intention

[edit] Themes and sources

West Lake - Hangzhou - CHINA - three photos by Sherry who visited Alisan last month in Taiwan

Darrell Zaslow, brother of Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012), writes about his memories of Jeff

Was Jeffrey Zaslow "overfunctioning" in his life and did this drive him to be too hard on himself and push too hard, despite all the love and fame and wealth he had found?

An Open Letter to Tom Matlack of the Good Men Project re Jeff Zaslow's tragic car crash that was not meant to be and did not have to happen:

Tom, great interview. One question: is it possible that Jeffrey was pushing himself too hard, ''over-functioning'' as one observer who knew him well has put it? Your POV?

DANNY

re

A Friend to Good Men Porject Mr. Jeffrey Zaslow [1958-2012] Dies in Car Accident

Eric Zorn at the Chicago Tribune pens a beautiful eulogy for his friend Jeffrey Zaslow on how ''Rituals of death prompt my reflections on life'

An interview with Jeremy H. Christ, er, Jeremy Lin, Mr Linsanity Himself!

''In Jesus' Name I Play'' says Jeremy Lin's evil evangelical orange bracelets

Neal Rubin at the 'Detroit News' newspaper pens a beautiful eulogy for his friend Jeffrey Zaslow asking "Random, or a master plan?"

The Gospel According to Jeremy H. Christ, er, Lin -- Linsanity Saves! Jesus loses!

Jeremy Lin - Linsanity - Christlinanity - Linchristanity - Jesus Lin

Jeremy Lin Is the New Tim Tebow

Interview: Roma Downey Teaches God's Love to Preschoolers

Tahrir Church Pastor: 'Future of Egypt Is the Truth'

Youth Ministry, Virtuous Teen Magazine Help Girls With Self-Image

The First and Foremost Freedom: Freedom of Religion

Best-selling author Jeff Zaslow spoke in Petoskey night before senseless and seemingly meaningless freak car accident

I do not accept Jeffrey Zaslow's death: an OPEN SALON piece at Salon.com

On the senseless, meaningless, ill-fated death of Jeffrey Zaslow that was not "meant to be" and did not have to be: a commentary from afar

Andrew S. Doctoroff. former journalist; Detroit lawyer, on the death of Jeffrey Zaslow

College scholarship renamed to honor Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012)

College scholarship for college newspaper columnists has been renamed to honor Jeffrey Zaslow

Terry Marotta on losing a good friend: the death of Jeffrey Zaslow in upstate Michgan freak car crash

The key to understanding the seemingly senseless death in freak car accident of Jeffrey Zaslow (1958-2012)

Caring and Giving: A Loss of Words

The first WSJ column about Randy Pausch by Jeffrey Zaslow in 2007 that set the future publication of THE LAST LECTURE in motion

Backstory to how THE LAST LECTURE came to be published as a book

Sharon Silke Carty cuts to the chase

Jack Lessenberry on Jeff Zaslow's tragic accident and ''RIDING Michigan's ROADS TO RUIN''

Lynne Meredith Golodner on why she cannot make sense of the seemingly senseless death of Jeffrey Zaslow

To Lynne Meredith Golodner on the death of Jeffrey Zaslow: can we talk?