Dear Friends Around the World:
Amy and I hope you are doing well wherever you are in this crazy world. I’m hoping my short newsletter can provide some needed diversion and inspiration.
A Star is Born: The big news is that on Saturday June 13, at the hill-top Matilda Hospital in Hong Kong, Amy and I welcomed our son Orion into the world. We named him after our favorite constellation -- one of the most visible from earth -- so that no matter where anyone in our extended family is, they can always look up into the night sky to see him. As an added surprise, my co-workers at Concentric Equity Partners worked with the International Star Registry to officially designate an Orion Wood star. We feel so blessed, with Amy and the lad both healthy, happy, and sleeping decent hours.
Matilda Hospital, Hong KongOperation Mask-Lift Update: Our volunteers around the world continue to do a heroic job getting masks to those most at risk. We’ve lately made a big push to help in new “hot spots” ranging from Arizona to Louisiana to Eagle Butte, SD to Haiti. To date we’ve donated 365,000 masks to 162 institutions in need, including hospitals, aged care homes, EMT, ambulance, police, fire and doctors’ offices. If the last four months have proven anything to Amy and me, it’s that having a purpose at a time of crisis is one way to stay mentally positive. Photo below is of the Vancouver Fire Rescue team:
Vancouver Fire Rescue TeamBest Reads of the Front Half: In the next newsletter I will publish summaries on the best books I’ve read thus far in 2020. For those looking for more immediate gratification:
Favorite Novel: The Topeka School, Ben Lerner
Best Memoir: The World of Yesterday, Stephan Zweig
Classic Novel I Finally Got Around to Reading: Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
Short Story Collection: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, Lesley Nneka Arimah
Reportage: Best American Sports Writing, 2018
Other Fun Distractions:
The Apollo 11 film has no narrators, no script and no actors. It’s simply 90 stunning minutes of never-before-seen NASA footage of the first moon mission, with the voices of those who were there. Filmmaking at its best! New Bloomberg Podcast dissecting the epic failures at WeWork
Nigel Kennedy and the Palestinian Strings in a BBC-produced adaptation of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Wishing you all the best for a brighter future when we can all travel again and be together. Meantime, try to exercise as much as you can, and for inspiration here’s a photo from last night’s hike:
John
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