An Evening of Strings to Celebrate a Book Called Strings

Strings: A Love Story got a kickoff like few others last Wednesday. Violinist Ethan Lee and cellist Marcus Lee filled the beautiful, two-story atrium at the Viewpointe Executive Suites in Las Vegas with music so lovely I swear I saw a tear or two. Oh, wait. Those were mine.

And there was more. Juan Soto, who is a luthier by trade, brought several of his most beautiful (and expensive) violins for everyone to see. He also brought a violin in pieces, so we could get a glimpse what it takes to craft one of these amazing instruments.

And The Goodwich, that wonderful restaurant downtown that fortunately will travel, provided (more…)

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Irma and Harvey: The Long Road Home

Irma and Harvey: The Long Road Home

As I watch news of Hurricane Irma’s destructive progress across the Caribbean and southern Florida, I can’t help thinking about what will follow. Like thousands of people in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, those in Irma’s path will soon be faced with the calmer but no less agonizing challenges of her aftermath.

Some will go home to houses that are broken but still habitable. Some will go home to rubble. Some won’t go home at all. All of this brings back memories of the day I lost my own home to a wildfire in southern California. Around 250 other houses also burned down in that fire, and hundreds more (more…)

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One Book at a Time

Last Thursday, I went to school. E.W. Griffith Elementary School, to be exact. It’s in Las Vegas, not far from downtown. When I got there, a big truck was parked right in front of the main entrance, and a bunch of excited kids had gathered nearby. The truck was from Spread the Word Nevada, and the children had obviously gotten wind of why it was there. Their school was about to become Spread the Word’s 49th “adoptee.”

Channel 8 was there, too, along with a crowd that included (more…)

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