Archive for May, 2009

We’re entering swimsuit season which means that women around the country are looking in the mirror and wondering how they’ll pull it off this time around. Finding a flattering swimsuit can be a daunting and demoralizing task after a long winter. Feeling self-conscious about the extra winter weight and loss of muscle-tone may be a yearly tradition for you, but this time Charla’s here to help!

Our fabulous beauty expert Charla Krupp has some advice about how to look younger and feel better in a bathing suit this summer. This week she did an interview with Oprah in which she gave some tips about how to choose the right bathing suit for your body.

Here’s the link to her interview in O, The Oprah Magazine:

Filed under: Media • Style

Paula Span, author of WHEN THE TIME COMES (in stores this June!)

When she’s not writing, Paula Span, one of our own Springboard authors, teaches classes at Columbia University. She teaches such classes as “Techniques of Feature Writing,” and serves as an advisor to students working on their master’s projects. We are delighted to announce that this past week Paula was named Teacher of the Year by the Class of 2009. This award is quite an honor, and was presented to her by The Society of Professional Journalists at Columbia.

Congratulations Paula!

Read more about the award on the Columbia University website!

Filed under: Books • Media

I don’t know how many of you have seen Charles Grodin’s great comedic roles in The Heartbreak Kid or Midnight Run, but his performances are laugh-out-loud funny. What you may not know, is that he’s also a really great person who has spent much of the last 20 years giving back to those who need help–from the homeless (he is a major fundraiser for Help USA) to those who are suffering extremely long imprisonments under the felony murder rule.
We are so proud to have published HOW I GOT TO BE WHOEVER IT IS I AM, Chuck’s recent memoir that recounts the “teaching moments” in his life from his days in Hebrew School to his days as a talk show host. His stories are funny and revelatory. I am lucky enough to know Chuck; I’d like to introduce him to you through his book.

Filed under: Books • Boomers • Media

Yesterday, as I sat at my desk and saw hourly updates about the tragic shooting at my son’s school and my alma mater, Wesleyan, I couldn’t help but think how my son’s childhood and his brushes with public crises and tragedies is so much more personal than mine.
My friends and I grew up crying about the assassinations of political leaders: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy. These deaths were tragic and had great ramifications for the country and its citizens, but there were few of us who felt it affected us on a very personal level.
But our children have grown up with the tragedies of the Oklahoma Bombing, the Columbine shooting, the massive destruction of 9-11, the Virginia Tech massacres, and other horrible tragedies that touch everyday citizens just going about their business, whether it’s going to an office, a day care center, a class, or, as in the case of Johanna Justin-Jinich, working at a café to earn some money to help pay the college bills.
I live in a suburb outside of New York City, and I remember September 11, 2001, when I went to pick up my sons from school, but knew that the schools were not releasing them early as the officials weren’t sure how many of the children’s parents might have been affected by the World Trade Center destruction. Later that day I heard how the parents of three of my son’s close friends either happened to not be at work that day, or got to work late, or decided not to listen to the loudspeaker and walked down the stairs to safety instead of staying at their desks. And I felt so grateful for this gift that these boys I knew didn’t have to experience such a tragic loss so young.
Now I think of my son and his two friends from our town, who were confined to their dorms at college (One of these friends’ father was the one who got to the World Trade Center late on September 11th and avoided catastrophe). I can’t quite believe that a tragedy, which has made the nightly news and the newspapers and websites, touched someone I hold so close to my heart. But then I remember that this same child has grown up knowing 9-11 happened 20 miles away, and that there are different colors for how safe he should feel that day, and that you don’t just enter a plane without taking off your shoes and belt and throwing away your bottle of water. He knows these are the rules, the way things are today.
But what I find heartening is that he and his friends constantly build havens around themselves, and they revel in their freedom. I resent that his current haven has temporarily been upset. But last night when he called, he sounded fine, and not very worried or scared. He was still making plans and telling us of his schedule for finals and moving his stuff back home. The only thing that was different about his phone call is that at the end of it he said something that usually goes unsaid, although it is understood. He said, “Mom, I love you.”

Filed under: News