John Rogers Shares Views in Article on Obama

John Rogers shared his perspective on the changes in President Obama during his first term in a New York Times article titled, "After 4 Years, Friends See Shifts in the Obamas." The article appeared on January 19, shortly before Inauguration Day. The article notes,

The rituals they introduced are now matters of tradition instead of innovation. At their White House Seder, the small group of mostly African-American and Jewish attendees reads the Emancipation Proclamation right before welcoming Elijah, just as the year before. The president played basketball on Election Day 2012, as he did on most of the voting days in 2008. But this time it felt different: the men older, the action slower, a reunion game with everyone talking about the old days, said John Rogers Jr., a longtime friend who joined in.

Len Ritz Addresses Post-Hurricane Real Estate Issues

Len Ritz and two other members of the Manhattan real estate law firm of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. answered questions in Habitat Magazine about legal issues facing the boards of co-ops and condos in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Here is one question and response:

Q: Is there any difference in the law between how co-ops and condo apartments are handled when they cannot be lived in because of storm damage?

A: Co-operative and condominium apartment buildings, though structurally similar, have fundamentally different legal structures. Owners of condominium apartments actually own their apartments. In contrast, "owners" of cooperative apartments are really tenants under a proprietary lease between themselves and the co-op corporation. The existence of the lease can lead to different results for the same types of damage.

Eve LaPlante Wins Kudos for Book on the Alcotts

 Eve LaPlante's recent book, Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother, was mentioned on several lists of the best books of the year, including those from National Public Radio and the Seattle Times. LaPlante's website describes the book thusly:

In this groundbreaking work, LaPlante paints an exquisitely moving, utterly convincing portrait of a woman decades ahead of her time, and the fiercely independent daughter whose life was deeply entwined with her mother’s dreams of freedom. Based on newly uncovered papers, this moving portrait of Louisa May Alcott’s relationship with her mother will transform our view of one of America’s most beloved authors.

 LaPlante, coincidentally, is a cousin of Louisa May Alcott and a great-niece of Abigail May Alcott.

She has published articles, essays, and five nonfiction books. Seized is a narrative portrait of a common brain disorder that can alter personality, illuminating the mind-body problem and the limits of free will. American Jezebel tells the true story of LaPlante’s ancestor the colonial heretic and founding mother Anne Hutchinson. LaPlante’s second ancestor biography, Salem Witch Judge, about the 1692 judge who became an abolitionist and feminist, won the 2008 Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction. LaPlante’s new books — Marmee & Louisa, a groundbreaking dual biography of Louisa May Alcott and her mother, and My Heart Is Boundless, the first compilation of the personal writings of Abigail May Alcott — were published by Free Press in November 2012. 

LaPlante is making appearances throughout the winter and spring to promote the book in New England, with a complete schedule here. 

Amy Myers Jaffe Talks About Pipeline Protesters on NPR

Amy Myers Jaffe spoke with National Public Radio last month in a segment about a protester trying to stop the Keystone XL pipeline in east Texas. The NPR website says,

But Daniel's extreme efforts highlight the agony that individuals around the country are facing as new pipelines are built so a larger portion of oil can come from Canada and into the U.S.

"It feels very invasive, but the reality is that it happens all around the United States. It's not limited to just Texas," says Amy Jaffe, an energy expert from the University of California, Davis. "The bottom line is, it's public good because we use so much oil in this country that we cannot afford in our current lifestyle to turn down infrastructure. We're all participating in that by getting in our car."

Jaffe is the executive director for Energy and Sustainability at University of California, Davis with a joint appointment to the Graduate School of Management and Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS). At ITS-Davis, Jaffe heads the fossil fuel component of Next STEPS (Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways).