#BostonStrong at Fenway Park

Posted on 04/23/2013 by David

fenway funWe had lots of reasons to smile this past Saturday at Fenway Park! It was a very trying week for everyone in the Boston area after the Marathon bombings. I didn’t know anyone well that was injured, but we were all touched by the attack. We tried to go about our business during the week, and then Friday much of the area was in lockdown mode–which felt eerily familiar to me, having spent a locked down day in 2011 with SWAT teams looking an armed robbery suspect in our neighborhood. We breathed a collective sigh of relieve when “suspect #2″ was finally found in Watertown Friday night. When I got a text from a friend early Saturday morning asking if I wanted to go to the Red Sox game, I thought a day at the old ballyard sounded like a great idea.

b strong 2

I’d heard that they were going to do something to mark the tragedy and the Boston Strong response, and correctly suspected it would be pretty special. There was  a moment of silence for each of the four killed, and then a massive American flag was draped over the Green Monster as heroes from the week were introduced. There have been so many stories of people who jumped into the fray to save lives and offer comfort, it was great to have a few spotlighted at the event.

b strong 3After 35,000+ of us belted out the National Anthem in unison (more or less), a nice symbol of the way the Greater Boston community has come together during this time, three of the heroes from the week through out the ceremonial first pitch. David Ortiz, a.k.a. Big Papi, was making his first appearance of the season as he’d been out with injury. Big Papi caught one of the first pitches and delivered his own words of inspiration. OK, I might have preferred the “f bomb” not have been dropped, giving that I was there with my 7 year old. But the whole pre-game ceremony was still incredibly powerful…and then a great baseball game ensued. Speaking of Big Papi, was had great seats and I was able to get a nice photo of his first at-bat. A bit later in the game, he’d get a big hit to tie the score.

Big Papi's First 2013 At-BatBig Papi’s strong return notwithstanding, by the 8th inning, the Sox had fallen behind in this pitchers due between Clay Buchholz and James Shields, 2-1. Fear not, there was more inspiration to come, with Neil Diamond making surprise live appearance to lead the crowd in the great tradition of singing Sweet Caroline. Fortunately, he new all the spots to stop singing and let the crowd take over, So good! So good!. This appearance even got picked up in an LA Times story that I happened to be quoted in…I’ll let you check out their video as I was a bit off key in mine! Shortly after that, Daniel Nava blasted a fastball into the bullpen for a three run homer that proved to be just enough for the win. High fives all around after that one!nava for the win

I’ve had some good memories at Fenway Park, to be sure. But this past Saturday is a hard one to top! On this day, the skies had begun to clear about Fenway Park….fenway skyand our beloved Boston! This day at the park symbolized the way people pulled together to get through a very tough crisis, and show that we are #BostonStrong!

b strong icon

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Wisdom and Beauty from a Young Violinist

Posted on 04/13/2013 by David
Yu's violin piece reminded me to appreciate spring's fragile beauty.

Yu’s violin piece reminded me to appreciate spring’s fragile beauty.

I have to confess, my first instinct was to switch over to sports radio when I heard the next On Point Radio hour segment was focusing on a violinist I’d never heard of. Granted, I can’t name too many violinists. I appreciate good music, including some classical from time to time, but it’s not a subject where I have deep knowledge or interest. For some reason (an ad on sport radio?), I decided to give the show a listen, and I’m glad I did.

German,_maple_Violin (1)Xiang Yu is a 24 year old Mongolian-born violinist who has recently come to the United States to study at the New England Conservatory. Yu, who has already gained recognition as one of the top violinists in the world, was joined on the show by his teacher, Donald Weilerstein. First there was some interesting biographical info: Yu’s parents recognized his uncanny musical ability at age 3, and soon thereafter got him going with violin lessons. They picked this instrument because it was small, and they hoped, less costly as a result. Apparently they were not familiar with the price of a Stradivarius!

But the real pleasure in listening to this segment was hearing Yu and Weilerstein talk about their mentoring relationship, and Yu’s quest to find his unique voice under the tutelage of his teacher. One striking point was that he only practices on the violin for about 30 minutes a day. This would seem to fly in the face of Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, which says that is the threshold amount of practice required to achieve mastery (though perhaps Yu logged those hours at a younger age!). Yu said he might only play for 30 minutes, but he’s thinking about music all the time as he’s running, reading or watching a movie. He sees pursuing a diverse set of activities helping him bring more to his music. Yu commented, “I think [the music] for every ten times I play it.”

Yu and his teacher discussed their relationship, providing a wonderful example of what it means to be a mentor. They focused on what it means to find one’s own musical voice. Wellerstein described how he questions his students to draw out their unique personality, and then help them figure out how to bring that forth in their music. Yu, with the help of a great teacher and his varied interests, seems to be well on his way to establishing a compelling, unique voice. We non-musicians can certainly glean a lot from their dialogue–considering what it means to find our own voice, and how we can bring out the best in those around us.

Yu then played a solo piece. Winding back from Cambridge to Woburn, on a day when spring was just starting to softly make it presence felt, I was glad that I tuned into this segment. Yu’s heartfelt violin music seemed just right for this day when a few flowers were starting to bloom, and other buds made ready to burst. And I was reminded of the benefits of stepping out of our usual routine and comfortable topics. Listening to the music and passionate musicians transported me from the mundane into a consideration of beauty, learning and growth. Not a bad way to pass a 30 minute Tuesday morning drive.

Violin Creative Commons image credit: PianoPlonkers.

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How #Nonprofits Can Build Social Capital and Boost the Economy: May 3 Forum

Posted on 04/10/2013 by David

Can nonprofits be the key to getting us out of the economic doldrums? The first Social Capital Forum was held on May 3 in Boston, providing a presentation on research suggesting areas with high concentrations of nonprofit organizations had lower unemployment rates in recent years. Study co-author Peter Levine presented a summary of the research, followed by a panel including Somerville Mayor Curtatone and concluding with small group discussion.

Below I summarize key points from the research and some of my thoughts on how nonprofits can build social capital and boost the economy, originally published on my Social Capital Inc. blog.

Last year’s National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) report highlighted the link between civic health and lower unemployment figures. This was certainly exciting news for an organization dedicated to increasing social capital and civic engagement. Now, the new NCoC report, Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds, released this week in conjunction with today’s NCoC conference reaffirms the civic engagement and jobs link, and digs deeper into the dynamics that explain the relationship. The report highlights two aspects of civic health that seem to be particularly important for building community resilience during this difficult economic time: 1) social cohesion, the extent to which citizens trust one another and have a local network of friends, and 2) nonprofit density, that is, the presence of a thriving nonprofit sector.

The number of nonprofits per capita was the basic metric the study considered to determine nonprofit density. The report also showed that the type of nonprofit matters for mitigating unemployment. The categories of nonprofits that had the most predictive power related to unemployment were those that provide direct benefit to members and, in various ways, actively engage the group members in decision making and that foster peer to peer relations. In a word, nonprofits that build social capital as a key part of their work make a difference on unemployment. The report cites examples such as veterans groups and recreational associations that foster participation as a core part of what they do.

While some nonprofit types may build social capital naturally as part of how they do business, we at SCI believe that any nonprofit can incorporate practices into their work to build social capital and thus contribute to a better economic climate. We focus on training emerging leaders to become “Social Capitalists” who connect and engage others. Based on our experience, we offer the following tips for nonprofits interested in doing more to build social capital. These tips apply especially to nonprofits that have a paid staff and an office or perhaps a building; in other words, somewhat larger nonprofits that might have capacity to nurture grassroots connections in the community.

1) Engage, don’t just serve: Of course, nonprofits must provide crucial services to meet the immediate needs of community members. But if we can shift to viewing those served as asset rich participants and finding ways to engage them in helping themselves and others, we can generate more social capital. For instance, a job training program could provide participants an opportunity to practice skills they are learning as volunteers.

2) Create opportunities for mutual support: At an AGM panel I blogged about earlier, Bill Traynor shared a practice Lawrence CommunityWorks uses whereby about 20 minutes of a resident member meeting is devoted to sharing of needs and resources. Someone might say,” I drive to the grocery store every Friday if anyone needs a ride.” Encouraging people to help each other is very empowering, and can help reduce the extent to which relationships aren’t dependent on the organizing group.

3) Nurture networks among residents & businesses: This year’s NCoC study shows clearly the important link between social cohesion in protecting against unemployment. Nonprofits can build simple things into our practice, like spending time with introductions, get acquainted activities and other relationship building processes. Furthermore, the study points to the importance of those in position to invest in local jobs being connected to and trusting local people; another good reason to engage with local businesses beyond asking for resources. Bring local business leaders into the work of your organization, and find ways for them to meaningfully connect with your constituents. For example, ask business leaders to talk to your youth about careers in their line of work, or give a workshop providing tips to job seekers.

4) Support associations & grassroots groups: Groups that operate without any or very limited staff, relying on volunteer leadership, are particularly rich sources of social capital. Yet such groups can run into practical constraints on their success, which larger nonprofits can help address. Some ways larger nonprofits can be allies for the grassroots: offer meeting space and facilities like a gym or pool; serve as a fiscal agent for neighborhood groups; or provide leadership training. When we were starting to work in the city of Lynn some years ago, residents in one neighborhood were keen to create an initiative to improve their urban environment. We provided the group with some technical assistance, a mini-grant, and a place to store their supplies between projects.

5) Share the good news: Social trust and positive community perceptions were key factors in explaining positive outcomes the NCoC study as well as the earlier Knight Foundation Soul of the Community work. In addition to the relationship building tips above, nonprofits can help highlight the positive stories of the community’s people and places. At SCI we’ve found people in urban neighborhoods, often negatively portrayed in “mainstream” media, are hunger to see more of the positive stories of their neighborhood. So we have simple features on our community websites & e-newsletters like the MyDorchester photo of the week contest and a local business of the month recognition.

Those are some initial tips that came to mind in reading the NCoC report. We look forward to discussing more ideas at the upcoming Social Capital Forum!

Photos from the Social Capital Inc. Facebook page.

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7 Benefits for #Nonprofits Using Social Media

Posted on 03/08/2013 by David

Wednesday I had a chance to present a “Social Media 101″ workshop for nonprofits at Google’s Cambridge offices. The event, coordinated by HandsOn Tech Boston, was well-attended by nonprofit professionals eager to put the relatively new social media tools to use in service of their missions. Before delving into the mechanics of how to read Facebook Insights or get tweeting, I felt it was important to share how social media can help nonprofits achieve our goals. I came up with six important benefits we have found using social media at Social Capital Inc. that I thought could apply to many other organizations as well. I came up with a seventh key bonus point while writing this. Here is the list:

1) Learn: Putting learning as the first benefit of social media put you in the right mindset for success. Social media can be a great way to stay current in one’s field. I especially like Twitter as a learning tool, as I can set up columns in Tweetdeck (see sample below) to keep an eye on what people are tweeting on key subjects for SCI like “social capital” and “#boston”. Choosing people to follow who are resourceful, and organizing them into topical lists is another way to keep a stream of good info coming. Another reason I put learning first is that if you’re using social media to find good articles, resources, events and so forth, that is in turn great content to share back out on social media, and position yourself as a good resource.

2) Raise brand awareness: When we wrote our first social media plan, our top goal was to enhance our position as a leader in the area of social capital and civic engagement. Sharing the latest articles and useful resources on these topics helps demonstrate our expertise. Blogging gives us a platform to share our own ideas and best practices. Social media helps place us in the midst for the conversation in our topics, and that in turn opens up opportunities. This has included a chance to lead a panel on social capital at a funder conference, invitations to national events that have led to funding opportunities, and more.

3) Make new friends: The open nature of platforms like Twitter and Google+ lend themselves to finding new contacts based on common interests. SCI AmeriCorps member Leigh Wilmot, who serves with NuPath Inc., shared her story of how searching on Twitter for #autism helped her connect with like-minded organizations. This included one group, Acoustic for Autism, that wound up donating 100 of their special music CDs to NuPath.

Leigh Wilmot shares a "making new friends" story

4) Keep the old friends: Social media is a great way to strengthen ties with people and organizations we already know. We can keep up with what friends are doing on Facebook, of course. I like to use social media to give “shout outs” to partners and supporters to show our appreciation. I shared examples of how we’ve been posting big thank you’s to our Social Capitalist Luncheon on our Facebook page, and my tweet sharing about the praise I’d been hearing about the after school program @BGCWoburn, and this one encouraging people to support our partners.

5) Boost web traffic and expand email list: After the first year of really commiting as an organization to an active social media presence, traffic to our community portals roughly doubled. We’ve also continued to expand our email list alongside our social media. One can get excited about social media and think that is where all the action is, but for most organizations, it should be just one piece of the communication strategy. Most social media posts are short, and link to websites where more information can be found. We see on our site stats the importance of people coming in through social. It’s worth noting that good, “old fashioned” Constant Contact email blasts still generate more action on things like selling fundraising event tickets or donating to our annual appeal.

6) Call to action: Lots of hands were raised when I asked how many people were at the session hoping to find ways to use social media to raise funds for their cause. I put calls to action last for a few reasons. First, someone jumping onto social media pushing out mostly fundraising requests or other self-promoting content (come to my event, volunteer for us, etc.) will be sorely disappointed–and turn off anyone that’s chosen to follow them. Focusing on the first five points above will help one develop a social network of friends that will likely be receptive when you do mix in some calls for action…ideally, some of those folks will be inclined to share those calls to action with their friends, much more powerful than coming from the organization! I gave an example of how very targeted calls to action are most compelling:

On a 15 degree day in February, SCI AmeriCorps member Candice McLaughlin got a call from a woman who had nowhere to turn for fuel oil assistance, and had been out of oil for three days. Candice shared about this need on Facebook and Twitter, and within an hour we had raised enough funds from the community to send an oil truck to the woman’s house. More on this story here. This worked because we’d developed a good network, had a compelling ask, and we are judicious about how often we are using social media for calls for funds.

From a vigil we organized following violence in our community

7) Connect in times of crisis (bonus blog-only point!): As I’ve been writing this, I’ve read and shared tweets from @WoburnSchools first indicating there was a two hour delay due for our local schools, followed by a tweet a bit later that school was cancelled due to worsening snow. Now, six inches of snow isn’t a big crisis (though the wringing of hands on Facebook has been palpable this morning!), but it is a simple reminder of how important social media can be for timely information sharing in times of crisis. There have been too many reminders of this over the past year, it seems. We got a relatively light touch from Hurricane Sandy, but had a dramatic need for use of social media when there was a massive manhunt for heavily armed robbers who had shot a Woburn police officer. I’ve written about this here, and Pastor Keith Anderson nicely describes our collaboration and the role of social media during this crisis.

There’s my list on how I see social media helping further our nonprofit mission. Do you have any that you would add? Stay tuned for the 4 Keys to Social Media Success that I presented, will post that next week! Meanwhile, you can get a feel for what people were sharing at the event via this Storify compilation, and check out the presentation on SlideShare.

Originally published on my Social Capital Inc. blog. Re-publishing here in part to be able to add more images!

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Wendy Kopp Becoming TFA Board Chair: An Uncommon #Nonprofit Transition?

Posted on 02/15/2013 by David

Wendy Kopp at Service Nation Summit. Photo credit Jim Gillooly

Earlier this week, Teach For America (TFA) announced that Wendy Kopp will be stepping down as its CEO. One can imagine that after founding TFA back in 1990, and growing the organization into an important contributor the education reform movement, Kopp would certainly be ready to pass the reigns of the day-to-day operations to someone else.   But another part of the TFA announcement also caught my eye: Kopp was elected as TFA’s board chair.

Such a move is fairly common in a for-profit business. If things are going fairly well for a company and its CEO is ready to step down, moving to the board chair role seems fairly common–at least that’s my perception from transition announcements I read.  I’m sure there are some examples out there, but I can’t think of an instance where the CEO of a nonprofit moved to the board chair role.  The norm in the sector seems to be that change is needed when nonprofit executive position is turning over, particularly if the CEO is also the founder. A seat on the board for the outgoing CEO isn’t too common from what I’ve seen, let alone the board chair spot.

One reason I’m interested in this issue is my experience of transitions. When I took on the role of Generations Inc. Executive Director back in 1996, the organization’s founder, Peri Smilow, moved to a seat on the board. When I told colleagues about this, I was met with a lot of raised eyebrows–as if to say, “How is that working out?”, ready to hear horror stories. But I thought it was great having Peri on board. She brought great passion for our work and important historical knowledge. She also played a key role as a board member maintaining the support of key donors she’d cultivated over the years. She would bring strong opinions to the table, but did a good job of offering those as the voice of one board member, not someone still trying to run the show.

When I was ready to pass the torch at Generations Inc. and start Social Capital Inc., we’d just landed a big expansion grant for Generations Inc. It seemed like staying on the board would help new Generations Inc. Executive Director Mary Gunn hit the ground running with the growth plans. As it turned out, Mary was a great find and didn’t need much from me to thrive, but if nothing else my board membership provided some reassurance to the funder that had just made a sizable investment in our growth. (as an aside, Mary continues to provide great leadership for Generations Inc. eleven years later, very heartening to see!). I cycled off after a three year board term.

Going back to the TFA announcement, why should Kopp’s move to the board chair seat be noteworthy? Seems to me it provides continuity during a time of transition. Also, I’d think the option of becoming board chair for a founder who may be ready to step away from daily management of the organization might make one more likely to make the move when the time is right, rather than holding on to the CEO spot longer to avoid no longer having a tie with the organization she or he founded.

Perhaps transitions from nonprofit CEO to board chair are more common than I realize, and I just haven’t noticed them. I did a quick Google search on the topic and didn’t find anything that really speaks to it. This is my off-the-cuff reaction to the news, if you know of more nonprofit transition examples like TFA’s or articles written on the subject I’d be curious to know about them.

One final note on the TFA transition. Kopp’s transition to board chair was accompanied by an announcement of co-CEOs to succeed Kopp. Elisa Villanueva Beard and Matt Kramer, both top managers from within the organization, will assume the helm. Co-CEOs and finding a new CEO within the organization are probably topics worthy of their own blog post! I’d simply observe that TFA seems to have put some good thinking and work into developing a plan to transition from the daily management of its founder to its next CEOs. I wish the organization and its leaders well in this new phase…and would say that the title of the new CEOs’ blog post is a good sign for TFA’s future, “We Will Begin Leading By Listening“!

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Taste of Snow [#haiku]

Posted on 02/06/2013 by David

slate gray clouds gather

taste of snow hangs in the air

first flurry dances

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From a Southbound Train

Posted on 01/31/2013 by David

Practical considerations led me to choose the Amtrak train from Boston to Philadelphia earlier this week. A direct flight was going to be quite pricey, over $600. More affordable flights involved layovers, which I wasn’t thrilled about for a relatively short distance. I was able to get an Amtrak train roundtrip for just a bit of $200, still less than the flights with layovers. In addition, the trains on this route now have wifi, and just as importantly, outlets to re-charge one’s devices.

Though it’s a fairly long train trip at about 5 1/2 hours, I was pleased with my choice. The seating is comfortable, with enough room to setup my laptop without feeling cramped. I would caution, however, that the wifi connection is a bit in and out. I wouldn’t recommend getting on the train expecting to have a fast connection the whole time–plan projects where you can be offline. The social media projects and uploading a grant proposal I needed to do were slow going!

But the unanticipated benefit of choosing the train was catching a gorgeous sunrise as we made our way down the Southern New England coast.

Rumbling along, taking in such eye-pleasing scenery brought back good memories of train travel in Europe. Though looking at the world through the clouds from 30,000 feet has its own aesthetic merits, I do like being on the ground, taking in the rapidly changing landscapes while heading to my destination. I expect I’ll be back on this Amtrak route again before long!

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Quick #Book Review: How Children Succeed

Posted on 01/17/2013 by David

Reading on the way out of the library--that's got to be good, right?

What factors are most important for a child’s success? Certainly a question all of us parents think about a lot, not to mention educators and policy makers. After hearing Paul Tough talk about his new book on NPR, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, I knew I needed to give this one a read. I was glad I did, and encourage you to add it to your list.

Tough recaps some of the latest science to shed light on factors for children’s success. As the subtitle suggests, much of this research points to the power of character traits like curiosity, resilience and the ability to delay gratification as being more important in the long run than traditional academic skills. One example that sticks with me is a study on kids ability to hold off eating one marshmellow while an experimenter left the room for a period of time, promising to give two upon return if the first one was uneaten. Those that could hold out fared much better over time than those that couldn’t resist.

The book’s insights apply to all children, but Tough is especially concerned about how we can help children raised in poverty to succeed, despite the challenges they face in doing so. This is a timely concern, with the number of low income students graduating from college dropping in recent years, placing the United States near the bottom of developed nations in college graduation rates. In addition to bringing in science, the the book does a nice job of sharing compelling stories of young people who are able to thrive thanks to the character traits they have developed despite challenging circumstances.

There are some good nuggets for any of us parents to take from the book. Tough’s book provides more evidence that “helicopter parenting” is not good, that children need a chance to fail at times, and learn from the experience. The findings suggest we should let our kids take risks and fail at times, supporting them as they learn and grow through the experience.  Simple things like paying close attention to our kids’ emotions when playing with them can make more of a difference than trying to get them into another academically oriented enrichment program.

So whether you are want to read this one as a parent or education policy maker, consider adding this one to your reading list!

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Freezer App Wanted! A Frugal Foodie’s Quest

Posted on 01/04/2013 by David

Help! There must be an app for this!

Foodie app needed! Hoping some tech savvy foodie friends can help with this one… I’d love to find an app to track what I’ve got in the freezer (fridge would be a bonus, but freezer is my main concern). I try to be good about saving things like extra tomato paste, freezing fresh herbs when I don’t need the whole bunch, buying meat on sale and freezing. As is often the case, I start the new year re-focusing on frugality after being a bit looser with the food and wine budget around the holidays. Making good use of the freezer and refrigerator is a key part of the equation, but it’s easy to lose track of what’s in there at a given time. I’ve tried keeping a list on the side of fridge but figure there’s got to be an app for this!

Trying to save this & that in freezer bags, but lose track of what's in there!

I suspect something that could track the items might also offer up suggestions on what to do with the items on hand. That would be a bonus, but not the core problem I’d like an app to solve.

I could also envision something that could track all the items you have on hand, categorized by freezer, fridge, pantry…and why not wine cellar too!

Anyone have any leads for me? 

I’ve searched the web for app ideas, but most of the foodie apps seem to be aimed at helping people come up with recipes or choose where to eat. My attempts to crowdsource this one on Twitter and Google+ have generated a good number of people agreeing this would be helpful, but not the “you need to try this!” I was hoping for. I’ll probably need to “hack” something created for another purpose for now. Carol suggested on Twitter she uses the “Things” app, and Andrew suggested a Foodspotting feed. I’ll play around with those ideas and keep you posted, until I turn up something else!

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My Reading Year: Looking for more in 2013!

Posted on 01/03/2013 by David

The Steve Jobs bio was my favorite 2012 read. Photo credit: Ben Stanfield

Around this time last year, I managed to put together a number of posts reflecting on the past year, including one on my top reads of 2011.  Although I read a modest number of books that year, I was able to share a good list of books that I encourage others to read. I started using GoodReads this year to track my reading, so I was able to count up the books I read and realized that I hit my goal of reading 20 books this year (not counting those read with my 7 year old!). Yet there are few from that list that I’d enthusiastically recommend.

Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography was a notable exception in what was otherwise a somewhat lackluster year of reading.  Isaacson does a great job bringing forth Jobs’ disturbing interpersonal characteristics while also shedding insight onto what made him such a great innovator. I find myself regularly recommending it to others interested in innovation, technology and leadership. I’ve also written about the lessons Steve Jobs provides to us social entrepreneurs (I wrote this before reading the biography).

Fenway's 100th Birthday! Better reading about glories past for Sox fans this year!

Two others I enjoyed a lot are tied to two of my passions: cooking and the Red Sox. Jacques Pepin’s memoir The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen is a good read if you share an interest in the former. The best news I heard about the Red Sox this year came from reading Fenway 1912,which tells the story of a much better Red Sox season than the recent one that just passed. Pick it up if you’re a Sox fan looking to learn more about better campaigns than 2012!

I’d love to read a great novel in 2013. I read a few this year that were reasonably entertaining, but none that I’d describe as memorable or encourage you to read. Can you suggest one that I’d be excited about including in next year’s year in reading post?

Child reading

Love it when my son can't wait to get home from library!

The most enjoyable reading of the year would have to be the books I read with my seven year old. We’ve got a habit of reading together in the morning as well as at night (see my 10 Ways to Instill a Love for Reading for more on that!). This year he started getting interested in some more involved books. For instance, we really loved reading Johnny Tremain (B picked that as his favorite book ever!), and are now enjoying a Teddy Roosevelt biography. We also both get a lot of good laugh’s reading about the exploits of Fudge, having reading most of Judy Blume’s series involving that amusing youngster. And we have now read through  The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time three times!

Would love to get your suggestions for my 2013 reading list!

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