The Ignatian Volunteer Corps is a 16-year-old organization that offers adults opportunities to serve the poor or work for social justice while pursuing Ignatian spiritual reflection. Most IVC volunteers are retired or semi-retired individuals looking to give back, and several Holy Cross graduates are involved in the organization as volunteers, staff members and board members.
Among the volunteers the article profiles are Bill Waters '67, a retired Rhode Island man who has worked with the poor in Providence; Warren Howe '63, a longtime educator and musician who mentors inmates at a Maryland prerelease center; Jerry Sheehan '59, a retired dentist who helps underprivileged students at a Boston high school with their college choices; and Tricia Brennan '78, a Boston-area minister who helps guide IVC volunteers as a "spiritual reflector."
Yesterday's New Hampshire Sunday News featured my story on Matthew Karsten, a Granite State native who is traveling the world indefinitely while blogging about his adventures.
Karsten was working as a nightclub photographer in Miami when he read a book about long-term world travel. For the next year, he pared down his lifestyle, sold off belongings and banked as much cash as he could in preparation for what began as a yearlong, around-the-world journey.
"I felt like I needed a change of scenery, new excitement, but more than just a two-week vacation," he said. "I really needed to do something drastic."
He embarked for Mexico in November 2010 and spent the next year exploring that country and Central America. Living on about $30 a day, he has traveled mostly by bus and slept in hostels, camped out or bunked with locals.
Karsten supports his travel habit with an online business and modest advertising revenue from his blog, expertvagabond.com. His blogging caught the eye of South African tourism officials, who invited him to chronicle his adventures for two weeks there. He left yesterday and plans to seek input from his blog readers and social media followers about how to spend his days.
After a holiday break in New Hampshire, Karsten plans to resume his wanderings, possibly in South America. "I'll keep traveling as long as I can earn an income or until I get bored with it," he said. "And I don't see that happening anytime soon."
My profile of basketball coach Stan Spirou is the cover story of the Spring 2011 issue of The Extra Mile, the magazine of Southern New Hampshire University. Spirou's story is an inspiring tale - an immigrant who followed his parents to America from Greece in 1960, he discovered basketball on an inner-city playground, earned a scholarship to Keene State College and later, as a young coach, led his high-school alma mater to two state titles. Since becoming SNHU's coach in 1985, he has led the Division II school to 14 NCAA tournament appearances, four NCAA regional titles and two national final four berths. More importantly, however, he has invested himself in the off-court success of his players and has made a point to give back by offering annual summer basketball clinics in Greece and supporting local organizations such as Special Olympics New Hampshire and the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester.
Last month, my byline debuted in two national publications, the 2010 Masters Journal and Seton Hall Magazine.
In the Masters Journal, the official program of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, my article "Honored To Be Invited" chronicles the experience of the Masters' honorary invitees. Each year, the Masters invites past major champions who are not in the tournament field to participate in pre-tournament activities such as practice rounds and the well-known Wednesday Par 3 Contest.
In the article, noted pros such as Jerry Pate, Ian Baker-Finch and Andy North reflect on what being an honorary invitee means to them. Discussing his annual participation in the Par 3 Contest, 1991 British Open champ Baker-Finch says it best: "I tell people all the time it's my favorite day of the year."
In addition to its distribution at the Masters, the Masters Journal is available in bookstores and on newsstands across the country.
In the Winter/Spring 2010 issue of Seton Hall Magazine, my article "The Simple Power of 'Thank You' profiles Daniel Kocsis, a university alumnus who teaches middle-school English in Manchester, N.H. For more than a decade, Kocsis has had his students write letters of thanks to veterans each Veterans Day. The article discusses the rewards both students and veterans derive from this simple exercise while highlighting Kocsis, a humble but engaging character who is an avid marathoner and a church cantor who has sung the national anthem at Fenway Park.
There's been a lot reported in recent days about how Tiger Woods' "indefinite break" from professional golf will affect the business of the game. In this week's Sports Illustrated, Alan Shipnuck observes that Tiger's absence figures to depress PGA Tour TV ratings, which won't help the Tour attract sponsors in an already tenuous economic climate and will weaken its position in negotiating its next TV deal with the networks. Meanwhile yesterday's Boston Globe reported that Tiger's leave has left many golf-related businesses "worried about the future of a sport that has already been hurt by the recession."
I agree with the notion that a Tiger sabbatical, if extended, will exact a financial toll on the golf industry. But I also have a sneaking suspicion that golf's No. 1 player won't be gone long. In yesterday's Globe article, sports marketer Marc Ganis is quoted as saying, "Golf needs Tiger Woods more than Tiger Woods needs golf." While this may be true in a business sense, in an emotional sense Tiger may need golf now more than ever.
With speculation swirling that Tiger's wife, Elin Nordegren, will seek a divorce following revelations of her husband's rampant infidelity - ABCNews.com yesterday quoted a source close to Nordegren as saying the "divorce is 100 percent on" - Tiger's best escape from the personal turmoil that will no doubt accompany divorce proceedings will be between the ropes, the inevitable hecklers aside.
And let's face it - Tiger's now-revealed behavior behind closed doors tells us he's looking out for No. 1. His lifelong mission has been to eclipse Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 professional major titles. With 14 under his belt, he has to be licking his chops over this year's major lineup, which includes Augusta National (Masters), Pebble Beach (U.S. Open), and St. Andrews (British Open). He's won four times at Augusta, and he romped by 15 and eight shots, respectively, at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews in 2000.
The damage Tiger has caused at home is likely irreparable. Sitting on the sidelines won't change that. My prediction: After a few months away to tend to the personal and financial mess his actions have wrought, Tiger will re-emerge on the golf scene - possibly in March at Bay Hill, where he's the two-time defending champ and has won six times - in time to hone his game for the Masters. And instead of worry, the PGA Tour will likely have a TV ratings bonanza on its hands, especially if Tiger works his Augusta magic (see video).
I was saddened to read yesterday that the recession has taken yet another casualty, wacky weatherman Al Kaprielian. For 26 years, Kaprielian has been a staple on MyTV, a Derry, N.H., cable station formerly known as WNDS (Channel 50). Kaprielian's job, along with those of five other employees, will be eliminated come year's end.
Kaprielian carved out a following with his squeaky "Good eeeeevening!" greeting and perpetual enthusiasm. He was far from polished, but he won over viewers with his quirky but earnest manner. He was also active in the community, often speaking about meteorology at local schools. A few years into his career, in fact, he spoke to my junior-high class.
Though some dismissed him as a goofball, Kaprielian brought color to the airwaves and will be missed. Here's hoping he lands on his feet.
Three of my friends recently met the incomparable Wayne Newton backstage before one of his concerts in Las Vegas. They went to see the "Danke Schoen" crooner at the Tropicana after taking in a U2 show the previous evening.
Told by my friend Walt that U2's Bono had introduced himself as Wayne Newton the night before, the 67-year-old Vegas fixture promptly introduced himself to the Tropicana crowd as Bono. And mugging for this photo between my friends Liz and Sue, the entertainer extraordinaire called himself "a thorn between two roses." Awwww.
Though prone to cliches and Viagra jokes, Newton left a favorable impression with my friends. Their encounter got me thinking about my most memorable brushes with celebrity. Here are my top five:
1. Barack Obama - Met the future prez in 2007, early in the New Hampshire Primary campaign. We shook hands and shot the breeze for a minute or two, and I got the sense he was pretty down to earth.
2. Jennifer Garner - Spotted the erstwhile Sidney Bristow at a Harvard Square bagel joint a few months ago. Sporting Saturday morning sweats and a ponytail, she was playing mom to daughter Violet.
3. Matt Damon - Rubbed elbows with Good Will Hunting at a benefit golf tournament a few years back. He gave me a cool-guy nod when we passed in our golf carts.
4. Bill Clinton - Bubba gave me the grip and grin during his 1992 presidential campaign. The venue was a semi-seedy social club in Manchester, N.H.
5. Alice Cooper - Was introduced to the metal master born Vincent Damon Furnier at a golf-industry trade show about 10 years ago. Cooper is a golf nut who was appearing in commercials for Callaway golf clubs at the time.
A few years ago, I heard through the grapevine that Kevin Foley, an old grad-school friend, had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Another friend and grad-school classmate, Chris Serb, writes about Kevin in the Fall 2009 issue of Medill Magazine (pages 8-9). Three years after being diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma, Kevin continues to battle the aggressive disease, and since January 2008 he has blogged about his experiences at Card Blue: Travels Through Illness.
A married father of two, Kevin lives in Vermont and until last year was a magazine and Web editor for the University of Vermont. An upbeat guy as I remember him, Kevin strikes that tone in Serb's article, but at the same time reveals that his days are more than likely running short.
I've been thinking about Kevin a lot since reading Serb's piece. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
