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I walked with M. ; I did the long walk by myself.
A. had her two zooms (F., and not a zoom but with K.) and we had family zoom.
I finished reading _A Most Beautiful Thing_, by Arshay Cooper. It was really excellent. It is very much a mid-late 1990s story. The crack / rock cocaine epidemic receding into the recent past, a long economic expansion starting to employ African-Americans who had never had formal employment before, Tiger Woods and the Williams’ tennis careers were just beginning. It was an era when millionaires were being created at an astonishing clip, while interest rates continued to drop, and some of those millionaires were choosing to live in dense urban areas, rather than move out to the suburbs.
Ken Alpart, a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, took some of his money and bought a bought and some ergs (rowing machines) and hired a couple coaches with the goal of starting the first ever black rowing crew. He had to try a few different high schools before he got one to let him try to recruit, but Cooper’s high school, Manley, let him give it a try. Manley and a few others showed up first out of curiosity, then in hopes of getting some good stuff, and eventually, getting hooked by the sport.
It’s an amazing story, well told, and truly inspiring. Cooper as a young man experiencing this, and as a middle-aged man looking back on this, is very, very insightful. His capacity to understand and explain why people did what they did, and his ability to help the reader feel compassion in the midst of a lot of scary chaos, is remarkable and admirable. Alpart was incredibly lucky to attract him to the team early on. Cooper’s abilities to motivate others were a large part of the team’s success and getting the rowing program going.
A. had her two zooms (F., and not a zoom but with K.) and we had family zoom.
I finished reading _A Most Beautiful Thing_, by Arshay Cooper. It was really excellent. It is very much a mid-late 1990s story. The crack / rock cocaine epidemic receding into the recent past, a long economic expansion starting to employ African-Americans who had never had formal employment before, Tiger Woods and the Williams’ tennis careers were just beginning. It was an era when millionaires were being created at an astonishing clip, while interest rates continued to drop, and some of those millionaires were choosing to live in dense urban areas, rather than move out to the suburbs.
Ken Alpart, a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, took some of his money and bought a bought and some ergs (rowing machines) and hired a couple coaches with the goal of starting the first ever black rowing crew. He had to try a few different high schools before he got one to let him try to recruit, but Cooper’s high school, Manley, let him give it a try. Manley and a few others showed up first out of curiosity, then in hopes of getting some good stuff, and eventually, getting hooked by the sport.
It’s an amazing story, well told, and truly inspiring. Cooper as a young man experiencing this, and as a middle-aged man looking back on this, is very, very insightful. His capacity to understand and explain why people did what they did, and his ability to help the reader feel compassion in the midst of a lot of scary chaos, is remarkable and admirable. Alpart was incredibly lucky to attract him to the team early on. Cooper’s abilities to motivate others were a large part of the team’s success and getting the rowing program going.