LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 1, 2016: Traffic on Hollywood Boulevard at dusk. The theater district is famous tourist attraction.

On Becoming an Angeleno

There’s a super upscale L.A. area food emporium that makes Whole Foods look like a 7-11. It’s called Erewhon, and while the quality of its food is unrivaled, so are its prices. A donut costs $7 (okay, it’s gluten free, vegan, organic, made with toctrienols, superfoods, and 10 grams of…

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Sad preoccupied man looking down standing on gray background

Why Journalists Have Short-Term Memories

When I was a still youthful reporter at The (Montreal) Gazette, a top editor at the newspaper nabbed me in the hallway and suggested I do a story about the state of Canada’s banking industry. Two small western Canadian banks had recently failed, and the editor thought it wise to…

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The Purpose of Colin Kaepernick

Millennials and Gen Z fashion themselves as being driven by their morals when purchasing goods and services. According to a survey by Deloitte, many “will not hesitate to lessen or end a relationship when they disagree with a company’s business practices, values, or political leanings.” Understandably, corporate America is falling…

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Sonos: A Rare Tech Company with Common Sense

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since I published this post, I discovered that Sonos has since offshored its customer service to multiple countries overseas. The company under CEO Patrick Spence has lost its way since going public. I no longer endorse Sonos or its products. It’s unfortunate because Sonos’ early success was predicated…

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Rx to Protect Investors: Kill the SEC

Darryll Bolduc, a former Charlotte bond trader who became a whistleblower long before there were riches to be had from the practice, was among the people I proudly represented when I worked in PR. Bolduc was fired after alerting NationsBank (which merged with Bank of America) of what he believed…

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On Being Buried with Bonanza’s Lorne Greene

I’m in the process of planning my funeral. Relax, I’m hopefully not checking out soon.  I’m just a control freak, especially when it comes to my travel accommodations. If I leave it to my family, I could end up back in my native Toronto. After three years in L.A., I’d…

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The Power (and Boredom) of Iyengar Yoga

My elusive search for a meaningful yoga practice began nearly three decades ago when I was living on New York’s Upper East Side. I was looking to meet spiritually minded people and, in those days, yoga was associated with the crunchy granola set. The practice was still sufficiently foreign that…

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The Greatness of Restaurateurs Danny Meyer and Wolfgang Puck

If it were not for a senior editor at Fortune agreeing to meet me for lunch about ten years ago, I would have never discovered the wonders of a Danny Meyer restaurant. Journalists have champagne tastes (at least when someone else is buying), and the editor suggested we meet at…

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My Fascination with Ayelet Zurer and Israeli TV

Jews have long been great storytellers. The tradition began in the BC era with Moses’ publication of his five-book anthology “The Bible,” a record bestseller.  We’ve been on a roll ever since. Acclaimed Jewish novelists of more recent times included Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Franz Kafka, Herman Wouk, and Joseph…

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The Mob Tactics of California’s PG&E

Summer has begun and millions of tourists will soon be swarming San Francisco, Napa, Big Sur, and other California scenic wonders. I welcome these guests (providing they don’t decide to move here), but I’m honor bound to share a secret California’s tourism bureau wants to keep quiet. For some tourists,…

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