“Following his explosive New York Times bestseller Red Notice, Bill Browder returns with another gripping thriller chronicling how he became Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy by exposing Putin’s campaign to steal and launder hundreds of billions of dollars and kill anyone who stands in his way. When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail, Browder made it his life’s mission to go after his killers and make sure they faced justice. The first step of that mission was to uncover who was behind the $230 million tax refund scheme that Magnitsky was killed over. As Browder and his team tracked the money as it flowed out of Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas, they were shocked to discover that Vladimir Putin himself was a beneficiary of the crime. As law enforcement agencies began freezing the money, Putin retaliated. He and his cronies set up honey traps, hired process servers to chase Browder through cities, murdered more of his Russian allies, and enlisted some of the top lawyers and politicians in America to bring him down. Putin will stop at nothing to protect his money. As Freezing Order reveals, it was Browder’s campaign to expose Putin’s corruption that prompted Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election. At once a financial caper, an international adventure, and a passionate plea for justice, Freezing Order is a stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most ruthless villains in the world–and win”–
Month: August 2022
Jody Hotchkiss was born in New Haven in 1955 and grew up in Greenwich. He went to St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. After failing his first pre-med course at Colby College he eventually graduated with a degree in art history.
He first eked out a living at the art book publisher Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House which became profitable only in later years when Potter published the first lifestyle books of little-known Westport resident Martha Stewart.
Jody left New York to volunteer in the Peace Corps building schools on the equator in Gabon, West Africa (and not a single day of his two years in Africa felt hotter than August in NYC).
Returning to New York Jody worked for studio boss Alan Ladd Jr. at MGM Studios, eventually becoming the VP of East Coast Production. With the sale of MGM to Ted Turner, Jody sensed that regime change was coming when the Academy Award winning producer Richard Zanuck and his wife Lilly waltzed into Jody’s office at 1350 Avenue of the Americas and started to measure for drapes (Really!). Jody then worked as a literary agent at Sterling Lord finding articles, books and plays to sell for TV and movies such as THE DAY AFTER and GOODFELLAS. After his Darien next door neighbor from Kanter Fitzgerald died on 9/11, Jody questioned his own life/career and opened Hotchkiss & Associates Literary Agency in New York. Now with the name Hotchkiss Daily & Associates the company has celebrated its 22nd anniversary, representing movies such as THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, AMERICAN UNDERDOG: KURT WARNER, AMERICAN GANGSTER and THE WIZARD OF LIES: BERNIE MADOFF.
Jody has been married to his wife Kris for thirty four years (and friends still mix up their gender neutral names). He has three children—Sophie in Copenhagen, Graham in New York and Leah in Brooklyn. His grandchildren (so far) are Bjørn (7) and Ada (4). Jody especially loves cycling in Switzerland and France, sailing in Michigan, and kayaking in Long Island Sound.
Definitions:
- WordPress: A free, open source, web application designed for blogging. It is very popular – about 25% of the websites are based on WP.
- Post: A document – sort of like an email. For example, every speaker, event, and activity is a separate post.
- Category: Posts are assigned one or more Categories to keep them organized. Sort of like a label in email.
- Page: A document similar to a Post, but they are not assigned Categories. They are typically assigned to menu trees. For example, the Speakers page is at the top of the menu and the Speaker Posts are under it. The Activities Page is also at the top of the menu but underneath are other Pages such as Book Club, Hiking, etc.
- Theme: the template that determines the general look and feel of the WordPress website. There are many, we use Hemingway.
- Plug-In: WordPress has basic functionality. A Plug-in is a small piece of code that does some specific task. For example, we use UltimatePostList to create the Table of Contents for speakers, TablePress allows data in tables – used to show Officers & Directors, A-Z Listing is used to show the Member Directory. Most have their own admin dashboard.
- Media: Images and PDF’s are stored in the Media Library. From there they are inserted into Pages and Posts.
- BlueHost: the company that hosts our website.
DMA Golfers are scheduled for our annual golf date at Sterling Farms on 31 August. We will look to have up to 7 foursomes starting at 10:30; play and a cart will be attractively priced at $52 per person. Sign-up must be completed a week in advance, by email to Peter Carnes.
picarnes@gmail.com
We look forward to a good turnout and a great outing.
The Walkway AcrWalk Across the Hudson is billed as “The Longest Elevated Pedestrian Bridge in the World” as it spans the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie NY and Highland NY. It provides magnificent panoramic views of the Hudson, and at 212 feet above the river, this 1.28 mile linear park boasts scenic views north to The Catskills and south to the Hudson Highlands. The Walkway structure dates from 1889 when it was built as a railroad bridge eventually carrying as many as 3000 train cars a day. A fire on May 8, 1974 halted train traffic forever but after 35 years the bridge was reopened as the Walkway on October 3, 2009 as a part of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Network. For more information on the Walkway see:
Walkway Across the Hudson | World’s Longest Elevated Pedestrian Bridge
TRIP PLAN
We will gather at the DCA for an 8:30 AM departure for Poughkeepsie by car pool. The drive takes about 1.5 hours to the parking lot at 61 Parker Avenue at the east end of the Walkway. The plan is to walk across the bridge to the Highland, NY side and then to proceed along the west bank of the river to the Mid-Hudson Bridge where we will cross back to the Poughkeepsie side of the river. Same river views plus a look back at the Walkway from down river. We will walk back through some of the Poughkeepsie waterfront and historic areas to where we started and have lunch at Lola’s, a very good sandwich shop right under the Walkway. This walk is about 4 miles. For those who want a shorter walk, an option is to return from Highland back over the Walkway, a total walk of 2.5 miles. There are restrooms at either end of the Walkway. We should be back at the DCA by 3:00 PM.
As always, spouses and guests are invited. There will be a sign up sheet at the DMA meetings on October 5 and 12.
Dave McCollum
Bob Plunkett
David Mace
Joe Spain
On Thursday, September 22nd, the Happy Wanderers’ first excursion of the fall season will be to the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. We will take the Metro-North train that leaves the Darien station at 8:34 am, and the Noroton Heights station at 8:38 am. Upon arrival at Grand Central Terminal, we shall gather at the Information Booth on the Main Floor Level and proceed by subway downtown to the Wall Street station via the Lexington Avenue Line. From there we’ll walk to the other end of Wall Street to board the ferry for Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Our day will be spent walking through this historic waterside district of the City, including a stop for lunch. This area of Brooklyn was once the hub of the commercial shipping industry that shaped the life of the community for generations. Today it is gentrified with many fine dining opportunities and views of the river and New York Harbor. Upon completion of our tour, we will return by ferry and subway to Grand Central, and home on Metro North.
Please bring your MetroCard for the Subway, and, if you don’t have a card, you can buy one from the same machines that sell train tickets on the platforms at the Darien and Noroton stations.
Any questions? — please call David Mace or Joe Spain
The Leon Levy Preserve, formerly the Bell property, was purchased by the Town of Lewisboro in 2005. It is 383 acres of forest and wetland located in the watersheds of both New York City and Stamford. The preserve has an extensive, well marked, trail system, the ruins of the Black mansion (1899-1979) and other outbuildings. The scenery at this time of year is spectacular and the Preserve encompasses an impressive gorge and numerous large rock outcroppings.
The hike of about 3 miles (2 hours) we will take features mostly wide and well-maintained trails which range from easy to moderate levels of difficulty. This hike should appeal to hikers of all levels of experience. As always, we welcome spouses, friends and dogs on a leash.
Optional lunch afterwards at La Vista in South Salem. Please bring cash for the restaurant.
DIRECTIONS:
The actual address of the Preserve is 2-50 Smith Ridge Road (Route 123) but Google 45 Smith Ridge Road in South Salem, NY which is a private house on the right side of the road. Just beyond that address is a sign for the Preserve on the left side indicating a left turn into the parking lot. The location is well up Rt 123 into NY State past Vista but short of Rt 35. There is ample parking.
Contacts:
Dave McCollum
Bob Plunkett
