Jim Clarke was born and raised in Southern California. After graduating from Boston College he moved to New York City to begin his career in wealth management. He joined Lehman Brothers in 1994 as a Client Associate and became an Investment Representative in 1999 where he began advising institutional and high net worth clients. In 2008 he became a Director at Barclays Capital upon their acquisition of Lehman Brothers in the United States. Sensing the need to widen the scope of the advice and services he provides high net worth families, Jim and his team transitioned their business to Merrill Lynch in 2014. He joined the Merrill office in Darien in 2021. Jim is married to his college sweetheart, Susan. They have lived in Darien since 2000 where they have raised their 4 daughters. In his free time Jim enjoys running, racket sports, skiing, and cooking.
Month: September 2024
Seth Wohlberg was born and raised in the Five Towns on Long Island. He graduated from SUNY at Albany in 1976 with B.S. in Business Administration. He worked for two years at American International Group and then attained his MBA degree at Emory University in Atlanta. Early in his career he studied for and received two industry designations, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). Upon graduating from Emory Seth spent two years working in Atlanta. He then returned to live and work in Manhattan as a portfolio manager and later as a sales executive at investment management firms. For the last 25 years he was a Senior Managing Director and Partner at Far Hills Group, a boutique investment banking in firm in New York City focused on raising capital for alternative investment strategies. Seth has been fortunate to travel the world through his work to the Far East, Africa, and Europe. Seth recently retired from his professional career.
Seth has been married to his Debra (Deb) for 40 years. They have two grown children, Michael and Grace. They have lived in Darien since 1992 where they have enjoyed being a part of the community. Michael was a captain of the Darien High School Football team and Grace was a manager on the Girl’s Swimming Team. Deb is an active member at St. John’s Church.
From 1990 to 2000 Seth was on the Board of Trustees of the National Psoriasis Foundation, Washington DC where he advocated for research, increased awareness for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and raised funds to expand the organization’s efforts. From 2012 to 2014 he served on the Board of Trustees of CURE Epilepsy, headquartered in Chicago. In 2010 he founded the RE Children’s Project a 501 (c)3 organization devoted to increasing awareness and funding research into Rasmussens encephalitis, a rare and devastating epilepsy syndrome. The disease impacted his daughter, Grace at the age of 10 when she had to undergo hemispherectomy surgery.
Seth enjoys eating pizza, always in search of the perfect pizza whether in NYC or in New Haven or other localities. He is also a tennis fan having played recreationally, he now enjoys watching the tennis tour and traveling to the professional tour events. Other hobbies include listening to jazz music and podcasts, exploring the neighborhoods of NYC, reading about current events, and meeting new people.
Ian Webb was born in Childers, Australia in 1957. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Queensland in 1978 and 1981 respectively, and was the secretary and captain of the University of Queensland Rugby League club. In 1983 he moved to the US and enrolled in the Operations Research graduate program at MIT, receiving his Ph.D. in 1989. Ian spent several years on the faculty of the UConn business school at Storrs CT before transitioning into a career of more than 25 years in multiple areas of risk management in the payments industry – first with American Express and later with Mastercard. Ian and his wife Lisa have been in Darien since 1996 and have two children. He enjoys travel, photography, reading, and sports, and is a member of the Tokeneke Club.
A powerful memoir from Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, whose decades-long research led to the COVID-19 vaccines
“Katalin Karikó’s story is an inspiration.”—Bill Gates
“Riveting . . . a true story of a brilliant biochemist who never gave up or gave in.”—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Katalin Karikó has had an unlikely journey. The daughter of a butcher in postwar communist Hungary, Karikó grew up in an adobe home that lacked running water, and her family grew their own vegetables. She saw the wonders of nature all around her and was determined to become a scientist. That determination eventually brought her to the United States, where she arrived as a postdoctoral fellow in 1985 with $1,200 sewn into her toddler’s teddy bear and a dream to remake medicine.
Karikó worked in obscurity, battled cockroaches in a windowless lab, and faced outright derision and even deportation threats from her bosses and colleagues. She balked as prestigious research institutions increasingly conflated science and money. Despite setbacks, she never wavered in her belief that an ephemeral and underappreciated molecule called messenger RNA could change the world. Karikó believed that someday mRNA would transform ordinary cells into tiny factories capable of producing their own medicines on demand. She sacrificed nearly everything for this dream, but the obstacles she faced only motivated her, and eventually she succeeded.
Karikó’s three-decade-long investigation into mRNA would lead to a staggering achievement: vaccines that protected millions of people from the most dire consequences of COVID-19. These vaccines are just the beginning of mRNA’s potential. Today, the medical community eagerly awaits more mRNA vaccines—for the flu, HIV, and other emerging infectious diseases.
Breaking Through isn’t just the story of an extraordinary woman. It’s an indictment of closed-minded thinking and a testament to one woman’s commitment to laboring intensely in obscurity—knowing she might never be recognized in a culture that is driven by prestige, power, and privilege—because she believed her work would save lives.
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
“A knockout collection. … Sharp-edged satire deceptively wrapped like a box of Neuhaus chocolates, Table for Two is a winner.” —The New York Times
“Superb … This may be Towles’ best book yet. Each tale is as satisfying as a master chef’s main course, filled with drama, wit, erudition and, most of all, heart.” —Los Angeles Times
Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.
The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000, consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages.
In Towles’s novel Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in a noirish tale that takes us through the movie sets, bungalows, and dive bars of Los Angeles.
Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting fiction.
India’s rise as a global power is marked by its growing economic, military, and strategic significance. With the world’s largest population and a burgeoning economy projected to be the third largest in the world by 2027, India is increasingly seen as a pivotal player on the global stage. Its strategic importance is underscored by its role in regional and international alliances, such as the Quad and BRICS, and its leadership among the Global South. Geopolitically, India is central to the Indo-Pacific region, where great power competition is intensifying. Its strategic partnerships, particularly with the United States, have strengthened, driven by shared concerns over China’s regional ambitions. The US-India relationship has deepened through defense cooperation and technology transfer, positioning India as a key partner in maintaining a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.
For US foreign policy, India’s rise offers both opportunities and challenges. The US views India as a potential counterbalance to China, aligning with its vision for regional stability and prosperity. However, India’s commitment to strategic autonomy and its longstanding ties with Russia present complexities in this partnership. Despite these challenges, India’s democratic framework and growing geopolitical influence make it an essential component of US foreign policy in Asia.
https://thediplomat.com/2024/02/why-india-became-indispensable-to-us-foreign-policy-and-pakistan-was-left-behind/
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/india-must-manage-its-own-growing-global-systemic-importance-by-mohamed-a-el-erian-and-michael-spence-2024-03
https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/06/04/a-shock-election-result-in-india-humbles-narendra-modi
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/world/asia/india-changed-modi-swearing-in.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/07/world/asia/india-election-map.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/04/25/how-strong-is-indias-economy
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/economy/asia-pacific/india-economic-outlook.html
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/01/how-india-can-seize-its-moment-to-become-the-world-s-third-largest-economy/
https://hbr.org/2023/09/is-india-the-worlds-next-great-economic-power?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=domcontent_businessmgmt&utm_term=Non-Brand&tpcc=domcontent_businessmgmt&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD9b3uRB0VkvhYT9pD5B3rebUfvD9&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv6vBmYu5iAMVTWhHAR2YqzomEAAYAiAAEgL5RvD_BwE
James Hansford has spent his whole career working in Finance in the UK and USA, performing a wide cross section of roles under the umbrella of Financial Controller, Finance Director, CFO, COO, Real Estate manager and Treasurer.
After qualifying as a chartered accountant, James joined Philip Morris for 2 years, before moving to Midland Bank / HSBC for 12 years. James then joined Lazard in their London office in a Financial Controller / Director role. In 2001, James was offered a 2 year secondment to the New York office to act as the CFO for a newly started private equity business line, which became a 22 year work experience in the USA.
During this time, James’ role expanded and he was responsible for all financial and many operational aspects of Lazard’s global alternative investments’ businesses, historically comprising private equity in the US, Europe and Far East, and venture capital and real estate in the US. James played a significant role in Lazard’s 2005 IPO. James had responsibilities and board director positions for many of Lazard’s worldwide overseas operations for varying periods, performing a COO role.
Recently, James has been involved in some non-profit projects. He assisted the National Executive Service Corps, performing a maturity assessment of a rare disease organization for a large foundation. For several years and still on-going, James has acted as a financial advisor for a Jamaican baker, with an affiliation to the charity Trees That Feed.
James holds a MA (Hons) Degree in Engineering Science and Economics from Oxford University in the UK. He then qualified as a chartered accountant in the UK with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co (now called KPMG) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the equivalent of a CPA qualification in the USA, and is also a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.
Profile: graduate of Yale and Harvard Business School. Married for 64 years to Else Nye Ernst who died in June from Parkinsons Disease.Business career spent in forest products industry retiring in 2000 as President of MacMillian Bloedel Packaging.
Joined the vestry and the became Senior Warden of St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ridgefield, CT for two years.
Moved to Walpole, NH where built Windsor chairs and managed forest land for wildlife. Built a Thoreau cabin and post and beam barn on the land. Was also chair of Walpole library and oversaw a $500,000 expansion.
Moved to Darien in 2023 for medical reasons.
