John Fider was born in 1945 in Newark, N.J., and grew up in Union, N.J. He graduated from Union High School in 1963 and enrolled in Parsons College in Iowa. After one year, he left college to pursue a career in radio. John started his broadcast career at WHBI-FM in Newark and moved on to WBIC on Long Island. Soon thereafter, he took a position at WJLK in Asbury Park hosting the morning show, “The Alarm Clock Club.” In June 1965, he accepted a temporary position with ABC, and it became permanent in September and lasted until 2002. John’s career covered the gamut of sound mixer, transmission engineer and technical director, working some of the network’s most exciting programs. The scope included the Winter Olympics, the New York City Marathon, the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and many others. On the news side, he covered NASA launches and Princess Diana’s wedding and funeral. In 1989, John became operations producer with the News Division covering “Primetime Live,” “20/20,” “World News Tonight” and special events. Promoted to director of broadcast operations, John handled shooting, editing and most studio, remote and bureau operations. He became vice president of production operations in 1996 and remained in that position until retiring in 2002. Since then, he directed “Columbia News Tonight” until 2017. He currently teaches part time at the New York Film Academy and freelances for Bravo Network. John has received six Emmy Awards and a DuPont Journalism Award. He and his wife Marilyn live in Rowayton. In his leisure time, he enjoys classical music, travel, sailing and tennis. Sponsored by Dave McCollum
Author: Webmaster (Page 66 of 97)
2019 April Wandering
On Tuesday April 16, David Mace will lead our April Wandering.
The Wanderers will take the train on Tuesday morning to Grand Central Terminal — the 8:36 AM train from the Darien station, which is the 8:39 AM from Noroton Heights. Upon arrival, we all shall meet at the Upper Level Information Booth at GCT. Please bring your MetroCard for the subway or select the MetroCard included” option when you purchase your train tickets from the machines on the train station platforms.
We shall go by Subway to the Delancey Street neighborhood of lower Manhattan and from there stroll over the East River via the Williamsburg Bridge to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The tour will proceed past the historic Peter Lugar’s Restaurant and the architecturally acclaimed historic main branch of the Williamsburg Savings Bank, through a portion of Brooklyn’s Hasidic ethnic neighborhood, and past the northern part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that has been converted into Steiner Studios, the largest motion picture lot outside of Hollywood. Lunch will be at an Italian Restaurant on the riverbank, with broad vistas of lower Manhattan. Then we shall return by ferry to the Wall Street Ferry Terminal,
and thence, via subway, back to Grand Central. We expect to return about 4:00 PM on the MetroNorth train then leaving Grand Central for Darien.
Hiking Devil’s Den Preserve
Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 10.00am
We will be hiking the trails at Devil’s Den Preserve in Weston on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 with a
10 am start. This is the largest nature preserve in SW Connecticut and extremely popular with
hikers.Owned by the Nature Conservancy, its has 1700 acres of woodlands,wetlands,ponds and
streams, and 20 miles of picturesque trails. It is home to 145 species of birds, 20 species of
mammals, and over 400 varieties of trees and wildflowers.
We will be hiking a loop of 4 miles.This trail has a moderate level of difficulty in that there are
places of gradual uphill, but these are usually followed by long stretches of flat trail. You do
need sturdy shoes as the trail is rocky in places.
After the hike, at about 12.30pm, we will head over to the Barn Door Restaurant for lunch. This
restaurant is located at 37 Ethan Allen Hwy (Rt 7), about a 10 minute drive from Devil’s Den.
As usual, we welcome spouses and significant others on our hikes. Newer members of DMA
are encouraged to join us.
Directions
Take Exit 42 off the north-bound Merritt Parkway and at the bottom of exit ramp make a right
turn onto Route 57 North towards Weston. After 3.8 miles, make a left and continue on Rt 57 for
another 1.3 miles. Turn right on Godfrey Road West and drive half a mile. Make left on to Pent
Road which ends in the parking lot for Devil’s Den.
On Google Maps use this destination address : 33 Pent Road, Weston
Contact : Sunil Saksena 203-561-8601 (cell) ssaksena44@gmail.com
Frank Gallagher was born in the Bronx in 1957. He grew up in Larchmont, N.Y., and graduated from Mamaroneck High School 1975. He graduated from Florida International University in 1980 with a B.S. in hospitality management. Frank started his career with Weston International Hotels in Los Angeles in 1981. In 1982, he changed careers and joind George Gibbons & Co. in New York, involved in bond sales. He continued in the finance field in New York, Greenwich, and Larchmont doing equity research. In 1995, he joined Catalyst Investment Management doing hedge fund portfolio management in New York. In 2011, he went to work with Visium Asset Management also doing hedge fund portfolio management in New York City until he retired in 2015. Frank and his wife Catherine live in Darien and have two sons and a daughter, all living nearby. He belongs to Wee Burn Country Club and the Darien Boat Club. His leisure hobbies include tennis, golf, paddle tennis, bowling, fishing CUP paddle boarding, walking, hiking and American history. Sponsored by Bert von Stuelpnagel
HIKING BABCOCK PRESERVE in GREENWICH, CT
Thursday March 28, 2019 10AM
The Babcock Preserve is a 300 acre tract of forested land in Greenwich, north of the Merritt. It is the largest park in Greenwich and consists of several hiking trails over a relatively easy terrain. It was acquired by the Town of Greenwich in 1972, partially by gift and partially by purchase from the Babcock Family.
The park is very tranquil at this time of the year. We will be hiking approximately 3 ½ miles which should take us till about 12.30pm.. More than half the trail is relatively flat, the rest is a gentle slope
which isn’t very strenuous.
As usual wives are invited and they will find this hike particularly enjoyable.
After the hike we will have lunch( optional) at a nearby restaurant.
Contact: Sunil Saksena
Mark Nunan was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1953. At an early age, he moved to Homewood and then Hoover, Ala. He graduated from Indian Springs High School in 1971, where he was editor of the school newspaper and literary magazine, member of the Student Judiciary group and member of the soccer team. Mark graduated from the University of Alabama in 1976. He continued his education at Stanford University, where he was awarded a master’s in 1979 and a Ph.D. in 1983. During that same period, he was a George Lurcy Fellow at L’ENS normale supérieure and at the University of Paris-Sorbonne in Paris as part of his Ph.D. program. He was a member of Pi Kappa Phi academic honor society and participated in medical research in one of the largest blood pressure and cardiovascular disease research studies in the United States.
Mark started his career with COS, Inc in 1982 in Palo Alto, Calif., and then transferred to Paris and New York City in 1980, where he retired as a senior vice president in 2018. COS is a private firm that provides business and economic development services, assisting companies and governments in researching, developing and implementing new business expansion opportunities, mainly in North America and Europe. Mark and his partner Isabelle live in Darien and have one son and a daughter-in-law and two grandsons living in Europe. He belongs to the Stanford Alumni Association, A-Ulm: Association des Anciens Eleves de I’Ecole normale supérieure and Phi Kappa Phi. His leisure activities include reading, investing, walking, hiking, travel, music and spectator sports; specifically, soccer and college football. Sponsored by Tom Haack
Happy Wanderers schedule walk of Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, March 19, 2019
On Tuesday, March 19, The Happy Wanderers will be exploring the area south of City Hall all the way to Bowling Green on the southern tip of Manhattan. This area constitutes the historic core of the colonial city as well as the financial district and has about 40 landmark sites.
Our meandering will take us past at least 15 of these sites including the US Customs House, Fraunces Tavern, Federal Hall, NYStock Exchange, Trinity Church, St. Paul’s Chapel, Woolworth building, 9/11 Memorial and the Oculus.
If you are interested in joining this first Wandering of 2019 on Tuesday March 19, board the 8.36am train out of Darien or the 8.39am from Noroton Heights bound for Grand Central. On arrival, congregate at the information booth in the center of the Great Hall. From there we will take the subway downtown to begin our exploration. We expect to walk about 4-5 miles, punctuated by the 11 am libation break at the historic Fraunces Tavern and lunch near the 9/11 Memorial. We expect to take the train back to Darien around 3-30 pm.
Contact : Sunil Saksena, 203-561-8601; ssaksena44@gmail.com
Meticulously reported, exquisitely written, and grippingly told, Say Nothing is a work of revelation.” –David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon From award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville’s children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress–with so many kids, McConville always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes. Patrick Radden Keefe’s mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders. From radical and impetuous I.R.A. terrorists–or volunteers, depending on which side one was on–such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious I.R.A. mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace and denied his I.R.A. past, betraying his hardcore comrades–Say Nothing conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish
Tom igoe has written an excellent critique and background piece:
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/Notes-on-Say-Nothing.pdf
Victor Frankenstein, son of an illustrious Swiss family seems to have everything: wealth, youth, friends and family. He also has a burning desire for knowledge which he aims to satiate by studying at the prestigious Ingolstadt University. However his passion for learning leads him to perform a deed as terrible as it is marvelous. He finds the secret to life itself and builds a man, a towering monster of a man and endows it with life. Horrified and repulsed by his own creation, Frankenstein flies from the university and from anything related to his field of research. Shocked and weakened by his labors and the horror he has endured, Frankenstein becomes an unhappy shadow of his former self. He returns home to find that his creation is sentient, aware of him and has already committed murder. Shunned by all, lonely and abandoned by even its creator, the miserable monster requests him to make a companion for him. Frankenstein refuses to unleash another such fiend upon the human race. A struggle begins between the two: the maker and his fiend- A struggle that can end only in complete destruction of either- A struggle that will reveal the true nature of both. It raises the question: who is the true author of evil, the creator or the creation?
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Lino DiCuollo will speak on the U.S. Soccer League operations, competition and player relations. As senior vice president, Competition & Player Relations, he oversees the league’s acquisition and retention of players, including senior and supplemental rosters. Included among his primary responsibilities are overseeing major league soccer (MLS) clubs’ compliance with MLS roster and budget guidelines, managing the league’s centralized role in approving player contracts and leading the league’s efforts in global player recruitment. Lino joined MLS in 2005. Since then, he has liaised with all expansion clubs to manage their rosters on entering MLS, played a key role in assisting senior executives and ownership in formulating player investment strategies, and introduced a technology initiative in the league’s global scouting efforts to assist clubs in their player recruitment strategies. He also oversees the league’s strategic initiatives related to youth player acquisition and retention in the United States and Canada, as well as all player signings from the league’s Allocation List. Lino works with the U.S. Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Federation, CONCACAF and FIFA to ensure that MLS and its clubs are in compliance with regional and global player registration matters. He graduated from Rutgers with a degree in economics and was a four-year starter for the men’s soccer team. He was inducted in the Rutgers University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. He lives in Darien with his wife, son and twin daughters. Arranged by Kevin Davidson
Video of presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnt8HPv79Bw&t=199s
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Emilie Deutsch will discuss her recent documentary, “Althea & Arthur,” which aired on CBS Sports Network in celebration of Black History Month. The film highlights the legacies of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe as the first African-Americans to cross the color barrier of international tennis and their impact not only on the world of tennis but also in advancing civil rights in America during a time of racism and segregation. Emilie is a veteran sports RV producer, has been vice president of the Original Programming & Features for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network since 2004, and originated “NCAA March Madness Confidential.” Throughout her career, Emilie has focused on creating impactful programming on women and African-Americans in sports. In 2014, Emilie helped develop and launch the first all-female national sports talk show, “We Need to Talk,” on CBS Sports Network that won the Gracie Award for Women in Media. Emilie is a graduate of Stanford University, where she studied international relations and served as the sports editor of the Stanford Daily. Aside from her six Emmy awards and more than 30 nominations, one of her proudest achievements is receiving the Arthur Ashe Leadership Award for her documentation of women and African-Americans in sports. She lives with her husband Dominic Schmitt in New Rochelle and has three children. Arranged by Tom Lom
Video of her presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrrMy7hn4U8
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Leonard Leader will cover the essentials of estate planning techniques in the context of today’s tax climate, with particular focus on recent changes in the federal and state estate tax laws. He will emphasize various lifetime planning techniques that provide asset protection for future generations while minimizing the potential for adverse tax consequences. Len will discuss important planning opportunities and perils that will have application for all levels of wealth. His presentation will highlight the consequences of the failure to plan, including a few minutes covering wealthy celebrity case studies. Len is nationally recognized in his field. Worth magazine has named him one of the Top 100 Trust and Estate Lawyers in the country. Chambers High Net Worth magazine recognized him in 2018. Connecticut Super Lawyers has listed him in the category of Estate and Probate since 2007 as well. Len is a prolific thought leader in his field. He is a contributing writer on estate planning to several law publications and is a frequent speaker on estate and tax planning topics to bar associations, business groups and continuing education programs. He also presents at an annual fiduciary income tax workshop for Professional Education Systems. Len is a member of the Taxation Section, the Generation Skipping Trusts Committee of the Estate Planning and Drafting Group of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association, and the Executive Committee of the Estate and Probate Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. Arranged by Tom Igoe
Video of his presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyx3071wxXw
Mr. Leader’s PowerPoint Presentation
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/Darien-Mens-Association-PPT-April-10-2019.pdf
Advisory: Non-Tax Reasons for Estate Planning
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/Advisory-Non-Tax-Reasons-for-Estate-Planning.pdf
Advisory: Domicile and Planning
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/Advisory-Domicile-and-Planning.pdf
2018 Year End Advisory
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-End-of-Year-Advisory.pdf
Update to Connecticut Exemption Amounts
https://dariendma.org/wp-content/uploads/Update-to-Connecticut-Exemption-Amounts.pdf
