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Don’t miss out on this year’s sailing season’s final chance to enjoy a lovely sunset cruise on the Long Island Sound!
The DMA will be setting sail on SoundWaters, an 80 ft 3 masted schooner, for a delightful 2-hour sunset cruise from 5-7 pm on September 29 (rain date: October 1). We’ll have liquid refreshments and light dinner fare on board.
We’ll be gathering at 4:30 pm at the Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center at Boccuzzi Park in Stamford.
Tickets are $75 per person.
Robert Dawe M.D.
“From the bestselling, prize-winning author of SAY NOTHING, a powerfully compelling account of a family devastated by the apparent suicide of their nineteen year-old son, only to discover he had created a separate identity which drew him into the dangerous international criminal underworld underlying London’s glittering surface. In the early morning of November 29th, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured a video of a young man pacing back and forth on a balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury building on the opposite bank of the Thames River. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped. In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried. She hadn’t heard from her son Zac, who told her he had gone to stay with a friend for the night, but wasn’t answering his phone. Five days later, a police car pulled up in front of the house, and she knew she was about to hear the news every parent dreads: Her son was dead. In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband Matthew tried to understand what had happened to Zac. He had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. But his death was just the beginning of the shocks: The man who owned the apartment in Riverwalk, a wealthy businessman named Akbar Shamji, told them he knew Zac by a different identity: Zac Ismailov, the child of a wealthy Russian oligarch, whose widowed mother was living in Dubai and freezing him out of his inheritance. Then they learned that the apartment was occupied by a notorious gangster known as “Indian Dave” in London criminal circles. Indian Dave had been implicated in a gangland slaying and fled the country, but for opaque reasons came back to England and was never prosecuted. From the physical evidence and recovered text messages between Shamji and Sharma, it appeared something very different than a suicide had taken place in Riverwalk that night. But to the immense frustration of the Brettlers, Scotland Yard seemed to have no interest in investigating. In a bravura piece of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe delves into a story that peels back multiple layers of mystery, and exposes the seedy truths beneath the glamourous London of posh mansions and private night clubs, a world sustained and abetted by fundamental corruption. Zac Brettler was not the only person in the tale spinning lies. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death, fueled by multiple turns and revelations, but at its heart it is a deeply empathetic portrait of a family trying to understand not just why their son died, but who he was”– Provided by publisher.
Happy Wanderers
Thursday, September 24th, at 9:15 a.m. at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT
PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL IN ITS ENTIRETY IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THIS WANDERING TO THE U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE
On Thursday, September 24th, the Wanderers will drive to the U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) in Groton, CT, known as the “Home of the Submarine Force,” and enjoy a visit to the Submarine Force Museum and Historic Ship Nautilus, a Windshield Bus Tour including a brief wandering on the Upper Base and lunch on the SUBASE. As a retired Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, DMA member Paul Hendrickson was able to open the door to this exciting opportunity.
This visit to the SUBASE will begin at 9:15 a.m. with a self-guided tour and wandering through the Museum and onto the Nautilus. At 10:15 a.m., a Public Affairs representative of the SUBASE will welcome us in the Museum Theater and provide an overview of the U.S. Navy, the Submarine Force and the SUBASE. Following this presentation, a highlight of this wandering will be a bus tour of the Upper Base that will offer views of the Submarine School, galley, barracks, medical facilities, other key support structures and the Lower Base. A Public Affairs representative of the SUBASE will be with us on this bus tour and wandering and will provide historical insights. The tour will conclude with a brief wandering on the Upper Base followed at noon by a pizza buffet lunch at REUNIONS PUB on the SUBASE. Lunch is expected to include assorted pizza, salad, cookies and soft drinks/water and social engagement with SUBSCOL Sailors. Following lunch at 1:00 p.m. a bus will transport Wanderers to the parking lot adjacent to the Museum where Wanderers will have parked their cars upon arriving at the SUBASE and will drive home.
Sign-ups for this tour and wandering will begin in person at the DMA meeting on Wednesday, September 2. If interested in participating in this tour and wandering, please sign up in person at the September 2 meeting and provide when you sign-up the information and payment required below. Sign-ups by email for this tour and wandering will not be accepted until after 1:00 p.m. on September 2, at which time an email signing up for this tour and wandering with the information required below should be sent to Harry Bergen at bercom100@gmail.com.
The size of our group has been limited by the SUBASE to 36 participants so, if interested, please sign up in person at the meeting on September 2. Sign-ups will be accepted on a first-come basis. Due to the anticipated popularity of this tour and wandering and the group size limitation, we unfortunately are unable to include the spouses of DMA members. A waiting list will be established if this tour and wandering is over-subscribed.
All visitors to the SUBASE must be U.S citizens with a real ID or U.S. passport and must be ambulatory. When signing up for this tour and wandering, you will be required to provide your full name, social security number, date of birth, place of birth, real driver’s license number including state of issuance or U.S. passport number as such information is required to be submitted to the SUBASE on Thursday, September 3.
The cost to each Wanderer to participate in this tour and wandering including lunch is $40 and is non-refundable. Please pay such amount in cash when signing up. The deadline for receipt of payment is Wednesday, September 17.
For those who want to car-pool, we will rendezvous at the DCA parking lot at 7:15 a.m. and then organize into groups for the drive to the SUBASE. Those interested in car- pooling from Darien should plan to park their cars in the rear of the parking lot at the DCA. We will depart from the DCA parking lot by 7:30 a.m. and arrive at the SUBASE at 9:15 a.m. as the self-guided tour and wandering will start at 9:15 a.m. in the Museum. We will park our cars just outside the entrance to the SUBASE in the parking lot that is adjacent to the Museum. We will gather inside the entrance to the Museum to begin our tour and wandering.
Contact: Chet Cobb, Harry Bergen, or Paul Hendrickson
The Mather Legacy
Directed by Tim Smith and narrated by Scott Pelley, this short film is a powerful tribute to both the Mather family and the enduring American spirit. Spanning nearly four centuries and interviewing experts in American history, The Mather Legacy chronicles the family’s journey from their 1635 arrival in the New World to the present day.
Darien’s Mather Homestead. Built in 1778 and raided by Tories during the Revolutionary War, Mather Homestead was home to six generations of Mathers, including Moses Mather, Darien’s leading voice for freedom in 1778. It is now dedicated to historical education.
There will be discussion after the 30-minute film.
Tim Smith
Over the last 25 years, Tim has excelled as a television news producer adept at producing top rated and award-winning documentaries, interviews & news segments for America’s leading news outlets. The quality of his work is attested to by winning a national and regional Emmy, five Emmy nominations, two Gracie Awards, Grierson Award, Genesis nomination & Cable Ace nomination.
Tim has worked with and directed top news talent including Lester Holt, Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Judy Woodruff, Norah O’Donnell, Jim Lehrer, Bob Woodward, Chuck Todd, Charlie Rose, Natalie Morales, Roger Mudd and Savannah Guthrie. His strong record of big gets includes interviews with Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cheney, John Updike, Joe Biden, Audrey Hepburn, Ted Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Conner, Gerald Ford, Laura Bush, Donald Trump and Mitt Romney.
Samantha Gault
Samantha is the Executive Director of the Mather Homestead Foundation and has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA from Middlebury College. This beautifully preserved house and landmark offers a glimpse into American revolutionary history through rich and engaging programming, including literary conversations, lectures, and events. This past year Samantha and the Mather Homestead have had a focus on the America 250 celebration from the point of view of Middlesex Parish. Samantha reflected, “for me, studying history and looking back has always been about not losing my way. How can you know where you are or where you are going if you do not know where you have been? That is as important for nations and communities as it is for individuals”.
Global Oil and Gas Market
Steve Villas analyzes the global oil market, highlighting that while the United States leads global production at over 13 million barrels per day due to horizontal drilling and hydrofracking, it remains reliant on imports due to domestic demand and refinery setups. The global market handles roughly 100 million barrels daily, with demand shifting from flat Western consumption toward rapidly growing middle classes in China and India. He will also discuss the impact of the Iran war and the periodic closing of the Strait of Hormuz on supply.
Steve demystifies oil pricing and discusses other geopolitical influences, including how OPEC Plus manages global pricing through strict production quotas rather than fixed prices, and how the Russian shadow fleet circumvents international price caps using covert ship-to-ship transfers. Villas has strong confidence in free markets, asserting that society will never fully run out of oil, though its long-term market dominance will eventually transition to new technologies.
Steve graduated from Lehigh University with a BS degree in engineering and obtained his MBA in finance from the Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania. He has worked his entire 45-year career in the petroleum industry, holding positions with Exxon, Standard Oil of Ohio, British Petroleum, and Hess Corp. Steve has been involved with, and spoke on, chemical plant design, advertising and promotion, supply and logistics, government affairs, oil and gas trading, financial hedging, oil and gas marketing, and other current topics of interest in the global oil markets.
Add “world traveler” to the list. Steve logged more than 6.5 million frequent flier miles over his career. “I’ve been to Russia six times, China three times, and I lost track of Southeast Asia,” he says. When Villas talks, his stories blend humor, humility, and gratitude. His legacy isn’t just financial. It’s the ripple effect of generosity, mentorship, and heart. “Money isn’t the most important thing you can give,” he says. “What matters is what you share of yourself.”
The Medium is the Mirror
Tim Love and The Honorable Richard Gephardt come to Darien to discuss Tim’s award winning book and former Congressman Gephardt’s bipartisan, Council For Responsible Social Media.
In The Medium is the Mirror, marketing veteran Tim Love warns that unregulated digital environments alter global society. Expanding on Marshall McLuhan, Love argues that algorithmic media acts as a mirror that reflects user behavioral data to distort reality, manipulate perceptions, and fragment communities.
This data tracking induces “Neuro-Dystopian Conditioning,” forcing truth to evolve from objective fact into algorithmic consensus. Consequently, polarization deepens, mental health suffers, and trust in public institutions erodes.
Supported by former Congressman Richard Gephardt, the book acts as a blueprint for leadership. It calls for strict platform regulation, algorithmic accountability, and conscious media usage to restore democratic dialogue, ethical clarity, and human empathy in a fractured digital age.
There will be a book signing with a Barrett’s Bookstore representative on-site after the meeting at the entryway table.
Richard. A Gephardt, President and CEO of Gephardt Group
Mr. Gephardt served for 28 years in the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 2004, representing Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, home to his birthplace St. Louis. In his role as Leader, Mr. Gephardt emerged as one of the leading strategists of the Democratic Party’s platform and chief architect to landmark reforms ranging from healthcare, pensions, education, energy independence and trade policy. In his first year in Congress, he was appointed to both the House Ways & Means and Budget Committees. He was elected to serve as House Democratic Leader for more than 14 years, as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. Mr. Gephardt ran for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President twice, in 1988 and 2004. Mr. Gephardt retired from the U.S. Congress in 2005 to found Gephardt Group, a privately held labor relations consulting and government affairs firm. He was Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research Institute, a private, non profit research organization engaged in biomedical science. Most recently, Mr. Gephardt was a member of the Board of Directors at SpiritAerosystems, Centene Corporation, Ford Motor Company, CenturyLink and U.S. Steel Corporation. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors at The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is the Founder of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis. Widely known for his advocacy for international human rights, Mr. Gephardt served as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, a private, nonprofit organization that endeavors to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts, from 2009 to 2013.
Mr. Gephardt began his career in public service in 1968 as a precinct captain to St. Louis’ 14th ward. From 1971 to 1976, he served as Alderman for the city’s 14th ward. In 1976, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, succeeding 24-year incumbent Leonor Sullivan.
Mr. Gephardt earned his Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in 1962 and his juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1965.
Tim Love is former Vice-Chairman of Omnicom Group, a leading global advertising and marketing services company. Throughout Tim’s career in the advertising industry he helped clients be more globally sensitive, collaborative and effective. His extensive global brand-building experience involved residing in Brussels, Tokyo, Singapore and New York City. He worked with some of the world’s most sophisticated marketers: P&G, Nissan and Infiniti automobiles, PepsiCo, Unilever, Gillette, Mars, UBS, Kraft, Philips and J&J.
Since retiring from Omnicom in 2013, Tim has returned to artistic beginnings. He also co-taught at Oxford University’s Said School of Business MBA program on “Branding and Communication,” he was on the faculty of the US Marketing Communications College, a pro-bono initiative at the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department. He has also lectured on “Discovering Truth” an initiative he started 8 years to discern how people discern truth in a post-digital world. He has lectured at numerous universities across the country and a the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting. His 2024 podcast interview with PBS station WGCU won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and will compete for a national award in August.
He is author of two award-winning books available on Amazon- “Discovering Truth: How to Navigate Between Fact & Fiction in an Overwhelming Social Media World” (Internationalist Press) and “The Book that Gets Better with Age” (LID London). Recent work is also available on Substack@timloveideas.com- “The Elephant in the Room” and “The Cost of Not Pursuing Truth.” and “The Medium is the Mirror.” His podcast series, Tim Love’s Discovering Truth includes 58 episodes of interviews with leading communication experts including Jane Goodall.
Tim was a founding member and first chairman of the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Internship program, now in its 52nd year and a founding member for Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), focused on improving international business cooperation.
He recently was invited to be on the Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM) a cross-partisan initiative of Issue One in Washington DC.
Tim is a James Webb Young Fellow with a Masters in Communication from the University of Illinois and he has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Fine Arts from Miami University in Ohio. Tim Love Ideas, LLC, is doing commissioned art and creating ideas. Also see www.timlovesworld.com
Getting a Grip on Grocery
Consumers everywhere are faced with a plethora of choices from which to buy food – including in Darien, where there are 10 major competitors competing for food dollars just within a seven-mile stretch of road. Beyond the fragmented competition, issues like inflation, food safety and technology influence when and where people shop.
This is the challenging environment that longtime Darien resident Kevin Coupe has been chronicling for more than four decades, including the last 25 on MorningNewsBeat.com, which is seen within the retail industry as a primary and entertaining source of provocative and irreverent commentary. In this customized and interactive session, KC will evaluate the competitive landscape that is changing the food industry (and customers), cast a critical eye on how companies’ leaders are judging (and misjudging) the marketplace, focus on the issues that inform the choices of local shoppers, and make some informed guesses about who the winners and losers will be – and why it should matter to Darien consumers.
“Content Guy” / Prime Storyteller, MorningNewsBeat.com, Author, “Retail Rules! 52 Ways To Achieve Retail Success,” & Co-Author, “The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons From The Movies”
For more than 40 years, Kevin Coupe has been bringing to audiences all over the world a wealth of experience, sharp storytelling skills, provocative and contextual insights, unique worldview and “serious irreverence” about the world of business and consumers. He is the author of “Retail Rules! 52 Ways To Achieve Retail Success,” a guidebook for competing effectively and efficiently on Main Street, and co-author, with Michael Sansolo, of “The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies,” which uses film narratives to teach about leadership, marketing and surviving the workplace. A quarter century ago, he launched MorningNewsBeat.com, providing “business news in context, and analysis with attitude” to more than 25,000 subscribers all over the world, finding critical, relevant and resonant lessons not just in the world of retailing, but also in sports, popular culture and a wide range of other businesses. An independent survey recently ranked MNB as the “top industry news and information site.” And, Kevin is an adjunct faculty member at Portland State University in Oregon. In addition to speaking at hundreds of conferences in the U.S. and abroad and reporting from 49 states and six continents, Kevin has been a daily newspaper reporter, magazine writer/editor, video producer, bodyguard, and clothing salesman. He has supervised a winery tasting room (happily), run two marathons (slowly), driven a race car (badly), learned to box (painfully), tried stand-up comedy (amusingly), and acted in a major (but obscure) motion picture. He is married with three grown children and lives in Connecticut.
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