Medalists

From newyorkpost.com through the AP, edited by yours truly: Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Prize gold medal in 2021 for helping found a Russian newspaper. He was the editor-in-chief when it shut down in March amid the Kremlin’s clampdown on journalists and public dissent in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. He decided to auction the prize to raise money for Ukrainian orphans. It brought an astonishing $103.5 million from an unknown source. Kudos, sir, and to the deep pocket individual or individuals who stepped up. Photo from NYP:

Amusing headline from NYP: “Dem Congress wannabe who preaches cop ‘defund’ moved from ‘unsafe’ Harlem.” Fool’s gold medal.

Headline from foxnews.com: “Transgender ex-neo-Nazi bank robber to receive fast-tracked ‘gender confirmation surgeries’.” Chutzpah medal.

According to an article by Talia Kaplan at foxbusiness.com, summarized by yours truly, there is one entity benefiting from the supply chain snafu — air cargo suppliers — although it’s more expensive. For instance, the cost of shipping cargo from South Korea to Los Angeles is $831 for ocean/sea freight and $1752 for air cargo. Fuel costs, of course, are a major consideration. The number of passenger planes being converted to cargo planes over the next few years is expected to more than double from pre-pandemic levels. Hey — whatever works. Biggest drawback — higher prices for a long time. Bronze medal.

RIP actress Maureen Arthur, 88, best known for her turn as the squeaky-voiced dumb blonde in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), a role she honed on the stage. There are 56 titles under her name at IMDb in a career that spanned 1958–2011, mostly in TV. She also did Broadway and the L.A. theater, where she got to play the dream role Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, which garnered her a Drama Critics’ Best Performance Award. Well done, madam. Thank you. Silver medal. Photo from Google Images.

Books poured into the floating book shop on this muggy day that brought occasional sprinkles. My thanks to the donors and buyers: Here’s what sold: five books in Russian, including a translation of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling; one from the Emily Windsnap series by Liz Kessler and Sarah Gibb; Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo; one kids DVD; and four kids books. And our gold medal super, Luis, led me to two bags worth of non-fiction. I am not legend but blessed.

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