Shahade talked about the league featuring worldwide team competition, using the scheveningen system which gives lower rated players the chance to pull upset each week, and having the chance to "revolutionize chess".

(meta data) TITLE: The Top 10 Reasons You Should be Watching the PRO Chess League | Greg Shahade

(meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/WordPresscom

## Politics, Chess, CrossFit, Poker, Donuts

# The Top 10 Reasons You Should be Watching the PRO Chess League

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 / curtains20

In just a few days, on January 11, the biggest chess event that I've ever been a part of is starting on Chess.com.

The PRO Chess League is a worldwide team competition, played online between teams of four, with a rapid time control.

It's hard for me to even begin to describe what a spectacle this event is going to be, but I'm going to try my best.

Here are the top ten reasons you should be watching the PRO Chess League every week:

We have 5 of the top 7 players in the World playing in the league!

World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway Gnomes), #2 GM Fabiano Caruana (Montreal Chessbrahs), #4 GM Wesley So (St. Louis Arch Bishops) #5 GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Marseille Migraines), and #7 GM Hikaru Nakamura (Miami Champions), are all playing.

Other big names are #13 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (San Jose Hackers), #21 GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (Miami Champions) and #29 GM Li Chao (Montreal Chessbrahs).

Overall we have 143 Grandmasters's signed up on various teams thus far!

There are 48 teams from 5 continents competing.

We have 20 teams from the United States, 16 European teams, 4 Indian teams, 3 African teams, 2 Canadian teams, 2 South American teams and 2 Asian teams.

You can see all of the teams and their rosters here.

Every Wednesday throughout the January-March, we will have games running from around 11 AM ET all the way until midnight.

We have four – 12 team divisions, each of which start at different times (approx 11 AM ET, 2:30PM ET, 6:30PM ET, 9:30PM ET).

For each of these divisions there will be a separate dedicated live broadcast with high level commentary that covers all of the games.

The hosts include stars such as GM Simon Williams, IM Anna Rudolf, GM Max Dlugy, IM Lawrence Trent, GM Max Dlugy, GM Irina Krush, GM Alex Yermolinsky, IM David Pruess, GM Jesse Kraai, GM Dejan Bojkov and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.

The league follows a similar format as typical American sports leagues.

There is a seven week regular season, after which half of the teams qualify for the playoffs.

The playoffs are then single elimination contests until we reach the Championship Weekend.

The Championship Weekend will take place on March 25/26, and will include the Final Four teams.

The Semifinals are scheduled for Saturday March 25 and the Championship Match concludes on March 26.

The league is going to be ultra competitive.

We have instituted a rating cap of 2500 FIDE each match, so that there will be as many competitive teams as possible.

I am looking at these rosters and while there are quite a few teams that stand out as being very strong, I have no idea how it's going to play out as this is a brand new type of event that has never been seen in the history of chess.

This is super exciting because each team will bring four players to the match, and they will all play everyone on the other team.

So instead of seeing someone like Magnus Carlsen or Wesley So playing the same top GMs every game, you'll also get to see what happens when they play someone a bit lower rated.

You'll also see some lower ranked players getting the chance to score big upsets every week.

Chess.com is taking Cheating and Fair Play very seriously.

A lot of how the league is handling cheating is done behind the scenes and without my knowledge, but anyone who is playing especially well on Chess.com will be susceptible to increased supervision requirements such as requiring a proctor to oversee their games and to include a webcam for remote supervision from our staff.

Note however that none of these requirements will be made public.

Also Chess.com has one of the most robust anti-cheating teams I've ever seen, with high level statisticians and mathematicians working around the clock to detect anomalies.

It's great for local chess communities all over the world.

It's true that Magnus Carlsen is on a team, along with over a hundred other Grandmasters, but that's not the only purpose of the PRO Chess League.

We want to bring high level chess competition to places that may not have the high density of Grandmasters that are available in other cities.

We love that we have teams that will be full of GM's each week, and also teams that are filled with more local stars.

Maybe those teams won't be able to win it all, but it gives their local fans a chance to see their heroes go head to head against some of the best players in the world.

This event is going to revolutionize chess.

I've never felt that any event has the chance to change the game of chess more than this one.

It's going to be fun, action packed, and an all day spectacle every single week.

When we created the rules for this league I asked myself "What is the most exciting possible event that we could create that would also encourage the top players in the world to play?".

I think we've come up with a good answer in the PRO Chess League.

Everything about this event is built to grab your attention and never let it go.

← In Chess, the Truth is OverratedI'm 38 Years Old and I've Never Had a Job

## 7 thoughts on "The Top 10 Reasons You Should be Watching the PRO Chess League"

Great idea, and I hope this will be met with enthusiasm from the fans !

This will also certainly help improve chess.com's anti-cheating measures, which is a good thing.

I don't agree with many of your opinions but I think the Pro League is a brilliant concept and I wish you and Chess.com all the best with it.

I can't believe no-one else though of doing it before now.

Chess.com isn't very well set up to gather all the information about the League in one place.

You really need a website to show it off in my view.

Of course the live coverage will be in chess.com but the way they are set up doesn't help visitors really get to grips with the concept when it has all been published progressively with various news items which is a shame.

Can't wait for it all to start tomorrow though!

I agree, I have been trying to find out who is on each team etc. and it has been very difficult.

It would also be nice to be able to point people to a decent site detailing it.

Pingback: The PRO Chess League Begins on Wednesday

I'm also very excited about the PRO Chess League, mainly for your 9th reason – I'm excited about African's playing against the best in the world, every week!

But I do agree with Dave, I think it would benefit from a dedicated webpage, rather than being tied up in articles dotted amongst chess.com's other news.

I think that the core motivation and approach is fantastic, driving social media interest and captivating a global online audience, and I think a dedicated webpage is just a better home base for all of that.

I'm sure it will come in time as PRO Chess grows year on year – here's to a great first season!

So excited!! LIttle short on details on how to watch/follow….

PRO chess league is alot of chess, with alot of players and alot of games, which on the one hand makes it hard to follow, on the other hand it succeeds at making chess a fun spectator sport… which is the key thing that pretty much everybody has failed at up to now… maybe some tweaks to make the system a little easier to understand and we have finally got a decent chance for chess to become bigtime

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Things I plan to blog about in the future

(meta data) TITLE: The PRO Chess League Returns on Saturday! - US Chess

## The PRO Chess League Returns on Saturday!

By Vanessa West|October 27, 2017|News, Super Grandmaster Chess

Where can you see Magnus Carlsen at his best one week, scoring a perfect 4-0 against a team of mostly grandmasters, and at his worst another, blundering his queen to a one-move knight fork?

Where can you watch elite GMs and amateur competitors compete side by side?

Where can you experience the highly anticipated head-to-head battle between World #1 Carlsen and World #2 (at the time) Wesley So, as their teams duke it out for the championship title?

Where else can you witness a sub-2200 (FIDE) player like Nicholas Rosenthal trounce a world class grandmaster like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave?

This exciting worldwide team competition returns tomorrow—with a brand new format!

Due to the popularity of the league, the league will be structured differently.

Twenty-four teams have been automatically invited into the league based on their performance last year, including teams like the returning champions, the St. Louis Archbishops (led by Wesley So) and the 2017 runner-up, the Norway Gnomes (led by Magnus Carlsen).

Eight more teams will be chosen from two regional qualification tournaments, taking place on Saturday, October 28.

One qualification tournament will feature teams from the Atlantic & Pacific Divisions while the other will feature the Central & Eastern teams.

While this year the format is changing, the main draws of the league remain the same:

Numerous elite grandmasters will lead their teams into battle

International participation from 6 continents

Entertaining blitz & rapid time controls

An entire regular and playoff season of action-packed chess, tentatively starting on January 17, 2018

PRO Chess Teams from all over the globe!

Red = 24 teams seeded into the regular season.

Green = 40 teams competing for 8 qualification spots on Saturday

Although the Atlantic/Pacific Qualifier has less teams playing, the ones that are competing are particularly strong.

The top seed is the Seattle Sluggers, led by World #10 Hikaru Nakamura, and the only team that enters the tournament with an average rating above 2500.

World #16, Yu Yangyi, will be competing with the Chengdu Pandas.

GM Ben Finegold, who competed on the winning St. Louis Arch Bishops last year, will now be playing for the Atlanta Kings.

Here in California, I'll be rooting for the San Francisco Mechanics, who are based in my favorite U.S. city and led by GM Daniel Naroditsky, author of two excellent books, Mastering Positional Chess and Mastering Complex Endgames.

Another well-known chess author, GM David Smerdon, who wrote Smerdon's Scandinavian and is currently working on a book about chess swindles, will be competing for one of the two Australian teams, the Australia Blitzkrieg.

###### Saturday, October 28 at 1 p.m. pacific time

In the Central and Eastern Divisions, I'm most excited about the two particular teams, both of which have strong line-ups and have been very active on social media in anticipation of the PRO Chess kickoff:

3rd seed, the Mumbai Movers, featuring 23-year-old GM Vidit Gujrathi, who recently broke 2700

2nd seed, the Hyderabad Hawks, led by GM Harika Dronavalli

The first Hawk we would like to announce..3 time World Championship Bronze medalist and former World Online Blitz Champ, GM @HarikaDronavali pic.twitter.com/HaHmpdYdKq

— Hyderabad Hawks (@Hyd_Hawks_Chess) October 21, 2017

###### Saturday, October 28 at 8 a.m. pacific time

The qualification tournaments will have team members compete as individuals (Yes, team members may end up playing against each other), and then the team's total scores will be tallied at the end.

Six teams will earn qualification spots by reaching the top 3 of each tournament.

The final two qualification seats will be decided by one of the most fascinating aspects of the new format: Fans will get to choose!

They will get in with a little help from their friends…

A fan vote will take place (full details at the rules page here) within a few days after the event.

Teams will have time to submit pleas to fans on social media, create videos and interact with the Chess.com community in any way they can to drum up support!

A poll will then be placed on the Chess.com homepage for 72 hours and the magic will begin!"

-Mike Klein, "PRO League Qualifier: 40 Teams Vie For 8 Spots"

Viewers may have mixed feelings on choosing the final two teams based on fan appeal, but consider this:

Competitive merit will still play a role: Only the teams that placed in 4th-6th in the qualifier tournament will be considered in the vote.

It encourages teams to engage with fans on social media and by creating interesting content, such as blogs or videos about the team members and their best games.

It allows viewers to interact directly with the event.

Follow all of the excitement tomorrow, featuring live games and commentary starting at 8 a.m. PST on Chess.com/TV:

The Central & Eastern Qualifier will be hosted by David Pruess and Anna Rudolf at 8 a.m. PST

The Atlantic & Pacific Qualifier will be hosted by Danny Rensch and Jennifer Shahade at 1 p.m. PST

Vanessa West is a regular writer and digital assistant for US Chess News.

She won the 2017 Chess Journalist of the Year award.

You can follow her on Twitter: @Vanessa__West

PRO Chess League in Full Swing: Thursday, January 18th - US Chess | January 18, 2018 at 6:43 am

[…] Previous report: PRO Chess Qualifier Preview [

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Supporters say the league's worldwide distribution, the prize money, and the participation of many of the world's top-rated players may create a new level of competition and awareness for the game. It is anticipated that the new formats are leading to a "rise in popularity of online and rapid chess". In addition, the PCL has the potential to dramatically change chess culture and could lead to corporate sponsorships. This change from an "individual and slow game," to a relatively quick and team format, has made the offering more viewer friendly. In a 2017 article, Greg Shahade made a similar statement to what Eric Rosen mentioned.


He reportedly grew close with the twins after rooming with them and staff considered the Pounceys a positive influence on Hernandez.

(meta data) TITLE: Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then? - NFL.com

# Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?

Big talent, big concerns: A combine conundrum

The new reality of developing NFL talent

Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has been charged with murder in the death of Odin Lloyd.

It's been nearly four years since I wrote, for the Boston Globe, that a number of positive drug tests led to Aaron Hernandez's precipitous fall in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Personnel directors and execs said then, in the days immediately after that draft, that the Florida tight end likely would've been a low first- or high second-round pick otherwise.

But there were whispers at the time, too, that Hernandez was caught up in more serious things.

The word "gang" was bandied about in conversation.

Since team officials I talked to at the time said it never really went past the rumor stage, we decided, in print, to stay away from it.

What was obvious was this was a guy, with drugs and otherwise, who had a way of getting himself into and then out of trouble.

So with the Patriots mum when it came to what they knew about Hernandez, either in 2010 or '13, and as I worked through my takeout piece on how college prospects are vetted by teams, an obvious question arose.

And it's the same one I sought to answer early that May:

"They couldn't pin a lot of stuff on him (at Florida)," said one AFC college scouting director, whose team had Hernandez off the board.

"But people at the school would tell you, 'Every time there's an issue, he's around it.'

If there was trouble, Hernandez's name would come up.

A lot of things inside of you hoped you'd turn him around, but people that I talked to said they didn't trust him, that he'd burn you."

Those who were at Florida, working under Urban Meyer, confirm that much: Hernandez had a way of beating the system.

Said one ex-Gator staffer, "He was really intelligent, and that's why he was such a pain in the ass.

He knew how to beat the system on everything."

Hernandez has been in jail since June 26.

He is facing a first-degree murder charge, as well as five gun charges, and also is being investigated in connection to a July 2012 double homicide in Boston.

So yes, the system would seem to have caught up with him.

And by now, NFL teams have looked at how Hernandez got from Point A to Point B as they attempt to refine how they review and reject prospects based on off-field problems.

Hernandez won a national championship and earned All-America honors at Florida.

Meyer and his coaches privately told some clubs that, to be managed, it was crucial that Hernandez be surrounded by the right people.

At Florida, the staff did its best to dissuade him from going home over breaks in the school calendar because of the element waiting in Connecticut, and even got nervous on game weekends, when that crowd typically would migrate south to Gainesville and roll with Hernandez.

The Gator coaches aligned Hernandez with Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, whom Hernandez roomed with off campus.

The three grew close, and the staff generally considered the Pounceys a positive influence.

(Since then, Mike has been named in Ted Wells' report as one of the players who contributed to the harassment of Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin.)

Meyer also had Tim Tebow rooming with Hernandez for road games, in the hopes that being around the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner would show the standout tight end the right way to do things.

"The year before he came out, I was at their pro day, and I remember seeing the Pounceys, and then him," said a second AFC college director, whose club had Hernandez on the board, but not draftable where he went (No. 113 overall, in the fourth round).

"It was very clear that (the Pounceys) were the leaders, that they were the influential guys, and he was behind them, a tagalong, a follower in that sense.

And they were trying to bring him along."

An NFC personnel executive added, "He was very, very immature.

Urban did him right by having him follow Tebow -- and he was such a follower.

And everyone knew that if you didn't keep an eye on him, he was an easy guy to persuade to do the wrong thing."

The failed drug tests (Florida contends it was only one failed test) were, of course, central to the problem -- and it wasn't really the pot.

At the college level, players are put in position to pass drug tests; thus, pro clubs look at multiple positives as a sign that an athlete either a) doesn't care or b) has a problem.

So Hernandez's ability to stay in line was automatically in question.

Just the same, and even with details remaining shadowy, questions lingered about that crowd around Hernandez and how its presence played into his mental health.

The background several clubs gathered had Hernandez gravitating toward an unsavory element within his family after his father's death in 2006, which would wind up forming the baseline of the group that the Florida coaches, and later NFL teams, were so concerned about.

The tough part was, in football settings, he was mostly OK, showing only flashes of instability.

"He was considered a cool guy to be around," said an NFC personnel director whose club had Hernandez off the board.

"But around the program, he was the one guy everyone knew not to mess with.

I don't think anyone would've predicted what's going on now.

He was one of those where it was hard to determine whether to take him off the board.

My feeling is, most people had him off their boards because of the (drug) tests."

And that's where some of the divide was: The question of whether someone who made you want to believe he was a good guy was actually a bad guy, or simply a college kid needing to grow up.

The second AFC college director said that one pre-draft meeting his club had with Hernandez got "emotional," with the prospective pick trying to convince the club that he wasn't the con man some portrayed him to be.

In the process, he did more damage to his stock, making the officials in the room question if he was worth the trouble.

"He admitted to smoking, and basically that was the environment he was brought up in, how comfortable he was with smoking," said the personnel man.

"It was the emotional state of this kid, the highs and lows, the overall stability that got you.

You're not saying, 'OK, this guy may be a murderer.'

It was just, 'He's not mentally ready.' "

In the same vein, the college director said what worried his club was what would happen once Hernandez left the Gainesville cocoon: "Urban's getting beat up, but Urban does have rules.

Mickey Marotti and Charlie Strong and Greg Mattison, they were anchors.

As for the questions about gang affiliation, the rumors, again, were there.

But according to these evaluators, that is hardly uncommon.

Plenty of players who grow up in gang-ridden areas enter the draft every year, and it certainly can be challenging for scouts to separate a player who is tangentially connected from those who are truly involved.

In that sense, geography wound up contributing to the Patriots' issue.

That year, prevailing opinion was that Dallas was the one place that Texas native Dez Bryant, also known for being impressionable and having questionable hangers-on, couldn't be drafted to.

The Cowboys have been proactive in monitoring and policing him, and it's worked out so far.

Similarly, the Patriots provided Hernandez, through proximity, access to his past in Bristol, Conn.

And obviously, that one went the other way.

"Geographically, the kid couldn't be closer to his hometown and his roots and his background," said an AFC personnel executive.

"He couldn't have come to an NFL team closer to home.

I thought about the prosecutor in the court room, and guys he needed to get up there, and you think about how he was always just a phone call away from bringing that element back.

He can't make that call if he's playing for Denver or Arizona or Seattle."

Hernandez, who has been in jail since last June, still awaits trial.

Add all the contributing factors up -- the drugs, the questionable characters around him, the need to be monitored and the geography -- and it's easy, in hindsight, to assemble the equation and say the sum result is logical.

But scan the landscape and a different picture pops up.

Those in Gainesville concede Hernandez wasn't even the worst problem on those Gator teams.

Scores of players come into the draft each year with checkered pasts to sort through.

A few are so good that their issues can be perceived as providing an opportunity to buy low with potential for an enormous return, which is essentially what the Patriots did.

"There are three to six guys in the first few rounds every year that have a chance to go one way or the other," said the NFC personnel executive.

But Hernandez was pretty good at the start, too."

The information available back then is instructive to look back at now, without question.

But this much is just as apparent, four years later: If you're looking for concrete answers on what a prospect will become, the draft process is rarely the place to find them.

After all, if you'd told me, after writing that story in 2010, how this would all turn out, I'd be right there with everyone else: shocked that all this was possible.

Follow Albert Breer on Twitter @AlbertBreer.

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#### 16 for '16: The best of what college football has to offer

#### 10 CFB teams for a 'Hard Knocks'-style show

#### NFL epilogue to epic college football moments

 As a junior in 2009, and after leading the team in receptions with 68 for 850 yards and five touchdowns, Hernandez won the John Mackey Award given annually to the nation's best tight end. He was also a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and was recognized as a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, "College Football News" and "The Sporting News." During his final game, he threw the ball into the stands to celebrate a touchdown.  The excessive display risked a personal foul penalty, but sportswriters saw an athlete with little to lose personally if he chose to into the NFL instead of returning for another year of collegiate football.
 Meyer had wanted to throw Hernandez off the team for his chronic marijuana use, but relented after an appeal from Tebow.  However, after Hernandez's junior year Meyer told him that he would not be welcome back for a fourth year and that he would have to try to get picked up by a professional team in the 2010 NFL Draft.  Hernandez finished his college career with 111 receptions for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. Florida coaches aligned Hernandez with Maurkice and Mike Pouncey.


Bolsonaro was sworn in as President of the Republic on 1 January 2019, succeeding Michel Temer.

(meta data) TITLE: Will Bolsonaro's victory in Brazil usher right-wing ripple effects in Latin America?

(meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: Wed Oct 31 2018 18:09:00 GMT+0000 (UTC)

# Will Bolsonaro's victory in Brazil usher right-wing ripple effects in Latin America?

"Brazil now has the most right wing leader of any democracy in the world," says a political analyst.

"Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate with the Social Liberal Party, waves after voting in the presidential runoff election in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Oct. 28,

Get breaking news alerts and special reports.

The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

SUBSCRIBEOct. 31, 2018, 6:09 PM UTCBy Simeon Tegel

From the fate of the Amazon to LGBT rights and even the future of democracy itself, Jair Bolsonaro's historic victory in Brazil's presidential election could have profound repercussions across Latin America.

With 209 million citizens, Brazil is easily the region's most populous nation and often wields an outsize influence among its neighbors in everything from soccer to social policies and international relations.

The triumph of the hard right former army captain —with his lengthy track record of homophobic, misogynistic and racist remarks — as well as his unapologetic nostalgia for his country's 1964-1985 military dictatorship and support of torture, has many analysts wondering just where Latin America may now be headed.

## Why it matters that President Trump is praising Brazil's new president

Bolsonaro has pledged to open up the Amazon to mining and other activities that would threaten the world's largest tropical rain forest and a vast carbon sink that could play a vital role in tackling climate change.

He has also threatened to kick left-wing political opponents out of the country and is a fierce participant in Brazil's culture wars, fervently opposing both abortion and same-sex marriage.

"Brazil now has the most right wing leader of any democracy in the world," says Dawisson Belém Lopes, a professor of international politics at Brazil's Minas Gerais Federal University.

When Lula [Brazil's former leftist president Luiz Inácio da Silva] was elected, it set the trend across Latin America that [Venezuela's late socialist leader Hugo] Chávez never could."

Bolsonaro''s win comes after Brazilians' repudiation of the current government, which has been engulfed in massive corruption scandals.

But voters may soon see stark changes; If Bolsonaro implements certain policy positions once in power, they would constitute a 180° turn on a range of issues.

This could potentially give renewed momentum to like-minded politicians and interest groups across the region, from social conservatives to the agribusiness lobby that has often chafed at environmental laws aimed at preventing deforestation.

Brazil's President-Elect could also usher in a sea change in regional attitudes towards Venezuela's economic and democratic collapse, forming a hard-line alliance with Colombia's new conservative president Iván Duque, who has also struck a more aggressive tone towards the Maduro regime and its so-called "Bolivarian" socialism.

Another area where Bolsonaro could attempt to put Brazil on a new path is regarding its relationship with China, which has long been buying South American commodities, everything from soy to copper, to fuel its economic boom.

### NBC OUTLGBTQ Brazilians on edge after self-described 'homophobic' lawmaker elected president

China has been Brazil's principal trading partner for a decade now and has increasingly displaced the United States' economic influence in the region.

Bolsonaro has railed at what he views as Brazil's dependence on Beijing.

"The Bolsonaro administration could unleash a new wave of questioning, or pushing back, against China in the region," says Jason Marczak, director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, a Washington D.C. think tank.

But perhaps one of the biggest repercussions of Bolsonaro's victory in Latin America could be a new era of radical outsiders successfully running for the highest office.

### The triumph of outsiders — and fake news

Bolsonaro has been dubbed the "tropical Trump," yet there at least is one crucial difference between the two.

While the U.S. President ran as the official Republican Party candidate, the Brazilian represented the tiny Social Liberal Party, with its minimalist party organization and negligible resources.

His victory was in large part fueled by fake news that spread like wildfire over WhatsApp, which had 68% market penetration in Brazil in 2017.

The smears spread this way against Fernando Haddad, Bolsonaro's opponent, which included unsubstantiated allegations of rape and of pushing homosexual indoctrination on six and seven-year-olds when he was education minister.

Supporters of far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, celebrate in front of his house in Rio de Janeiro, after he won Brazil's presidential election, on Oct. 28,

The proliferation of social media and instant messaging apps, married to voter outrage at the corruption of the political establishment, could mean that Bolsonaro is just the first of a wave of outsiders, with little or no respect for democratic institutions, taking office in Latin America.

"We so-called experts need to reconsider our understanding of politics, our understanding of what is possible," says Belém Lopes.

### NewsJair Bolsonaro's rivals bet Brazilians would unite against him.

Yet not everyone is convinced that Bolsonaro really will be a regional trendsetter.

His homophobic rhetoric has coincided with a reported rise in violent attacks on members of the LGBT community in Brazil, and his victory worried activists in the country.

However, Leyla Huerta, a trans activist in Peru —which shares a 2000 mile-border with Brazil — is among those who view South America's largest nation, where Portuguese is spoken, as something of an island apart from its Spanish-speaking neighbors.

"Of course it is worrying," says Huerta.

"Any kind of backsliding on human rights is.

But I am not sure that Brazil necessarily sets the agenda for the rest of us."

Organizations will be monitoring Bolsonaro's government, but for now it's mostly wait and see.

"There have been tremendous strides in human rights and democracy in Latin America in the last couple of decades and it is critical that they are not reversed," said the Atlantic Council's Marczak.

"But we also need to be careful about assuming that Brazil's dynamics will apply in other contexts."

Once Bolsonaro assumes office on January 1, Brazilians — and Latin Americans — will likely find out.

FOLLOW NBC LATINO ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.

Simeon Tegel is a foreign correspondent based in Lima, Peru.

He was GlobalPost's senior correspondent for South America.

His work regularly appears in The Independent and his writing in Spanish has also been published in magazines, newspapers and websites in Latin America and Spain, including El Pais.

He previously was a staff writer at the Press Association, in London, before moving to Mexico City, where he worked as a freelance journalist for four years, increasingly focusing on sustainability issues.

More of his work can be found at www.simeontegel.com.

Simeon has an interdisciplinary MA in Latin American Studies from University of California, Berkeley and translated the classic Peruvian work of history Los Incas to English.

A rock-climber, backcountry backpacker and surfer, he would not be anywhere other than Peru.


The group's underlying emphasis on quality and professionalism has, in recent years, contributed to the commercial publication of novels and/or short story collections by members including Michael Cobley, Hal Duncan, Gary Gibson, and Neil Williamson.

(meta data) TITLE: About GSFWC | Glasgow SF Writers' Circle

(meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/WordPresscom

Since its foundation in 1986, the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle has spawned several novelists, and its short story writers have seen their work published in the professional SF press around the world, appearing in anthologies, magazines, and annual year's best collections.

We hold fortnightly meetings in Glasgow city centre and our critiques operate according to the Milford Rules.

Members have a couple of weeks to read a submitted story or novel excerpt and prepare comments.

Then, on the night of a discussion, with the author present, the other writers critique it, going around the table.

After this the author of the piece gets to reply to their critique.

It's a method that's worked exceedingly well for us over the years.

If you're interested in participating in our group, please email us.

Ogilvie Centre, St Aloysius, Rose St, Glasgow

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The Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle (GSFWC, aka "The Circle") is a group of amateur, semi-professional, and professional fiction authors that has met regularly in Glasgow, Scotland since 1987. The purpose of the Circle is to provide a supportive, non-confrontational setting in which an individual's work can be reviewed, critiqued, and discussed.


In England the Shuttleworth Collection owns and operates a Merlin-powered Hawker Sea Hurricane IB and a Supermarine Spitfire VC – Both can be seen flying at home displays throughout the summer months.

(meta data) TITLE:  Hawker Sea Hurricane 1B

Z7015 was built by Canadian Car & Foundry and first flown on 18 January 1941.

After being shipped to England it was issued to General Aircraft for conversion to Sea Hurricane IB standard.

On 19 July, it was delivered to HMS Heron (RNAS Yeovilton), collected 29th July 1941 by 880 Squadron and went to the Orkney Isles.

On 7 October the Squadron left to embark on HMS Indomitable but during transit Z7015 went unserviceable and was not embarked.

On 5 April 1942 the aircraft was delivered to David Rosenfield Ltd for repair.

On December 7 it was delivered to the Naval Fighter School (759) Squadron at HMS Heron and by autumn 1943 had moved to Loughborough College as an instructional airframe.

In 1961 an attempt was made to make the Hurricane airworthy for the Battle of Britain film but the work involved was too great.

In January 1986, the team that had restored Spitfire VC AR501 took on the task in a joint operation between the Shuttleworth Collection and the Imperial War Museum.

On 16 September 1995 Z7015 made a successful post restoration flight powered by what was, at the time, the world's only operational Merlin III.

This is the last airworthy example of a Hawker Sea Hurricane 1B in the world, flying here regularly.

It is one of the four aircraft featured in the Shuttleworth Discovery app

The Shuttleworth Trust is a Registered Charity No 307534

The Shuttleworth Collection Old Warden Aerodrome Nr Biggleswade Bedfordshire SG18 9EP Tel +44 (0)1767 627 927

(meta data) TITLE:  Supermarine Spitfire Vc

By 1940 the Mark V Spitfire had been developed around a Mark II airframe, strengthened to receive the latest Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 and 46 engines, and went on to be produced in greater numbers than any other variant of this legendary aeroplane.

The Mark V and its derivatives were designed to improve the flying characteristics of the Mark II.

Some were designed for ground attack with bombs, machine guns and cannon, and some with all cannon armament.

All these variants capitalised on the Spitfire`s excellent manoeuvrability.

In 1941 the Mark V began operations with the RAF to become the mainstay of Fighter Command`s offensive operations across occupied Europe.

The first `tropicalised` variants of the Mark VC were shipped to the Mediterranean.

In March 1942 they flew from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle and landed on the besieged island of Malta.

Other squadrons were deployed in North Africa, India and Australia where they were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force in the Pacific East Indies.

A number of squadrons were used by the United States Army Air Force and other Mark Vs were shipped to Russia and flown by pilots of the Soviet Union.

Yet more were supplied to Portugal and to the Royal Egyptian Air Force.

This aircraft was built by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil as a Mark VC and issued in 1942 to No 310 (Czech) Squadron based at Duxford.

It undertook escort duties to USAAF bombers, including the famous 'Memphis Belle', of the 91st Bombardment Group during 1942-43.

In post war years it was used as an instructional airframe at Loughborough College and was acquired by the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961, together with the Collection's Sea Hurricane, in exchange for a Jet Provost.

The aircraft was returned to flight for the Battle of Britain film.

A major overhaul was carried out in the early 1970s.

The aircraft was airworthy from 1977-2005, then removed from service for overhaul.

The aircraft was displayed for many years in the clipped wing configuration which further improved manoeuvrability at low levels, bearing the livery of No.310 (Czech) Squadron while on operations in 1942-43.

In mid 2000 the elliptical wingtips were refitted when the aircraft took part in the filming of Pearl Harbor, in which it played a fictitious member of an Eagle Squadron.

In 2005 the Spitfire was due for a major overhaul but, as the previous significantly major overhaul had been as far back as 1975, after careful inspection the decision was made to undertake a complete strip down and rebuild to original specification.

In fact areas of the structure still showed evidence of wartime repairs.

One of the most successful of the World War II era aircraft engines, the Merlin continues to be used in many restored World War II vintage aircraft all over the world. The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is a notable current operator of the Merlin.


The Flames retired Jarome Iginla's No. 12 on March 2, 2019; he played right wing for the Flames from 1996 to 2013 and also served as the team's captain from 2003 to 2013.

(meta data) TITLE: Flames give Jarome Iginla deserved, fitting retirement ceremony - Sportsnet.ca

(meta data) AUTHOR: Rogers Digital Media

(meta data) PUBLISHER: http://www.facebook.com/sportsnet

# Flames give Jarome Iginla deserved, fitting retirement ceremony

Watch as Jarome Iginla has his number 12 jersey raised to the rafters as the Calgary Flames honour the legendary player.

CALGARY – Standing at the top of the circle from which he'd scored so many of his goals, Jarome Iginla looked up at the saddle-shaped roof with a glint in his eye.

Although he played the game with a raw emotion no coach can teach, Iginla warned a day earlier he wasn't the sentimental type.

With his 10 and 12-year-old sons (Joe and Tij), his 14-year-old daughter (Jade) and wife Kara by his side, they watched his no. 12 ascend to the rafters.

The C of Red had risen several times earlier in the night to welcome the longtime captain back to the city in which he gave everything for 16 years.

But the sustained roar that accompanied the finality of a highly-anticipated jersey retirement was a moment no one in attendance will forget.

Nor will they forget the parting words of a man who capped the 57-minute ceremony with a riot-inducing promise.

"We look forward to many, many cup runs ahead," said the 500-goal man of a team that may be better now than he ever played on.

Throughout the course of an evening that featured speeches from Iginla and his longtime pal and linemate Craig Conroy, several mentions of the Cup run Iginla orchestrated in conjunction with Miikka Kiprusoff in 2004 drew chants from the crowd, "It was in.

The reference to the controversial non-goal "scored" by Martin Gelinas that wasn't reviewed in Game 6 served as a reminder of how close the Olympic hero came to snaring the only title left in hockey he hadn't won.

It was a pursuit that took him from Calgary to Pittsburgh, Boston, Colorado and Los Angeles in his twilight years, serving as reminders of how hard it is to win hockey's ultimate prize.

The thrust of his 15-minutue message revolved around contemplating the sadness he had to deal with the day he realized his career was over and he would never have that Stanley Cup ring he so cherished.

"As an athlete you push and push and try to be positive and always envision it will happen," said the franchise's all-time leading scorer in a speech peppered by chants of "Iggy, Iggy."

"I believe you have to be that way in life and in hockey, so I'll admit it bothered me a bit.

But after taking some time to reflect on my career with my family and friends, and adding a dose of gratitude, I know I did win.

"And I'm not talking about the goal that didn't count in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final that Gelly scored.

I won over and over again, every day for the 20 years I played in the NHL.

I won all the days in minor hockey growing up in a program like St. Albert, then playing junior hockey in a great hockey place like Kamloops where I learned and grew so much.

"I won playing professionally in a first class organization the Calgary Flames that's built upon family, community and leadership.

At the end of the day to me a big part of life is about memories, friendships challenges and giving your all.

I got to do all that in Calgary playing with the Flames, with the fans and my teammates.

A classy affair run by a classy organization, the only thing missing from the evening seemed to be that one, sustained ovation that always seems to mark such occasions in Montreal or Edmonton.

Fact is, this city hasn't had much practice at such celebrations, which perhaps explains why $150 tickets were selling for over $1,000.

So anticipated was the affair, fans braved temperatures of minus-20 waiting to get in when the doors opened an hour before the ceremony.

The love-in was memorable and, at times, stirring.

The current players watched from the bench wearing Iginla jerseys they'd later wear in warmup.

The star-studded list of Iginla's former teammates brought onto the ice to start the proceedings included Mike Cammalleri, Mike Commodore, Andrew Ference, Jamie McLennan and Rhett Warrener, amongst others.

Conroy and Robyn Regehr were two of the three singled out by Iginla for their efforts, as well as Mikka Kiprusoff who hasn't been seen in years.

Rebutting Conroy's claim their first meeting was a frosty one, Iginla clarified.

"If there was any expression it was not anger, it was shock," said Iginla, flashing the grin that always seemed to betray the beast persona he took on while playing.

"The Flames just traded our leading goal scorer to get him and I just looked around behind him, who else is coming in the door?"

Iginla drew his opening standing ovation when introduced at the far end of the rink, walking the red carpet to centre ice past all the major trophies he won.

Fist bumping with 15 young hockey players who've benefitted from the $800,000 he personally donated to KidSport Calgary while playing, he eventually sat next to his family, several Flames owners as well as Lanny McDonald and Mike Vernon – the only two men to be similarly feted as Flames.

"We're here to pay tribute to one of the greatest Flames of all time – if not the greatest…

sorry Lanny," he smiled, recalling how the former scoring leader went from star to local legend in 2004.

"First the rafters – next stop, Toronto and the Hall of Fame."

Legendary local broadcaster Peter Maher thanked Conroy for keeping the speech under an hour and then announced the Flames owners were making a $50,000 donation in Iginla's name to KidSport.

The three Iginla kids were then given gold pucks commemorating their father's 16 years in Calgary.

An artist was also introduced to do a live painting capturing the ceremony for the Iginla's home.

A stirring video of his career, voiced over by McDonald, illustrated the brilliance and brawn of his career, setting the stage for Iginla's speech.

"I really want to thank the Flames organization and ownership," said Iginla, who now resides in Boston where he channels the intensity that led to 75 NHL fights into coaching his son's hockey teams.

"It's not lost on my family or on me to have my name up in the rafters.

I've been a huge fan and have so much respect for you."

The fans finally got to thank the 1000-point man for all he did for the team, the city and the country before a Hockey Night in Canada matchup that later saw the Flames lose to the Wild 4-2.

He reflected on a routine he had as a rookie of exploring every arena he arrived at, asking coaches Brad McCrimmon and Rich Preston about the names that hung from rafters in each city.

"I really appreciated those times and it's really cool I can be part of that Flames tradition and be up there," said the 41-year-old, two-time Olympic champion.

Hockey world praises Flames legend Jarome Iginla ahead of jersey retirement

Jarome Iginla's fire still burns bright even in retirement

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The Calgary Flames have retired three numbers, and a fourth was retired league-wide. The Flames retired No. 9 in honour of Lanny McDonald who played right wing for the Flames from 1981 to 1989, winning the Stanley Cup as the Flames' co-captain in his final year. Mike Vernon's No. 30 is also retired; he was a goaltender with the Flames for 14 years, from 1982 to 1994 and from 2000 to 2002.


An estimated 40 million players vied for spots in the solo and duos World Cup.

(meta data) TITLE: This Fortnite World Cup Winner Is 16 and $3 Million Richer - The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site indexU.S.Log InToday's PaperU.S.|This Fortnite World Cup Winner Is 16 and $3 Million Richer

# This Fortnite World Cup Winner Is 16 and $3 Million Richer

Kyle Giersdorf, who goes by "Bugha," said he planned to buy a new desk with the money.

ImageKyle Giersdorf after his victory at the Fortnite World Cup on Sunday.

He said he plays up to eight hours a day, at least five days a week, in his room.

CreditCreditDennis Schneidler/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

By Derrick Bryson Taylor and Niraj Chokshi

Some teenagers make extra cash by mowing lawns or babysitting.

But 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf of Pennsylvania put them all to shame by winning $3 million playing Fortnite.

Kyle, who plays Fortnite Battle Royale online as "Bugha," beat out 99 other players on Sunday to win the solo competition at the inaugural Fortnite World Cup, held at the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

The status of that venue — best known for hosting the world's top tennis players at the United States Open, which will begin next month — was testament to the incredible popularity of Fortnite, a game that allows as many as 100 players to meet on a virtual island and battle it out until one is left.

The game has nearly 250 million registered players, according to its publisher, Epic Games, and about 40 million of them participated in online qualifiers for the World Cup.

Tickets to attend the weekend event cost $50 to $150.

Kyle said in an interview on Monday that his confidence had grown as the event had unfolded.

"I definitely went into the competition aiming for at least top 20, but after that big first game I definitely thought I could win," he said.

He played a total of six games, each lasting about 23 minutes, he said.

[Read more about the work that went into setting up the very first Fortnite World Cup.]

He said he had played Fortnite for two years, and had been introduced to the game by his father, Glenn Giersdorf.

(They live in a town outside Philadelphia, but Kyle declined to specify further.)

It's the only game Kyle plays competitively.

"I saw it and I was like, 'This is something I'd be interested in playing,'" he said.

"And I just started playing with my friends and it got pretty fun.

He now plays six to eight hours a day, at least five days a week, in his room.

Kyle's management company, Sentinel, said his $3 million payday was the largest individual prize in e-sports history.

It was also not far from the amount of money awarded by more traditional sporting events: The men's and women's singles champions of the U.S. Open will each walk away with $3,850,000, for example.

ImagePlayers are seen on screen during the final of the Solo competition on Sunday.

CreditJohannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Only a handful of other professional gamers have earned more than Kyle, according to Esports Earnings, a community-driven rankings website.

The man who tops that list, according to ESPN, is Kuro Salehi Takhasomi, known as "KuroKy," who has won $4.2 million since starting his career in 2010.

(His game of choice is Dota 2, another multiplayer online battle arena.)

"I definitely want to save the money and invest it toward my future," Kyle said.

He does plan to splurge on a new desk, he said.

Kyle finished the tournament with 59 points.

Harrison Chang, 24, an Orange County, Calif., native who plays as "Psalm," came in second place with 33 points and won $1.8 million, according to Fortnite Intel.

The message pinned to the top of his Twitter account reads, "There is no freaking way I just made 1.8 million ..."

After the competition, he ran around excitedly for 10 minutes.

He became a full-time gamer in 2016 when he dropped out of the University of California, Los Angeles.

In total, he has 19 years of gaming experience.

Mr. Chang, who currently lives with family and plans to move out soon, isn't sure what he'll do with his winnings.

"I've always lived kind of frugally and I'm not really big into, like, spending big," he said.

"I'll use it somehow to make more money, though."

Third place went to 16-year-old Shane Cotton of Redondo Beach, Calif., who goes by "Epikwhale" and finished with 32 points.

It was his first major competition and he won $1.2 million.

He brushed it off on Twitter as "a couple of $."

Shane practiced six to eight hours a day during the school year, and in the summer he stepped it up to around 10 hours a day, he said.

"It's a great relief for me," he said about his performance at the World Cup.

Just trying to get better and prepared for this tournament."

He plans to save most of his winnings, but said he will spend some on clothes and shoes.

Kyle said he knew the other top players in the competition but didn't talk to them frequently.

His usual training process, he said, includes warming up his hands, calling friends to discuss techniques to improve, watching videos of the game and competing in scrimmages.

He will try to balance that time-consuming schedule with his class work in high school, where he'll be a junior this fall.

ImageKyle and the crowd celebrating after his win on Sunday.

CreditJason Szenes/EPA, via Shutterstock

"During the school year it's a little bit harder to control that," Kyle said.

Usually I try to keep it consistent, but it's hard with school work."

He said his family was proud of him, and was not too worried about the time he spends gaming since he's making money.

Fortnite hasn't taken over his life, and it's been a positive influence on him and helped to create friendships, he said.

"When I'm not playing Fortnite, I'm usually trying to spend time with my family or friends," Kyle said.

The popularity of Fortnite, which was created in 2017, helped drive up revenue for the video game industry and other interactive media last year by 13 percent, to about $120 billion, according to a report by SuperData, a market research firm owned by Nielsen.

Fortnite itself was the top-ranked free-to-play game in 2018, raking in $2.4 billion in revenue, according to the report, which described the game as "a global phenomenon."

That all bodes well for Kyle's plans to make a career out of gaming.

"I'm going to keep playing and try to grow my brand," he said.

He'll try to be at next year's Fortnite World Cup.

"For sure, any competitions that come from Fortnite, I'm definitely going to try to be involved in," he said.

Read more about FortniteAt the Fortnite World Cup, Slurp Juice, Zip Lines and a Teenage Millionaire WinnerJuly 28, 2019A Non-Gamer's Guide to Fortnite, the Game That Conquered All the ScreensJuly 25, 2018How Has Fortnite Affected Your Family?July 29, 2019

Niraj Chokshi is a general assignment reporter based in New York.

Before joining The Times in 2016, he covered state governments for The Washington Post.

He has also worked at The Atlantic, National Journal and The Recorder, in San Francisco.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: 'Bugha' Lives the Teenage Dream by Winning $3 Million for Playing Fortnite.

Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

This all must be done while avoiding attacks from other players, as well as staying within a shrinking circle on the map or risk taking fatal damage outside it. Players can use gathered resources to build walls, floors, and stairs and ramps to use as cover from attacks. The last player or team left alive wins. In "Fortnite Creative", players can build unique courses at their own pace, which can be used to create competitive events that can then share with others.
 The Fortnite World Cup had online events over 10 weeks from April to June 2019 for people to place. The weeks alternated between solo players and duos teams. During the Saturday of each week, any player or duo could compete with others by geographic region, playing up to 10 matches to earn points through eliminations and victories. The top three thousand players/teams from each region then competed on the Sunday event, again playing up to ten matches to earn points. The top point-scorers in each region from the Sunday event then proceed through to the World Cup, a total of about twenty players/teams each week.


In her mid-20s Chung took a nonfiction class and started writing essays.

(meta data) TITLE:  How Nicole Chung Worked Up to 'All You Can Ever Know' - The Atlantic

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# E. B. White's Lesson for Debut Writers: It's Okay to Start Small

Nicole Chung explains how an essay about sailing taught her to embrace her fears as she worked up to writing her memoir, All You Can Ever Know.

In her debut memoir, All You Can Ever Know, Nicole Chung tells a complicated origin story, exploring the questions raised by the circumstances of her birth.

Throughout her young life, people wondered out loud—often clumsily, sometimes cruelly—how a child of Korean descent came to be raised by white parents in small-town Oregon.

She already had one loving family, and it seemed either impossible or unnecessary to go looking for the strangers tied to her by blood.

It wasn't until she was in her late 20s, pregnant with a child of her own, that Chung became determined to go looking for her birth parents.

That momentous decision sparked the journey of this book—an exacting, deeply personal inquiry into the mysteries of family, biology, and race.

In a conversation for this series, Chung described a different sort of big decision: her choice to wait for years to tell this story.

To illustrate, she shared a favorite passage from E. B. White's essay "The Sea and the Wind That Blows," in which White describes himself as a passionate but hapless sailor who has gradually learned to pilot larger and more complicated boats.

Chung sees aspects of her own approach in this: She came to writing late, working up confidence through a series of increasingly ambitious essays and editing projects.

For her, the blank page is much like White's sea—a partner that inspires fear and reverence, and rewards bravery, humility, and, above all, patience.

Nicole Chung is the editor in chief of Catapult and a former managing editor of The Toast.

Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, GQ, Longreads, and other publications.

I grew up in Oregon, two or three hours from the Oregon coast.

My grandparents had a boat—not a sailboat, but a small fishing boat we used for fishing and crabbing every summer in the bay, and in lakes and rivers closer to where we lived. So I grew up spending a lot of time on the water, even if I'd never been on a proper sailboat before.

I think this experience must have been what started my obsession with sailing, a fascination that lasted throughout my youth.

I loved nautical stories growing up, anything that featured characters going on a long journey across unfamiliar waters: books like Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.

I was a girl from a working-class family, several hours from the ocean, but for a few years there I was convinced my destiny was to experience something like the good, non-tragic parts of that White Squall movie starring Scott Wolf.

When I was 15, my Girl Scout troop spent a week learning to crew a historic wooden sailing ship that sailed from Port Townsend.

We did help the crew, working hard every day, but they had to tell us what to do.

Still, we spent five amazing days sailing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and it felt like the adventure I'd always wanted.

It wasn't until later that sailing became important to me in a different way, a kind of guiding metaphor for the work I do as a writer.

It started with an essay by E. B. White, a writer I'd loved all my life, beginning with books like Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan.

I don't remember a time when I wasn't just in awe of—and yet able to take for granted—the beautiful way White constructs his sentences.

But when I was in my 20s, I came across "The Sea and the Wind that Blows," an essay about sailing that I love for the way it makes me think of my own obsessions, how I started writing, and how I still approach every essay.

It's about White's career as a solitary, not-especially-skilled sailor, and how he's still fearful every time he sets out on a new voyage.

"Lacking instruction, I invented ways of getting things done, and I usually ended by doing them in a rather queer fashion, and so did not learn to sail properly, and still I cannot sail well, although I have been at it all my life."

He talks about being in his 20s and 30s before realizing he was going about things the wrong way, with no clear idea how to read a chart or properly rig a sail, hurling himself at the water with the "wariness and the ignorance of the early explorers."

But White feels compelled to sail anyway, despite his clumsiness and lack of skill.

The piece is about overcoming the fear that comes along with that.

For me, it's hard to read this essay without thinking about my own relationship to writing.

My earliest boats were so small that when the wind failed, or when I failed, I could switch to manual control—I could paddle or row home.

But then I graduated to boats that only the wind was strong enough to move.

When I first dropped off my mooring in such a boat, I was an hour getting up the nerve to cast off the pennant.

Even now, with a thousand little voyages notched in my belt, I still I feel a memorial chill on casting off, as the gulls jeer and the empty mainsail claps.

White describes how he progressed from smaller, more manageable boats to bigger boats and more challenging voyages.

Like White and his boats, I started small.

I began writing mostly for myself, not really trying to publish during the entirety of my 20s, despite writing almost every day.

I told myself there was no way I could ever make a living as a writer, so I would just claim writing as a hobby.

Even in college, I never actually took a nonfiction class, though I did take some fiction and poetry courses.

I'd never tried to write nonfiction at all, beyond the daily diary I've kept since kindergarten.

I suppose my journals were forays into nonfiction, but I didn't really think of them that way.

(I was so glad to have them later—they were such helpful sources to go back to as I wrote my book.)

I joined a nonfiction writing group in my mid-20s.

It was a period of my life before kids, before grad school, when I had more time—I just wanted to pursue different things I was interested in, so I joined a writing group and also took ballroom-dancing lessons.

When I found that I really liked writing essays, it was kind of a shock.

I kept writing and sharing with a few people at a time, but I would never have thought to publish those pieces.

Getting your sea legs is not a bad metaphor for what I was doing at that time.

I was standing there, dipping my toes in the water, not really sure if I wanted to jump in.

I didn't pitch or publish my first piece online until I was 30 or 31.

I think it's useful for everyone, no matter what stage of their career they're at, to know it's okay to write for yourself first—sometimes only for yourself.

There are going to be things that you might need to work out on the page, alone, before you're ready to share them more widely.

I'm publishing my debut this year, at 37, and in publishing sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by young geniuses.

My editor is younger than I am, and has already written an acclaimed novel.

I'm not really a late bloomer, but I think of myself that way sometimes—especially because I have published so many emerging writers at The Toast and at Catapult, many of whom started a full decade before I did.

Ours is, I think, an industry that praises and rewards bravery and spunk (and youth, too).

For good reason—writers who are fearless, who know they belong and rarely doubt themselves, have a kind of confidence and magnetism I sometimes wish I had.

At the same time, while I can recognize and admire fearlessness in others, I suspect I wouldn't be the writer I am or have the career I have now if I hadn't started small, if I hadn't taken some time to do it alone for a while, slowly working up my nerve, testing my luck in little ways before I reached for loftier things.

I remember the fear and the doubt, sometimes still feel it—and maybe at times it has held me back.

But it also keeps me humble, makes me appreciate where I am, ensures I won't take anything for granted.

Even now, I still feel anxious each time I open up a blank document and see a page waiting to be filled.

White's anxiety about sailing stayed with him, too, and I love the way he captures the feelings of inadequacy that begin every voyage: "Even now, with a thousand little voyages notched in my belt, I still feel a memorial chill on casting off."

That so perfectly describes how I feel every time I start a new piece.

If you'd asked me last year or the year before, I would have said something much calmer and more confident about it.

But right now I'm scared every single moment of every day.

I think no matter how long I do it, no matter how many pieces I publish, there will linger this sense that I'm reaching for something bigger than I was meant to.

But in the end, of course, I tell myself: You can do this.

You can venture a little more outside your comfort zone.

I don't think that fear, that "memorial chill," is always a bad thing—it can be healthy and productive.

It lets you know that you're doing something with high stakes.

It reminds you that you have a responsibility to do your best work, and that you should approach it with respect.

Still, there are times when it's good to listen to the feeling that you aren't quite ready to take a subject on.

I was not ready to write this particular book in my 20s.

Of course, some of the experiences were still taking place; I obviously couldn't have written about searching for my birth family before it happened.

But apart from that practical concern, I think I needed those years to think about it and figure out what I really wanted to do—and if I really wanted to tell this deeply personal story.

At the time it was happening, I wasn't even ready to think about sharing it with the wider world.

It's taken me a lot of time to get comfortable, working up my nerve and testing my luck in small ways.

Read Nicole Chung's essay on meeting her birth sister for the first time.

I think the fear I'm talking about, the good kind, is more related to having big goals and big dreams as a writer.

Maybe thinking that they're not possible, or feeling like they aren't a given, at least—and then doing them anyway.

That kind of fear has been a mark of my career and something that I'm honestly a little bit grateful for.

One last thing about White's essay: It's wonderful, though it's also very old-school when you think about it—I'm sure he's assuming that his audience is made up mostly of white men.

That's kind of annoying, but it's also one of the reasons I've always gotten such a kick out of the essay.

I'm sure when White was writing, he never thought about a young Asian woman who's barely ever sailed latching on to this piece and quoting it to people all the time.

But that's what happened, and that's the power of a good piece of writing.

We want to hear what you think about this article.

Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Joe Fassler is the editor of Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process.

He regularly interviews writers for The Atlantic's "By Heart" series.

He also covers the politics and economics of the American food system as a senior editor for The New Food Economy.


A graduate of the Class of 1978, Warshaw joined surfing icon Dewey Weber (Class of 1956) and punk rock musician Jim Lindberg (Class of 1983), among other prominent MCHS alumni recognized for their achievements in national and international politics, business, science, entertainment, and sports.

(meta data) TITLE: Hall Of Fame – My blog

In 2012, Mira Costa established the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame to honor those alumni who have made significant contributions to the high school, community, country, and society.

Antonio Carbayo embodies the classic immigrant success story.

Born in Mexico City, the son of a U.S. citizen father and a Mexican mother, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen settling in Southern California.

After receiving bachelor degrees from both UCLA (Literature) and UCI (Biology) he attended UCI Medical School specializing in family medicine.

As a bilingual doctor, he gives back to his community by providing medical services to an underserved populations and serves as a frequent medical commentator on Spanish Language television stations.

Beverly Rohrer has had an immense impact on education in the South Bay.

Beginning as a teacher at Mira Costa, she rose in administrative ranks until she had served as school superintendent not just in Manhattan Beach, but also in Redondo and Hermosa.

Under her leadership, fine arts programs flourished, technology expanded and test scores continued to rise.

More than instrumental in making Mira Costa the outstanding school that it is today, she earned local, state and national recognition for educational innovation and inspiring leadership.

Class of 1989 Cami Anderson was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" for her efforts to improve American education.

She received a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a master's degree from Harvard University.

Now the superintendent in Newark, N.J., she was previously the executive director of Teach for America and received the Sallie Mae National Teacher of the Year Award and Teach for America's Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership.

During Casey Miner's over 20 years in the Army, he has served around the world in senior positions focusing on leader development, healthy organizations and strategic communications.

During a 2013 deployment to Afghanistan, he was recognized for developing a program that reinforces effective coping skills to avoid high-risk behavior and a strategy for leaders to sustain healthy organizational cultures.

Casey's doctoral research at UCLA focused on better transitioning youth to adulthood, and he continues to work with school districts and speak at education conferences.

Casey has been recognized with two Bronze Star Medals, four Meritorious Service Medals and four Commendation Medals.

In 1986, Cliff Meidl was in a construction site accident resulting three live electrical cables sending 30,000 volts of electricity through his body, causing massive damage to his knees and severe burns to his back and head.

Over the next three years, he underwent 17 surgical and medical procedures to save his legs.

Not satisfied just to walk again, Cliff took up kayaking and he became one of the best in the world.

He competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer.

Cliff is now a national spokesperson for construction safety and an internationally known motivational speaker.

Danny Strong is an actor and writer who has worked on some of the most well-known films and TV shows of the last 20 years.

As an actor has had roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Gilmore Girls Mad Men, Pleasantville, Seinfeld, Nip/Tuck, Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother and many more.

As a screenwriter, Danny wrote and produced the highly acclaimed HBO Film Game Change, which won him an Emmy for Outstanding Writing, a Writer's Guild Award, a Golden Globe, a Peabody and the Pen Award.

He also received another Emmy nomination and won the Writer's Guild Award for for Recount, an HBO movie about the 2000 US election.

David Benoit is a world-renowned jazz pianist, conductor and composer and has performed at the White House for three U.S. presidents: Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr.

Nominated for five Grammy awards, he has released more than 25 solo recordings.

He is the principal conductor for the Asia America Symphony Orchestra, but has also led eminent orchestras around the world, including the L.A. Philharmonic.

Den Kerlee has built a career out of serving others.

After graduating Mira Costa, Den was deployed to Vietnam, where he served with great distinction as a combat medical corpsman, saving many soldiers' lives in field hospitals.

Wounded twice himself, he earned two Purple Hearts during his tour of duty.

In a post-military career spanning 40 years, he has worked as a physician's assistant committed to serving the poor, first in a rural clinic in Oahu, then in Seattle serving the medical needs of indigent urban Native Americans and, since 2007 in Bedford, England providing care to working class British and immigrant populations.

Den is a Fellow in the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Dewey Weber is one of the most familiar names in surfing.

Dewey Weber was a California surfing pioneer who became legend at his untimely death in 1993 at age 55.

In the 1950s, Weber surfed Hawaii and features prominently in surfing films of the period.

By the 1960s he had returned to California where he took over a surfboard company and turned it into an international success.

A new biography, Little Man On Wheels, details Weber's life story from his childhood through his rise to surfing stardom, the creation of Dewey Weber Surfboards, his impact on the sport and his enduring legacy.

Don Long has been called "the Michelangelo of race car builders."

After beginning his drag racing career with a Fiat altered coupe in the early 1960s, he built other altered, gasser chassis and later, Funny Cars.

But his fame and recognition principally rest on the more than 130 superbly designed and fabricated dragsters turned out by his Southern California shop in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 2001 he was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame and in 2010 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Hot Rod Association, the largest of all motorsport organizations.

Elroy Lang was a member of the first graduating class to attend Mira Costa all four years.

He taught for decades in the school's social studies department and spent evenings teaching at local colleges including El Camino, Loyola Marymount, and Pepperdine.

He also coached four freshman baseball teams to league championships.

His other classroom was the beach where he pioneered Mira Costa's first surf team and laid the foundation for the competitive interscholastic surf program (now widely popular across the South Bay).

Eric Fonoimoana, a national champion indoor volleyball player while at Mira Costa and a two-time All-American at UC Santa Barbara was a force on the professional beach volleyball tour for over 20 years, winning 14 Open titles, including the 2002 Manhattan Beach Open.

His shining and most memorable moment came in the 2000 Olympic Game where he shocked the volleyball world by winning gold.

He devotes much of his time to his foundation "Dig 4 Kids" helping inner-city youngsters excel in volleyball, school and life.

Gary Hartzell began his career as Costa history teacher as is responsible for initiating the AP History program.

Later as principal, Gary led in the development of Scholar Quiz, Pride Day and other programs.

Leaving Costa in 1987, he became a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a leading expert on library administration.

He was one of only eight people invited to speak at the White House Conference on School Libraries in 2002 and in 2005 the American Library Association in 2005 identified Gary as one of the 100 most influential people in the school library field.

Holly McPeak helped revolutionize women's volleyball.

Recent Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor said, "As a beach volleyball player, it doesn't get much better than having played with Holly.

I want to thank her for laying the foundation not only for me but for all the young women that will come after."

One of just five women worldwide to compete in the first three Olympics in beach volleyball and having won multiple tournament titles, McPeak was inducted into Volleyball's Hall of Fame in 2009.

In 2002, she became the first woman to surpass $1 million in career earnings.

Brigadier General Homer Johnstone attended the U.S. Military Academy and served in the U.S. Army for 26 years as a Brigadier General in the Corps of Engineers, a Ranger and a parachutist.

His awards include twenty Air Medals, Bronze Stars, two Legion of Merit Awards and the Distinguished Service Medal.

Retiring from the Army, Homer and a partner created AFA Construction, Inc., specializing in environmental engineering and remediation.

With multiple master's degrees and a doctorate, he has served as a professor in the engineering school at Golden Gate University for two decades.

Following Costa, Huntley Castner attended Stanford University and then UCLA business school.

At 26, he and a partner founded a successful restaurant chain in San Francisco, running it for ten years before selling it off.

Huntley later became vice president of strategy and finance for Panda Express and then served as CFO and later CEO for Yogurtland, helping it become one of America's fastest growing companies.

Huntley also is a leader in organizing the annual UCLA Restaurant Industry Conference, a specialized program for food industry leaders to learn, network, and be inspired.

Jeff Rohrer was an all-Ivy league linebacker at Yale University.

He was then drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and played seven seasons under legendary coach Tom Landry.

After football, he has enjoyed a successful career in advertising, producing award-winning commercials in 15 countries across four continents.

His work has been honored at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and has garnered a Clio award, two of the most prestigious awards in all of advertising.

One of his commercials even played during this year's Super Bowl broadcast.

Jimmy Lindberg is the co-founder along with two other Costa graduates of the renowned punk rock band Pennywise.

Having sold over 4,000,000 records, Pennywise play to sold-out audiences worldwide.

Jim is the lead singer and songwriter, but his accomplishments reach beyond the music world.

He is a published author whose book inspired a Showtime documentary and a community philanthropist, contributing to both local and international causes.

A lifelong surfer, he helped arrange two compilation albums and a concert to benefit the Surfrider Foundation and was elected to the foundation's board of directors

John Featherstone is the most successful head football coach in El Camino College history and has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in the Southern Section of California.

Voted National Coach of the Year for the second time in 2012, he also picked up his eighth California State Coach of the Year award.

More than three dozen of his players have gone on to successful professional football careers.

Josh Fredricks started his career as a Manhattan Beach police officer, worked his way through law school, taught law and police science classes at El Camino, practiced criminal law and had a distinguished career as both a Municipal and Superior Court judge.

His service on the South Bay Union High School Board of Trustees (1977-1982) came at a crucial time for local education.

His legal expertise, calm demeanor and ability to find consensus helped guide the district through one of its most difficult periods.

Kendra Fleagle Gorlitsky edited La Vista for three years in high school.

She now practices Family Medicine with underinsured populations including the homeless, immigrants and others in Central and South LA where she supervises students as Clinical Professor of Medicine at USC and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA.

She has served as an expert witness for asylum seekers under the auspices of Program for Torture Victims and chairs California Hospital's Bioethics Committee Consortium Newsletter.

Kim Komick is a female pioneer in the South Bay Construction industry.

As owner of KKC Fine Homes, she as built over 100 homes locally.

Her approach to building is socially and environmentally aware and she often works with organizations like the Reuse Network to promote clean demolition practices and building material recycling.

Kim's company partnered with Growing Great, a garden and nutrition non-profit to promote healthy eating habits in local schools.

Kim also serves on the South Bay Boardriders Club board, a group dedicated to protecting our shoreline.

Lance Dixon is a distinguished professor at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center.

He researches particle physics and the origins of the universe and has published more than 160 scientific journal articles.

Lance is also the editor of the Journal of High Energy Physics and serves on numerous prestigious national and international scientific advisory boards, including the National Science Foundation and the Munich Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics.

A Fellow in the American Physical Society, he won the 2014 J. J. Sakurai Prize which recognizes outstanding achievement in particle theory research.

Leonard Armato has been at the forefront of the convergence of sports, entertainment, marketing, and technology.

He has represented sports icons, such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar De La Hoya and, Shaquille O'Neal and has been an innovator in creating unique celebrity brands for his clients.

Armato has also been a leader in the sport of beach volleyball, serving as CEO of the AVP Pro Tour and more recently creating the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball.

Armato also served as CMO of Skechers where he oversaw the company's creative agencies and orchestrated two Super Bowl campaigns.

He graduated from the University of the Pacific and the University of San Diego law school.

Rachel Bloom won the 2015 Golden Globe winner for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

She the co-creator, lead actress and Executive Producer of the show.

After a standout drama career at Mira Costa, she attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Following college, Rachel found a home with the improv troupe, Upright Citizen's Brigade and created her own viral comedy videos, before hitting it big with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Rachel was listed as one of People Magazine's "World's Most Beautiful 2016: Faces of the Year."

Her comedy explores topics such as mental health, empowering females, finding strength within, and creating healthy relationships.

As a student at Costa in the 1970s, Renee Williams-Smith was on the first-ever girls cross country, track, and soccer teams.

She received an athletic scholarship to Kansas State, where she was a member of the first women's championship cross country team in the school's history.

She took over the cross-country program at Mira Costa in 2004 and during her tenure the team has won numerous Bay League Championships and qualified twice for the National championships.

In 2014 she was awarded the Brooks National Inspiring Coach of the Year.

Renee is known for creating a team culture where girls gain confidence and a sense of self in an environment that is inclusive, loving and, of course, competitive.

Kelly started out as a world-class surfer, winning the 1982 National Scholastic Surfing Association Championship and competing on the World and US Pro Tours in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

After his surf career, through hard work and initiative, he moved through a myriad of leadership positions in the surf wear industry.

In 1999, Kelly joined O'Neill Clothing USA as National Sales Manager, where he climbed the ranks to President in 2002 and CEO in 2005.

Kelly was later appointed President & CEO of Rip Curl USA in 2006 where he serves today.

He is also the president of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, which raises money for ocean-related non-profits and humanitarian organizations.

Heidi Ghent Snyder (Class of 1998) is an accomplished entrepreneur, innovator, and philanthropist.

After graduating from BYU as valedictorian, Heidi founding several successful businesses in the health and wellness arena.

In 2011, Heidi co-founded The Color Run with her husband, Travis.

Known as "the Happiest 5K on the Planet."

The Color Run is the largest running series in the world with 200 annual events and more than 2 million participants in countries throughout North and South America, the UK, Europe, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Asia.

Since its inception, The Color Run has donated more than $5 million to local and international charities.

Noah Mamet was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Argentina in 2014 and during his tenure focused on themes of innovation, entrepreneurship, renewable energy, and educational exchanges.

A UCLA graduate, in 2007 he was a member a high level international delegation to Sierra Leone to monitor and report on the first democratic election since that country's civil war.

He has also served on the executive board of Green Dot Public Schools, the largest public charter school operator in California and as a board member of NatureBridge, a nonprofit educational organization.

Mark Sundeen is the author of Car Camping (2000) and The Making of Toro (2003), both of which drew critical attention.

In 2010, he co-authored North by Northwestern, a New York Times bestseller.

His latest book, The Man Who Quit Money, established him as one of America's most innovative writers of literary non-fiction.

Recently receiving the Innovative Artist's Award for his genre-bending approach, his works have appeared in the New York Times magazine, Outsider, National Geographic, and other publications.

He has taught in creative writing programs at the University of New Mexico and Western Connecticut State University.

## Marriane Sellek Wibberly and Cormac Wibberly

Marrianne Sellek Wibberly (1982) and Cormac Wibberly (1978) are two of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters.

Their first major movie was "The 6th Day" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Later credits include "I Spy," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," "Bad Boys II," "The Shaggy Dog," and "G-Force."

They are perhaps best known as the architects of the very successful "National Treasure" franchise, starring Nicolas Cage.

Generous in sharing their knowledge and experience, they volunteer substantial time helping aspiring writers through screenwriting conferences and the Writers Access Project.

Matt Warshaw is a surfing writer and historian who has published eight books on surfing and is universally acknowledged as the foremost expert on the sport.

A former editor of Surfer Magazine, Matt's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Outside and Surfer.

His Encyclopedia of Surfing was described as "a living, breathing masterpiece" on Salon.com.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote "Warshaw has written more cogent words about surfing than any other human."

He also serves as the surfing consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Michele Tafoya is a nationally known sportscaster for NBC and made history at CBS in 1996 when she became the first woman to ever call the television play-by-play of an NCAA tournament game.

She is a highly visible sideline reporter for a number of sports including Monday Night Football.

In 2006, The Davie-Brown index ranked Tafoya among the most likeable TV sports personalities, including Biggest Trend-Setter.

She recently won the first-ever Emmy for Sports Personality—Sports Reporter.

She just finished covering her third Olympics in London.

Mike Dodd helped change the face of beach volleyball around the world.

With his partner, Mike Whitmarsh, he won the silver medal in the men's inaugural beach volleyball tournament atthe 1996 Summer Olympics.

Closer to home, he has won the Manhattan Beach Open title five times.

Now retired from competition, Dodd is as an internationally known analyst for NBC and a coach for both men's and women's teams, including the American doubles team of Gibb and Rosenthal in this year's London Olympics.

Mike Silva, a former naval flight officer, was three blocks away when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 and rushed to the scene to assist others.

In a time of national distress, he then worked around the clock for two weeks as part of the Federal Reserve team that stabilized the financial system.

Mike has served as an attorney and then chief of staff for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, playing an important role in international finance for the U.S. government, including time in Iraq working to stabilize its Central Bank, a contribution that earned him special recognition from the Department of the Treasury.

Milo Aukerman is a modern day renaissance man.

He is widely known as the talented lead singer of the Descendants, a punk rock group started at Costa in the late 1970s and generally considered the pioneer "pop punk" band.

But Milo is also a research biochemist with a doctorate in biology from UC San Diego, post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pennsylvania, the winner of a National Institutes of Health research fellowship, and the author or co-author of twenty articles published in peer-reviewed scientific research journals.

Nancy Muleady-Mecham achieved distinction as a U.S. National Park Ranger, professional naturalist, National Park Service consultant, biology professor, author of four books and numerous articles, emergency room registered nurse, paramedic, astronomy lecturer, medical trainer, Civil Air Patrol instructor, national emergency response team member, researcher and explorer.

A Fulbright Scholar at the Gorno-Altaisk State University in the Russian Federation, she credits her Mira Costa biology teacher, Betty Estill, for encouraging her far-ranging interests and sparking a lifelong passion for her subject.

Noreen Harris Baer is a renowned trombonist, performing with symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles across the country, including the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey.

As a bandleader for Disney, she played trombone for artists as different as Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons, Charlotte Church, and Styx.

Noreen teaches trombone and music theory at the Rockland Conservatory of Music in New York and trombone and brass chamber music in the Mason Gross School at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Richard Parker is an Oxford-trained economist and a lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University.

Earlier, he was a journalist and co-founder of Mother Jones magazine.

A philanthropist, he has directed various foundations to donate more than $40 million to social change groups.

He is also a social entrepreneur who grew Greenpeace from 2,000 to 600,000 supporters and a political consultant advising, among others, Senators Kennedy, Glenn, Cranston, McGovern and former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

His book on economist John Kenneth Galbraith was described by William F Buckley as "the best biography of the century."

Russ Lesser still lives about 100 feet from the Manhattan Beach house his grandparents purchased in 1917.

After a successful CPA career, he became president of Body Glove International in 1990, which sponsors Costa's Scholar Quiz program.

A dedicated runner himself (he has run more than 50,000 miles), he established the Manhattan Beach 10K Run, which boasts one of the country's highest local participation rates.

Lesser also served eight years on the Manhattan Beach City Council, two terms as mayor.

Swati Adarkar has dedicated her career to improving the lives of children.

As the CEO and co-founder of the Children's Institute in Portland, she brings business, civic, and early childhood specialists together to create real change for Oregon's children, especially the disadvantaged.

Swati has served on the early childhood development advisory councils for two Oregon governors and received the 2011 Women Leaders of Oregon Award from Portland State University.

She is also a member of the Portland State Board of Trustees and the International Women's Forum of Oregon.

Carrie Nugent's life's work is identifying, naming and tracking previously unknown asteroids.

She is part of a team of scientists searching for asteroids using the NEOWISE spacecraft—an Earth-orbiting infrared telescope that takes a photograph of outer space every eleven seconds.

She's also on a science team proposing a next-generation asteroid hunting spacecraft called NEOCam, one of five Discovery missions funded by NASA.

An asteroid was actually named for her in 2013, officially called 8801 Nugent.

Carrie earned a doctorate at UCLA in geophysics and space physics.

She is a Fellow with the TED Talks organization and produces a weekly podcast titled Spacepod.

Antoinette "Toni" Beaumont Tomasek devoted her life to human services in third-world countries and in poverty-stricken areas in America, but was tragically lost in a 2013 traffic accident.

Tomasek joined the United States Agency for International Development in 2009, working first in Indonesia, where she programs for local organizations trying to eradicate tuberculosis.

She was principal author of Indonesia's Global Health Initiative, guiding USAID's mission in the country.

She also served as Director of Peace Corps Health Programs.

She received Meritorious Honor Awards from both USAID and the State Department.

and her work was officially recognized by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, California Senator Feinstein, and Congressman Waxman.

Nathan Brostrom serves as the chief financial officer for the University of California system, serving 190,000 employees, 10 universities, and more than a quarter million students.

He graduated Phi Betta Kappa from Stanford and earned a master's degree from Princeton.

Prior to working for the University of California, Nate worked in private banking, facilitating financing deals for numerous public and charitable institutions.

He was the lead banker on the single largest bond program in California history, raising money to recover state revenue lost in the 2000-2001 California energy crisis.

Nate serves on the boards of Futures Without Violence and the East Bay Community Foundation.

Silva was the editor and publisher of the The Beach Reporter, where he worked for over 30 years.

During that time he covered hundreds of news stories on issues affecting the South Bay community and became well known for his popular "Signs of Life" columns, of which he wrote over 1,000.

He is a two-time winner of the California News Publishers Best Local Columnist Award and was honored three times by the Manhattan Beach City Council humanitarian acts and for service to the city and the greater South Bay.

His insights helped shape events and clarify the community's vision of what the South Bay is and should be.

Darla Sowers Calhoun life's work has been centered around giving children greater opportunities.

A experienced registered nurse, Calhoun worked on community health issues in villages and small towns surrounding Kisumi, Kenya.

This experience led Darla to found the Agape Children's Ministry to help children living on the streets of Kenya.

Agape has grown into three campuses and employs a dedicated Kenyan staff of more than 85 teachers, other personnel.

Agape's goal is to preserve, rehabilitate and ultimately reintegrate these children with their families.

Greg Fontana is an award-winning architect and principal partner at Cotton Fontana Architects.

His desisgn work spans everything from theme parks to improved living environments for disadvantaged families.

Fontana's firm teamed with Walt Disney Imagineering on the original Disney's California Adventure.

Internationally, Fontana worked on the first Disney theme park in mainland China, Shanghai Disneyland and his company received the 2014 Walt Disney West Coast Design & Construction Innovation award.

His work has earned awards from organizations such as the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Home Builders 50+ Housing Council.

But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

In 2012, Warshaw was inducted into the Hall of Fame at his high school alma mater, Mira Costa High School, in Manhattan Beach, California.