More adventures in publishing: "Water Music" at Neiman Marcus

April 11, 2014

What a fun evening at Neiman Marcus, The Westchester in White Plains last Wednesday.

Hannie Sio-Stellakis, the store’s public relations manager, had kindly invited me to do a book signing for my new novel, “Water Music”, as part of Neiman’s InCircle event. As models Ksusha, Kash, Heidi, Paul and Tom strolled the terraced floors in striking daywear and eveningwear, shoppers sampled steak, risotto, shrimp wrapped in snow peas, Champagne, cappuccino, iced cookies and chocolate cheesecake bits – all set to a killer DJ. (Heidi and I even did a mini-duet on Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.”)

It was a great opportunity to make new acquaintances and relish old ones like David Hochberg, editorial adviser of WAG magazine, which I edit.

David hung with me all night, helping me lug all my props and books back to the car at the end of the evening.

He reminded me that everything is more enjoyable when you share it with others.

The ecstasy of Agassi

April 10, 2014

My sister Gina is the administrator of the Westfield chapter of Meetings Planners International. Recently, she graciously invited me to hear clinical and sports psychologist John F. Murray address her group. I’m glad she did, for his talk not only offered valuable tips on translating sports success to the business model but also recalled one of my all-time favorite tennis players – Andre Agassi.

Murray – a former tennis player and author of “Smart Tennis” who’s worked with top athletes in that sport, the NFL, the NHL and diving, among others – identified eight key concepts that contribute to success in any field, including passion, work ethic, resilience, flexibility, focus, guided imagery, confidence and energy. I asked him which tennis player best exemplified the principles he conveyed to us. He paused for a moment before giving me what I thought was a surprising answer.

“(Andre) Agassi,” he said. “He had the kind of tough mental skills to turn every disadvantage to an advantage.”

Roger Federer (far court) serves to Rafael Nadal during the 2008 Wimbledon final that some consider the greatest match ever.

Is Fedal > Rafanole?

April 9, 2014

Novak Djokovic’s recent victory over Rafael Nadal at the Sony Open, their 40th meeting, sparked the latest round of columns and posts that asked the title question.

Squarely in the Fedal camp is Douglas Perry. His basic thesis is that Rafanole is too much of a good thing, too much of the same thing from the baseline. Whereas Fedal came first, Fedal offers more of a contrast, Feddy Bear’s game is beautiful, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Still, Perry implies, Rafanole may one day rise to the occasion, because – get this – while Rafa’s and Nole’s groundstrokes are predictable, their minds are fragile, particularly Nole’s, and thus unpredictable.

Talk about a backhanded compliment.

The return of Michael Phelps

April 7, 2014

He’s ba-ack.

Did you seriously think he’d be going away?

It looks more and more like Michael Phelps plans on swimming at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero.

Training five times a week – check. Jumping into the drug-testing pool – check. Eyeing a swim at Irvine, Calif., site of the summer U.S. championships – check. Longtime Coach Bob Bowman noting that he’s looking good – check, check and check.

Look, no sooner had Michael announced his retirement at the London Games than Ryan Lochte was saying we hadn’t seen the last of him. And Ryan would know. They’re not merely rivals. They’re very close friends.

Brendan Eich’s not-so-subtle prejudice

April 6, 2014

I must say I’m surprised by the backlash to Brendan Eich’s resignation as Mozilla CEO after it was revealed that he was anti-gay marriage. Isn’t he entitled to his personal opinions, his supporters say, or is that just for liberals?

But those who defend Eich – who donated $1,000 to Proposition 8, which sought to ban gay marriage in California – don’t seem to get it. Of course, people are entitled to their personal opinions. What they’re not entitled to is to impose them on others, especially when they violate a person’s civil rights.

Nick Bollettieri’s new book, “Changing the Game”, is dedicated to Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King. “Most people build buildings. They tore down barriers.”

Nick (Bollettieri) of time

April 5, 2014

There are teachers and then there are teachers – Aristotle, who taught Alexander the Great; Annie Sullivan, who unlocked the brilliance of Helen Keller; Jelena Gencic, who taught Novak Djokovic poetry and classical music along with groundstrokes.

Nick Bollettieri is a teacher. Watch him talking to kids who’ve been practicing tennis on one of the 10 indoor courts in the gorgeous new Lifetime Athletic in White Plains, N.Y. He doesn’t just autograph his new book, “Changing the Game” (New Chapter Publisher, 319 pages, $26.95), for them. He takes the time to explain the fine points of the game – their game. And the kids, hardly bigger than the tennis bags they are carrying, really listen.

Even his inscription in my copy is a teacher’s admonition: “You have studied the game. But remember it’s people that you must know in order to give more precise information.”

To Nick, that’s what makes a great coach – the ability to know the individual student to help him become the most he can be.

Nick grew up in Pelham, N.Y., playing football and thinking tennis was a sissy’s game. But then an uncle who belonged to the New Rochelle Tennis Club invited him to join him there and, well, football’s loss was tennis’ gain.

Nick has coached 10 world No. 1s, including the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi and Monica Seles. It was Seles who surprised him at Madison Square Garden on World Tennis Day March 3 to introduce him as one of this summer’s inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

I’m smart enough not to ask who his favorite is and instead ask who is the best he ever coached. He answers the question by turning it around.

Sympathy for Achilles

April 3, 2014

“The “Iliad” may be a giant of Western literature, yet its plot hinges on a human impulse normally thought petty: spite,” Natalie Angier writes in the April 1st edition of The New York Times’ Science section.

Natalie Angier may be a brilliant science writer for The Times, yet she has a long way to go as a classicist and literary critic. In an essay on the possible benefits of spite – I say possible because I don’t think spite is good in any event – Angier goes on to explain that Achilles sulked in his tent, holding a grudge against Agamemnon in part because he took Achilles’ war prize, the woman Briseis. Oh, if it were only that simple.

In fairness to Angier – whose essay is all about the evolutionary role spite plays in fairness – she doesn’t have the time or space in the article to unspool the back-story that explains the bad blood between Agamemnon and Achilles, two of the key figures in the Trojan War.

So here we go...