Writing wth Others
In addition to my own writing, I work with people from all kinds of fascinating backgrounds to get their own pieces published in some of the country's biggest outlets. Their expertise and experiences deserve to be part of the national conversation. I do much of this work in my role as editorial director of Nicholas & Lence Communications. From elected officials to a top Alzheimer's doctor to an advisor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to a disabled veteran of the Afghan War, these remarkably accomplished individuals have amazing stories to tell, and visions to share.
It's been my honor (and joy) to help them get their stories, essays, op eds and Letters to the Editor published in outlets as wide-ranging as The New Yorker.com, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and a host of other esteemed publications.
I found myself at the center of a kind of crisis I’d never experienced. In the beginning, it was like a dark storm, the sort you can hear even before you see the clouds roll in. Eventually, the clouds were all we could see. In such a crisis, every decision you make affects your constituents’s lives and livelihoods. You do your best to balance it all: you talk to the experts, examine the numbers and the models, and seek the best advice. But the virus moved with overwhelming speed.
The ninth anniversary of my injury (my “Alive Day”) has just passed — April 10. It comes just four days before my birthday — the same day I regained consciousness after being blown up. Some guys drink on their Alive Day, angry about the injuries they suffered. It’s a bittersweet thing. You are alive but you think, “Man, that sucks.” Drinking is understandable but that’s not my style. I have a beautiful wife and two children, and I’m thankful for every day with them. But I don’t have a party, either. My Alive Day is just another day.
When a brain disorder appears to manifest in the news — for instance the presidential front-runners misspeaking or Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) freezing in front of news cameras — the medical community and the news media are broadly failing to advance the public’s understanding of these impairments and available treatments. Such information could aid millions of people who are (or should be) diagnosed with the same diseases. Opportunities are being squandered to educate the world on highly complex conditions that many of us will one day face.
Although the resort hotels of my company, Las Vegas Sands, are shuttered, I’m paying every one of our nearly 10,000 employees as though they were still working. We’re even working to make up for lost tips. I hope to do that right up until the time that we can reopen our businesses.
It’s not only the right thing to do — it’s good business
Arthur Ave. in the Bronx is all restaurants, food shops and cafes, mostly Italian, and you’d think that the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it would be slow. I mean, how much can you eat?
But it’s not slow at all. It’s bustling, the tables full, the lines at the cash registers four- or five-deep. I’ve never been sure why. Maybe there’s nothing left in the house after the big day; maybe someone is tired of cooking and wants to be served; maybe a guest tasted something like olive bread or fresh mozzarella at a friend’s house and wants to see where it came from. And get some more.