Over the past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the birthday celebration of an old family friend who has been part of my entire life and a big part of many lives for a lot longer than that. As Jack McGinty turns 90 this week, his children, with whom I grew up, threw him a fantastic surprise party at the venerable Cleveland Yachting Club. I had a great time catching up and reconnecting with old friends and acquaintances I hadn’t seen in decades.
One of my side hustles here in Cleveland is working as a freelance editor and writer for Great Lakes Publishing, the Condé Nast of Ohio responsible for a roster of magazines that started with its flagship, Cleveland Magazine, in 1972.
My boss is Lute Harmon, Sr., the executive publisher and founder. One might think of him as the S.I. Newhouse of Ohio. After a mutual friend connected us last year, Lute immediately assigned me to write about notable Cleveland figures who were doing good and making a difference for his latest venture, a magazine called Community Leader, a quarterly supplement to Cleveland Magazine.
I jumped back onto the saddle this week after a brief but fantastic trip to Palm Beach, Florida last weekend. I have a client down there who showed me the ropes in their little universe both in Palm Beach and in the charming town of Lake Worth.
Winter in the north is a bitch. In terms of smart and effective outerwear, an alarming number of men I observe are ill-prepared. I don’t know if it comes from lack of thought or some hyped sense of virility, but these same men are also felled by colds, flu and other debilitating winter ailments that negate the “I’m too tough for hats, gloves, heavy coats and boots” idea. When it’s 10ºF with snow on the ground, a fleece zip-up and sneakers don’t cut it.
I have to admit that I think of galoshes as something worn only by old men. In some circles, galoshes are referred to as “overshoes” or “rubbers,” which is much more fun to say. But as it its with many tried and true ways and means (think safety razors, classic rules of tailoring and other rehashes of things that have been around forever), the old men are on to something.
This episode is about a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant I discovered in Cleveland, my new (old) Harris Tweed and the joys and challenges of furnishing my new apartment.
After some tailoring, a recent eBay purchase turned into one of my favorite new/old garments.
Once these gorgeous, original, one-of-a-kind airline posters are gone, they're gone...
"I tend to like the classic rules of traditional men's wear." - Tom Ford
Everyone told me I'd need a car. I'm still not feeling it.