All posts by Dimitri C. Michalakis
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Public serviceIn one of his books the great Harry Mark Petrakis described the guile of his mother, the wife of a parish priest with little means, in stretching their own meagre food budget to accommodate all sorts of...
- Posted June 28, 2015
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Of fascinating lives
I’ve been reading two fascinating books lately: one a stirring account of an epic life in both public and private service; and another a frank and surprisingly-intimate account of an accomplished woman’s service to her country abroad....
- Posted May 18, 2015
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Altar boys forever
I visited my old church in Brooklyn recently, where I once served as an altar boy, and it pretty much looks the same: only with central air conditioning now (instead of the sauna we had to endure...
- Posted April 11, 2015
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The Winter of Our Discontent
Is this truly the winter of our discontent? Formal history seems to function in cycles—in America, the Democrats had the House and Senate and the White House and the public thinks they made a mess (or are...
- Posted February 18, 2015
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Doing business with Filotimo on Wall Street: Michael Psaros of KPS Capital PartnersIt took a young Greek of the old school to make filotimo a business model and a kid brought up in the steel mills of West Virginia to co-found a Wall Street private equity firm that has...
- Posted December 24, 2014
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Christmas past, present, and future
Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and new hope in the world and it’s also a time to spend time with family and see kids rejoice not only in their presents but in...
- Posted December 24, 2014
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Gallo winemaster remembers odyssey from CyprusGeorge Thoukis came to study wines in America and decided to stay His father Kyprianos was a distiller of ouzo and brandy in Cyprus and his mother’s family owned vineyards. And when George Thoukis graduated high school...
- Posted November 14, 2014
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Going home to Kourounia
As I get older and the world seems increasingly to implode (climate change, ISIS, US governmental gridlock, the resurgent Russian bear, Greece tied up in another Gordian knot of debt and political stasis, and, personally, the aging...
- Posted November 14, 2014
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One Man’s Journey in Greek EducationQueen Elizabeth visited Canada in 1960, and so did a young man and recent graduate of Columbia University’s Teacher’s College in New York, who was being interviewed for the post of principal of Socrates Canadian School of...
- Posted October 19, 2014
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Great Expectations
What makes, very often, the best and the brightest go into politics? A desire to change the world, a quest for power, but once faced with the moral dilemmas of the office (Horse trading the very destinies...
- Posted October 19, 2014
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Conquering Wall Street and possibly Pennsylvania Avenue: Mizuho Securities CEO John Koudounisby Dimitri C. Michalakis So how does a Greek whiz kid from Chicago become the youngest CEO on Wall Street and lead a venerable Japanese bank to an impressive string of victories in the ultra-competitive US market? “First...
- Posted September 13, 2014
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Teach our children well
When I was growing up Greek in America (and Canada) my father was the principal of the Greek parochial schools I attended: Socrates in Montreal and Plato in Chicago. And it was a study in contrasts. Socrates,...
- Posted September 13, 2014
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Bucking the tide on land and sea: Energy pioneer George SakellarisTalk about climate change. George Sakellaris had packed his bags and left his family behind in Vassara, Sparta (“Where you get snow once every ten years”) to come to America and attend the University of Maine (“Where...
- Posted June 7, 2014
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Greece or bust
My neighbor is Irish and his wife is German and they both lived in Europe (she is German-born) and can’t wait to go to Greece again. “The best time of my life,” he says. “I went there...
- Posted June 7, 2014
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The quality of mercyPrincess Katherine of Serbia is a monarch in a radically-changed and ever-changing world but she carries one old-fashioned habit that still resonates: she cares not only for her subjects but for all people in need and she...
- Posted April 16, 2014
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The Greek-American fabric
The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York has a wonderful overview of the history of the Greeks in the United States and a comprehensive list of some eminent names. Besides the usual names, among the...
- Posted February 16, 2014
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At the Movies with Sid GanisThe legendary Hollywood studio honcho and producer on his life making movies So how does a Greek-Jewish kid from Brooklyn get into the movie business and run several major studios and head the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and...
- Posted January 15, 2014
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An Ode to Brooklyn
The incredible story of Sid Ganis in the movie business is not only about how much he accomplished in one lifetime (literally a Forrest Gump saga—a movie he green lighted—of how he worked with and met practically...
- Posted January 15, 2014
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Our Special Christmas
When my father became principal of Plato School in Chicago during the 1960s we lived in a house on Lotus Avenue that was a short walk for me every morning past everybody’s front yard (a novelty to...
- Posted December 14, 2013
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We should be thankful?
We should be grateful. As we go to press the people of the Philippines are reeling from a super typhoon (super–the new word in our weather future) that has devastated the country and killed thousands. The people...
- Posted November 13, 2013
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The global village
There are recent arrivals from Greece in a steady stream, and Greeks arriving from other parts of the world, but the last great Greek immigrant wave to the United States is more than fifty years old (America...
- Posted September 7, 2013
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Greeks in Media
Since Greeks need to be heard on any subject (just sit across the table from them) and since they’ve done well in business and many other fields, you’d think they would get into the media big-time so...
- Posted June 19, 2013
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Spring springs eternal
Mario Frangoulis says he sees himself as more than just a singer: “I see myself as an ‘ambassador’ for Greece and an ambassador for all that Greece stands for: great poetry and music, culture, an incredible language,...
- Posted May 2, 2013
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From the Editor: You can go home againDirector Alexander Payne says he plans to go to Greece in June and perhaps stay there for a while to shoot some film, and hone his language skills, and reconnect with his heritage. (His family comes from...
- Posted March 6, 2013
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From The Editor: WHY NOT?
New York has a checkered history of billionaires running for public office (most have flamed out) but Mike Bloomberg spectacularly succeeded (at least for two terms) and gave eternal hope to billionaires looking for any new challenge....
- Posted January 10, 2013
