Ze Future

Any kid knows that to see one's future, look at the parents.

It has been non-stop since returning to London Saturday. So I roll with it : Parents swimming dinner-party; Jeremy Ben-Ami reception; Sunday brunch with the neighborhood and Rusty. Oh, and I meet the Asst Treasurer of Diageo, the largest drinks company in the world.

Ben-Ami is interesting.  His family connection to Israel goes back 130 years to the first aliyah when his great-grandparents were among the first settlers in Petah Tikva.  His grandparents were one of the founding families of Tel Aviv, and his father was an activist and leader in the Irgun, working for Israel’s independence and on the rescue of European Jews before and during World War II.

Ben-Ami served as the Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor in the White House to President Bill Clinton in the late-90s and has worked on seven Presidential and numerous state and local campaigns.  He was Howard Dean’s National Policy Director in 2004 and helped manage a Mayoral campaign in New York City in 2001. The Jerusalem Post recognised him as one of the world's top-50 influential Jews.

In 2008, he founded non-profit PAC J Street, which argues "a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to Israel’s survival as the national home of the Jewish people and as a vibrant democracy." 

Tonight  he debates Israel and the US in the Middle East at Cadogan Hall, moderated by Roger Cohen of the New York Times.

Deb

Debbie and I met in, like, 7th grade : she dated my best friend Wylie and I her neighbour, Sarah, my first girlfriend who, along with being runner-up valedictorian at Berkeley High, was also well developed for her age. My first kiss, in fact, took place with Sarah that year, 1979, when yours, truly, made his move, connected, and tripped, landing in the street gutter staring at the starry sky. Some things never change.

Today Deb is a theatre actor whose credits include A Traveling Jewish Theater, Member of the Board of Directors at Central Works, Producing Partner at Branch Out Films, performance artist at BadUnklSista, Actor, "The Appraisal" at Bad Kid Films, actor at Aurora Theatre Company, On Camera Acting, Instructor at UC Berkeley, Extension, Actor at SF Playhouse, Actor at Thick Description, customer service, management, special events at 42 degrees.

I recall Deb in the 9th grade production of "Cabaret" where she played the perfect Sally Bowles (made famous by Liza Minnelli, or vice versa). She has never looked back.