anecdotes

“So why are you here, what do you want?” he asked, smiling. I’d arrived early. Having reread his many publications, armed with today’s most interesting questions, hoping he’d challenge my answers. “I want nothing,” I replied. Which was partly true; I didn’t want what most people want. “Well then tell me what your firm does, I’m curious, I only know your writing.” I explained our business, shared my ambitions. “So how

“Out with the bold, in with the few!” exclaimed the global head of strategy for America’s mightiest too-big-to-fail affair. “I liked the way that title sounded, but it had one annoying weakness; it meant nothing.” It’s that time of the year again. When Wall Street’s mystics dust off their balls, peer into that polished plastic, and publish prophesies. Just as long as their prognostications don’t offend the sens

“Spent the whole afternoon talking about hot blondes,” he admitted, sipping a diet coke, sounding lonely, frustrated. And having no idea where he was headed, but happy to ride shotgun, I let him roll. “Everyone blew out in October,” he continued. “They cut all their best ideas; S&P and Nikkei longs, Euro and Yen shorts.” He should know. He’s invested in them all. And watched his fund managers flush their biggest

“I want to puke,” he said, beginning our conversation as he begins everything in life; flat out. “I’m just as nervous that this thing turns on me as I am that it keeps running,” continued the CIO. “That’s my cultural curse; never happy, always miserable,” he admitted, laughing, in a tone that perfectly blended one part Woody Allen, one part Arnold Schwarzenegger. Which is the unique balance of self-doubt and supreme-

“The kiddies would like to know what the excitement at your firm is all about,” said Mara, over waffle breakfast. And not one to pretend to have pursued a noble career path, I gave it my honest best. “Well, there’s this country called Japan,” I started. “It’s kinda like an island, but not exactly, right?” interrupted one of my little Einstein’s. “Yeah, it’s an island – anyhow, Japan’s filled with really old people th

“It raises fascinating ethical issues,” said the scientist, and just hearing his voice, I relaxed. You see, he’s the smartest person I know. And having survived a near-certain death sentence back at university, he’s devoted his life to helping others do the same. “Does the treatment of one justify the risk to others?” he asked. “In Africa now, they don’t perform CPR on victims, the benefit is so low, the threat to he

“Is this one for real?” asked Jackson. And of course it isn’t. It couldn’t possibly be. You see, he’d asked for a bedtime story, having graduated from ones I tell the younger three; fantasy interwoven with myth, legend. So I told him about Syria and Iraq. Where a barbaric army magically appeared, in old Toyota pick-ups, to conquer an area the size of Britain. Imposing medieval laws. Enslaving apostates. Beheading the

Time to unleash my inner nerd. And admit I read the Geneva Report cover to cover. In one titillating go. Which got my propeller spinning faster than a preacher’s wife’s pulse, reading Fifty Shades. Not because of its content, which we all had beaten into us, with a stiff wooden ruler, back in Econ 101. But rather, because this story’s no fantasy. “Contrary to widely held beliefs, the world has not yet begun to deleve

“Maybe write something about turning 48,” said Mara. “Write about that Berkeley Hills trail run with your brother, when you thought you had a fatal medical condition,” she continued. “But then realized you were just getting old, outta shape.” I considered it. The idea had some merit. After all, I did really feel like I was going to die. And glimpsing my mortality, swore to god that if only I lived to hear another ope