New Jersey has its own tall ship — the A. J. Meerwald, a restored 1928 Delaware Bay Oyster schooner — and it begins the season on April 15.


Paul Gray of Archi-Tech  (on Phillips Boulevard in Ewing) will be on the volunteer crew to help sail the Meerwald from Bivalve to Philadelphia.”I believe they will be in Philly until the 26th, then they start their season of wandering around NJ doing school programs, educational sails, public sails and their teambuilding programs,” writes Gray. He explains: 

Gray’s company, Archi-Tech, has signed his company up for the team-building event on the schooner in September. Says Gray: “I very much like the concept of a non-profit supporting themselves by this type of “commercial” activity.”

Says Bob Doll to CBS News, Don’t abandon equity stocks just yet. 

The five-day downturn is only the correction he predicted, he told Business Insider.

Among the suggestions in his April report to Black Rock clients: Focus on domestic stocks.

To U.S. 1 Newspaper, for the April 11 edition, he gave 10 tips. One of them: Treasury rates will rise by two points by this time next year.

Doll is the keynote speaker who concludes the Mercer County Economic Summit on Thursday, April 12. You can register at the door for $60 if you belong to the Princeton Regional Chamber, $75 otherwise.

It’s rare to meet an investment guru, in close enough range to raise your hand and ask a question. And the afternoon (1 to 6 p.m.) features many other luminaries. But Doll — you could reasonably call him Princeton’s Warren Buffet — is the draw.


The photograph from Princeton Magazine is by Tom Grimes. 

A tag sale to end all tag sales starts Thursday, April 11 and runs through Saturday. The collection and memorabilia of Elizabeth S. Brown, noted fashion historian and a church friend of mine, will be sold by antique dealer Evelyn Gordon over the three day period. Antique dealers, decorators, window dressers, fashionistas — and I — will be ogling mannequins, jewelry, hats, lots and lots of dresses, antique toys, furniture, postcards, and memorabilia. Her collection has been called “an epic labor of love.”

I expect prices to be pretty reasonable because Brown has generously donated many of her museum-quality 18th and 19th century fashions to her alma mater, Cornell, and most recently to the fashion school at Houston Community College.

The first exhibition of the more than 4,000 donated items opened in Houston last August, called “Steampunk,” Victorian demeanor paired with punk rock rebellion. This clip is a veritable tutorial in how to pair the very old to make something very new. To quote the press release,  Steampunk Chronicles: The Elizabeth S. Brown Fashion Collection will explore 19th century fashion silhouettes and details along with industrial revolution images that have combined with current fashion to create the Steampunk aesthetic.


Brown is also known for her collection of antique sewing machines — she has all versions, from wonderful pieces of furniture to early historic ones. Her extensive array of dolls –everything from vintage barbies to “dolls of all nations” — are very reasonably priced, and they are all made IN the country that they represent. Brown tells of one doll that is NOT on sale, as below:

“I have always collected Harper’s Bazaar, and I have the first issue, in 1868,” says Brown. “I used the blue fabric, the extra yardage from my grandmother’s trousseau, and I used a pattern from Harper’s Bazaar for a visiting dress for the doll — and then I couldn’t find the doll, after it was on exhibit at FIT. I had used a pattern for the hoopskirt from the Newark Museum. But Evelyn (Evelyn Gordon who is doing the sale) found the doll. I told her I was looknig for a doll from 1868. I brought her home, I didn’t leave her there to sell.”

….

I just came back from the first day of the sale — it was stand-in-line-only, for an hour, in order to get in the house. But from here on, you will be able to get in. I came away with a magnifying glass on a gooseneck stand, a Terrible Towel from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and $40 worth of jet beads for jewelry making. The house is chock full — there is plenty left..

Optimization has its roots in “optimism,” originally defined as “doing the most good at the cost of least evil.” Today, says Steve Sashihara, it implies an active search for the best. “What we are doing is the practical best based on available data,” he says. He speaks at the Princeton Regional Chamber on Wednesday, April 18, at 7:30 a.m. 

Optimization often gets confused with strategy, says Sashihara, an author, the founder of Princeton Consultants, and the subject of a U.S. 1 cover story in August  Strategy is what high level executives use to make major decisions, but optimization works on any level. 


He sees optimization opportunities everywhere, and this could be the key to his success. Johns Hopkins neuroscientist David J. Linden defines a successful leader as someone with a physical addiction to it — the feeling of success in improving something, to never be satisfied with the status quo.

“I don’t characterize myself as indomitable but I don’t give up,” he says. “When people have a view that they are in the wrong place, I say, ‘if it is not as good as it should be, you can make the party happen where you are.’ This world view is a gift from my parents and grandparents — a nice positive way of looking at life. “

The root of optimization, after all, is optimism.


(Sashihara’s name is pronounced with the accent on third syllable). 

Find out how your company, or a company you work for, can more effectively collaborate with a university on Sunday, April 22, 6 to 9 p.m.in Princeton.  
“Challenges for Small Businesses Interacting with Universities” will be held in Bowen Hall, 70 Prospect Avenue, (just down from Olden Street). This seminar costs $35 and kicks off the the University Industry Demonstration Partnership meeting scheduled for April 23-25 at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, NJ. 
The program is posted at collaborationreference.eventbrite.com.“We are fortunate to have experienced UIDP members, representatives from New Jersey entrepreneur networks, institutions supporting job growth in New Jersey and the Governor’s office speak at the event,” says Judith Sheft of NJIT. Contact jdapprich@uidp.net or Judith.Sheft@NJIT.EDU with any questions. 


This “interacting with universities” event – unusual because it’s on a Sunday – is cosponsored by the Keller Center, which is also co-sponsoring four more programs this month. The first is theoretically on technology but it brings in that scary subject “Ethics.”  As listed by the Keller Center: 

What do you do when you see a bully mistreat a child? How can you, a parent, help your child deal with bullying? What can you say to the parent who bullies his child on the soccer field? What about the workplace bully — yes, bullying does take place in the workplace.

Tonight at the Princeton Public Library, through interactive drama and discussion, adults and young people will explore the internal conflicts that bystanders experience when they witness bullying or other mistreatment.

The program will include five short theatrical events, with time for discussion. This collaborative experiential event is co-sponsored by Corner House’s Project GAIA, Princeton Not in Our Town, HiTOPS, the Princeton Public Library, and Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum. U.S. Rep. Rush Holt is scheduled to speak.

You are invited!

Yes, I’m retired but you wouldn’t think so from the last two issues of U.S. 1. I “come back” to do articles that are just two alluring to turn down. Last week’s was on Janet Brown, VP of Universal Display Company, which I’ve long been interested in, and had been writing about for 20 years.

This week’s was for the quintessential Easter cover, “Is God Dead, Hell No!” when I had the chance to talk to a half dozen faith communities who have expanded. Most of my words were about Ken Smith and his amazing story of growing Princeton Presbyterian Church, which stands — complete with skateboard park — on Meadow Road. Among the other congretations I talked to was my own, Princeton United Methodist Church, which stands on the corner of Nassau & Vandeventer. Somehow the “full disclosure” sentence (Full disclosure, the author is member of this church) got left out.

So I’m putting it here. Full FULL disclosure I was on the committee that raised funds for the expansion.

If you didn’t know before, now you do. Let me know if you think I wasn’t even handed.

• WHYY bartered $500,000 with New Jersey by agreeing to contribute to the education of children in Camden. Children and teachers go across the river to WHYY facilities to work with the latest equipment and do broadcast journalism. 

• $ 1 million came from a benefactor who offered one-third of that up front. 

• A no-interest bridge loan for the remainder came from a board member. 

Steve Inskeep and Marty Moss Cowane in the morning. Michele Norris, Robin Young, and Terry Gross in the afternoon. Robert Siegel and Kai Ryssdaal in the evening. Plus of course the weekend folks, Mike McGrath of You Bet Your Garden, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and Garrison Keillor. Radio personalities from NPR and WHYY kept me sane as a stay at home mom in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and in Princeton today they offer a window on the world at whatever time I can turn on the podcast.

Here’s my dilemma: I can get live broadcasts of NPR through the Philadelphia station in my kitchen, but on the other side of the house, my radio recognizes only the New York station. If I want to get excellent reception, I resort to the podcasts. That’s the good and the bad of living in Princeton — we are equidistant from two great cities but when it comes to the media, we don’t belong to either. We’re at the Mason Dixon Line of broadcasting.

To explain that — and offer encouragement — William J. Marrazzo, CEO of WHYY, will speak to the Princeton Regional Chamber on Thursday, April 5, at 11:30 a.m. on “Life after NJN: A fresh start for New Jersey public media.” He’ll tell what happened after Governor Christie closed New Jersey’s public broadcasting station and explain what the media landscape really looks like. “The NJN radio stations were an underutilized resource. We’re already seeing double-digit audience growth for the four stations along the shore,” says Marrazzo.

I’m looking forward to hearing Marrazzo because  I’m rooting for WHYY to succeed.

Looking ahead, here is a list of tantalizing events and in the interests of full disclosure — I’m indicating which ones I plan to attend. Often people go to what I tout and then expect to see me there. Nope. My eyes have always been bigger than my appetite.

Thursday, April 5, Friday, April 6, Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, April 8 —Holy Week and Easter  at Princeton United Methodist Church. All welcome, hope to see you there.

 Bruce Hack, an entertainment and media entrepreneur, speaks at P.U.’s Keller Center on Tuesday, April 10 at 4:30 p.m.. I can’t be there, alas, because I will be getting ready for…

The Bystanders Dilemma: an anti-bullying program co-sponsored by Not in Our Town Princeton, the Princeton Public Library, Corner House’s Project GAIA, HiTops, and Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum on Tuesday, April 10, at 7 p.m.

Freeman Dyson leads off the distinguished speakers for a conference on Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, on Governing Science: Technological Progress, Ethical Norms, and Democracy, I probably won’t make it. 

At the  NJ CAMA meeting on Tuesday evening, April 17 meet cool communications types and hear Glenn Gabe on search engine tactics. I heard him at a Princeton chamber event in Trenton and he gives good tips. I probably won’t see you there; that’s my yoga night and I want to hear Bill T. Jones as well.

Bill T. Jones, one of the most controversial and best choreographers, speaks three times for the Toni Morrison lecture series set for Tuesday and Thursday, April 17 and 19 plus Tuesday, April 24 at 8 p.m. at Richardson. I guarantee, even if you know zilch about dance, you will be entertained and enlightened. Free tickets are available and it’s sponsored for the Center of African American Studies.

Steve Sashihara, one of my favorite Princeton entrepreneurs (I’ve been writing about him since he started his company, Princeton Consultants, speaks at the Princeton chamber breakfast on Wednesday, April 18, at 7:30 a.m. at the Nassau Club. I’ll definitely be there.

Debbie Hart, the founder of BioNJ, gives the Distinguished Entrepreneurial Lecture at Fairleigh Dickinson on  Monday, April 23, 

On May 1, American Woman in Science New Jersey offers a free program on conquering cancer, from the scientific point of view, at Princeton High.

Since you read all the way through the calendar, you get to see my prized photo of me with the hosts of Morning Edition. From left, me, Rene Montagne, Daughter, and Inskeep in a photo from January 2007. As part of a school fundraising auction, Daughter ‘won’ a morning at Morning Edition and invited me along. It was, I can assure you, worth getting up at the crack of dawn.

Am I biased about NPR? You’d better believe it!