1.
AND THE WINNER IS
We are thrilled to announce that Diane Kounalakis is the very first recipient of the Antonios Kounalakis Award! She is receiving a $50 gift card to use at Glyka Sweets in San Rafael, California. The fact that March is Women’s History Month, that Greek Independence Day is in ten days, and that Diane is the daughter of freedom fighter and humanitarian Antonios Kounalakis himself makes naming her the very first recipient of the Antonios Kounalakis Award all the sweeter. As her nominator wrote, “She sets the perfect example of all the qualities one should have, and many community services given over her lifetime to the general public and the many Hellenic organizations. She exemplifies clearly that ‘the apple does not far from the tree.’” Diane serves on the advisory council of the nonprofit organization Peninsula Family Service, empowering families through early childhood enrichment, financial education, and opportunities for elders in the community to connect and thrive. Among the many other ways Diane contributes to our community and to the world, she
co-founded the Kounalakis Family Fellowship in Greek Studies last year to support the studies of UC Berkeley graduate students;
serves as second vice president of communications for the Pancretan Association of America, overseeing the KRHTH magazine, website, and communication programs;
is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association development board committee, chaired the 2020 Memories in the Making Fundraiser to End Alzheimer’s, and currently serves on the executive board for A Bright Night fundraiser for Alzheimer’s research, taking place on May 14th, 2022;
has been team captain for over a decade of The Walking Greeks, raising funds for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s and consistently leading her team to rank among the top twenty teams;
is a founding member of the town of Hillsborough’s Disaster Preparedness Program to help the community prepare for any and all emergencies; and
worked as public relations director for the San Francisco Ballet.
CONGRATULATIONS, Diane, on receiving the very first Antonios Kounalakis Award, and THANK YOU for your many contributions to our community and to the world!
Know someone who makes a positive difference in their community? Nominate that person to receive the Antonios Kounalakis Award!
2.
I’D LIKE TO BUY AN AI . . . PAT, I’D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE
“As if being a scholar in ancient Greek wasn’t hard enough fundamentally, the primary texts they rely on are frequently damaged beyond repair, being as they are thousands of years old.”
3.
WAS AESOP JUST A, UM, FABLE HIMSELF?
“No ancient Greek figure has been as widely read and illustrated as Aesop, but the truth of the matter is that we don’t know if he even existed.”
4.
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
“The Acheron springs from the Tomaros mountains in the Ioannina prefecture and flows west to the fishing village of Ammoudiá, where it fans out to a delta before emptying into the Ionian Sea.”
5.
FRENCH-GREEK
If you’ve never been introduced to the music of Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Danaë Vlasse, let us make the introduction.
6.
SPINACH PIE AND SHARK TANK
“I call this recipe 'Greek Festival' spanakopita . . . .”
Athena went on Shark Tank last Friday, March 11th. Watch her pitch the sharks here (March 11th’s episode is available to cable network subscribers now and to the rest of us Friday, March 18th).
7.
KING OTTO
We haven’t watched this film—which is coming to theaters in the U.S. on Greek Independence Day, March 25th—yet, but we’ve watched its trailer 12 times.
8.
VACATION, ALL I EVER WANTED
How about 10 secret corners of Greece, Santorini’s top 10 affordable beachfront hotels, a good memoir set in Corfu, and a bottle of KLEOS?
9.
BRAVO SOU
This edition’s Bravo Sou Award is posthumously given with great gratitude to Edmund Keeley. “He was America’s most distinguished cultural ambassador to Greece. Closer to home, he was a founder and pillar of Hellenic studies at Princeton. Mike was our teacher, mentor, colleague, comrade in all things Hellenic, fellow traveler all over Greece, and steadfast friend. Until his last hours, Mike kept asking about Hellenic studies and our future plans.”
10.
REAL ESTATE
What does $6.6M get you on Crete?
Continue to help keep your loved ones, your community, and yourself safe. Wear a face covering when gathering indoors with others, even if you are triple-vaccinated. You do not know what you may be carrying or how susceptible someone else’s immune system may be to whatever you might possibly transmit. #maskupforothers #itsnotaboutyou #weareallinthistogether
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Take care of yourselves and one another!
Opa!
Peter and the Greece Is the Word Crew