It's How We Play the Game by Ed Stack

IT'S HOW WE PLAY THE GAME by Ed Stack is the story of the founding and growth of DICK’S Sporting Goods company. Stack begins with tales of how the company was founded in Binghamton, New York with $300 from his dad’s grandmother’s cookie jar.  Throughout, he stresses the importance of family and the impact that family members had on each other.  For example, he writes about his father’s love of sport and how he encouraged Ed to really study and analyze the game of baseball. The idea of taking care of the local community was also always important and Stack says, “[my dad] was making a difference … before I knew it was happening … my dad understood the transcendence of sports – that they can channel kids’ energies, give them focus and goals, keep them out of trouble, reshape their lives.  … He was willing to reach into his own pocket.” Stack has carried forward that legacy and frankly, shocked me with some of the statistics he cited: “In the 1999-2000 school year, 11.3 percent of public high schools in the United States did not offer interscholastic sports. By ten years later, 22 percent of public high schools – more than one in five – no longer fielded sports teams.” Of those that did, forty percent required fees from the players and their families. To raise awareness, Stack began a number of programs including the Sports Matters Initiative. This book chronicles those efforts as well as changes in the business, such as decisions to expand, and DICK’S principled relationships with landlords like Wegman’s and suppliers like Callaway. In addition, you may have read recently in The New York Times or USA Today about how DICK’S destroyed about $5 million in inventory of assault style guns in response to the shooting in Parkland, Florida. The thinking and strategy behind implementing that decision is included in this text, too. Recommended by Adam Silver, Phil Knight, Mark Kelly and others, IT'S HOW WE PLAY THE GAME is definitely worth a read, particularly in light of the shift from shareholder to stakeholder perspective amongst US businesses, as evidenced by the change in Business Roundtable’s mission statement.  

Hacking Darwin by Jamie Metzl

HACKING DARWIN by Jamie Metzl is subtitled “Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity.” Earlier this year Metzl was appointed to the World Health Organization expert advisory committee on developing global standards for the governance and oversight of human genome editing and clearly feels a sense of urgency in addressing breakthroughs in genetic engineering. Obviously familiar with his subject, he includes chapters on “Decoding Identity,” “Stealing Immortality from the Gods,” and “The Ethics of Engineering Ourselves.” Highly relevant to today’s societal debates, Metzl contrasts practices and beliefs across generations and religions, commenting at one point: “it seems likely that parents will affirmatively want to screen out genetic diseases before their pregnancies even begin.  Choosing from among preimplanted embryos in a lab will simply seem far less brutal than abortion.”  Another example which Metzl highlights is the differences between countries, noting, “although China was far behind the West in assisted reproduction technologies only a decade ago, the country is showing the biggest global swing toward widespread acceptance of assisted reproduction.”

HACKING DARWIN is a well-researched text; Metzl includes almost 40 pages of source notes, a helpful index, and suggestions for additional reading.  Our students – who tend to be highly interested in this topic and related CRISPR advances - will appreciate his note that “because the genetic revolution is unfolding so quickly, there are many incredible (and faster-moving) websites, blogs and podcasts that are essential resources very much worth exploring.”  

Mysteries set in Chicago and San Francisco

Jump Cut by local author Libby Fischer Hellmann marks the return of Chicago video producer Ellie Foreman.  Initially, Ellie is hard at work on a documentary about Delcroft, an aviation-related company, when her own company is suddenly and humiliatingly fired.  All that Ellie can think is that the swift action is related to some background footage and she arranges to meet the man shown in the questionable segment.  However, he is killed just before the meeting and she then finds a flash drive hidden in what may have been his cigarette pack.  From there, it’s off to a suspenseful plot involving encryption, decryption, malware, “ethical hackers,” surveillance, and international secrets.         

The plot brings to mind current headlines about security and privacy, about suppression of minorities, especially overseas, and about ethics and “collateral damage.”   Throughout the fast-paced story, Ellie is a very likeable and determined sleuth.  Jump Cut was an entertaining mystery and especially fun due to the references to The Happ Inn and other local venues.  Award-winning Author Libby Fischer Hellman will be speaking about her new book on THIS SUNDAY, March 6^th, at The Book Stall (Elm Street, Winnetka) at 2pm.    

Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen is another quick mystery I have been reading lately.  Its main character is Molly Murphy Sullivan who has featured in previous reviews. This time, Molly is off to San Francisco in 1906 – hence the fog and the post-natural disaster fires.  I liked the novelty of the West Coast setting, but thought that the author strained believability at several points: no cross-country travel with an infant (Molly’s son Liam) would go that smoothly; plus, she would not have left her child with virtual strangers; nor acted as stoically upon hearing of a loved one’s death.  That said, award-winning author Rhy Bowen’s writing is always diverting and Time of Fog and Fire will certainly continue to please her many, many fans.