Huddling up around our screens, we Rotarians zoomed into order after chit-chat about the unseasonal heat wave. It was good to see Dick Weirick among the 30+ attendees. And greeting us once again was Patricia Anderson, and among our attendees included Kathy Yee from Bend, Oregon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning favorite ex-president Cheree Edwards opened the meeting of “the best Rotary Club I know.” We sent current president Michael Scar much love and prayers as he recuperated from a minor surgery. And our sincere condolences to another ex-president Suzanne Scar, who lost her mother this week.

 

The pledge was led by Bryant Huber. Then Greg Webster led us in the invocation. His grandfather Greg Webster, a member of the Rotary of Goleta, wrote a book of poetry, from which Greg recited one that talked "about the wellness of Rotary’s plan.”

 

 

Our sole guest was Erin Miller, who works at Artesian and is a friend of Greg Webster as well.

 

 

Therese Brown -

 

Next week: Deirdre’s brother Kevin talking about Brexit.

 

On January 29th we will have a Fifth Friday event, more info coming.

 

Reins of Hope - February 5th.

 

At the recent OUSD board meeting, the Rotary Peace Ambassadors were announced, said Mike Weaver. One wrote letters to shut ins and nursing homes. As part of the program, Rotary donates toward a charity of their choice. One of the winners chose the Turning Point Foundation in Ventura.  The Turning Point Foundation is conducting a drive-by birthday celebration, Saturday 2 to 4 p.m., for Jack Schulz, a 99-year-old WWII veteran, who is now housed in the Veterans Homeless Facility at 43 East Vince Street off the avenue in Ventura. People are encouraged to safely participate.

 

 

• Leslie Bouche told us that everyone was welcome to attend an international Service meeting, which will meet this Tuesday morning, Jan 19, at 8:00 am via Zoom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Cheree fired up a video about Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Kristen Welker, a White House correspondent duties with NBC News. During her Junior year at Harvard, friend told her about the program, she was then interviewed by Rotarians in Philadelphia, and lived a year abroad in Madrid. Welker said she made lifelong friendships and was provided a rich and valuable experience, and plans on joining a Rotary Club. Click here for the video.

 

• Mike Weaver talked about our club’s involvement with these Rotary Ambassadorial scholarships, which are funded through Global Grant process. We’ve co-sponsored a scholar in Botswana, who is becoming one of five surgeons to service 1.8 million people. Mike is helping to screen candidates, including Peace Corps returnees, who might be a good fit because of their wide-ranging skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Jack Jacobs joined the club 50 years ago, he called it the “best decision I never made,” as his father insisted.

 

- Bob Davis: joined Rotary in January of 1972, 49 years for those who like to count. He donated a dollar a year.

 

 

 

 

- Kathy Yee, calling in from Bend, Oregon, where her first born child turned 40 today. Cheree Edwards held up a photo of Kathy’s son Ryan at his senior prom, with her son.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryant Huber then tested our knowledge about the names of groups of animals.

 

Andy Gilman: Polar Bears - Aurora

 

Patricia Anderson: A group of flamingos, a flamboyance. She was the sole correct answerer.

 

Dick Weirick: Jaguars, Omen

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Bill Prather: Panda Bears, an embarrassment.

 

 

Deirdre introduced our speaker Robin Gerber, who moved her 12 years ago with her husband Tony. Robin, a national commentator and speaker on leadership is also the author of 5 books.

 

Robin thanked Rotary for its leadership in the community. She then launched into a fascinating talk about Katherine Graham, the subject of one of her leadership books. Robin said that Kitty’s pattern of domestic abuse was all too relevant. "Because of Covid, there has been a rise in domestic violence.”

 

She said the Spielberg film “The Post” was quite excellent, except for not showing Graham’s leadership qualities in their fullness.

“At that point (of the movie’s time frame) she was coming out of 8 years of PTSD from her marriage.” Her husband, Phil Graham, committed suicide in 1963 after he emotionally and physical abused his wife for years.

 

Graham loved her father, banker Eugene Meyer, but did not get along with her mother, who verbally abused her and was generally cold and distant. Graham learned that newspaper work exciting after her father bought the Washington Post, then the fifth-ranked paper in DC, out of bankruptcy. She worked for her high-school paper, then Vassar’s paper, before transferring to University of Chicago. There, she witnessed the  police shoot down 10 unarmed labor union protesters in the infamous 1937 Memorial Day Massacre. Then she moved to San Francisco, where she befriended legendary labor activist Harry Bridges. In 1938 came back to work in DC. And that was where she fell in love with the charismatic Phil Graham, who had clerked for Frankfurter. Gerber said, “She then left her newspaper ambitions on doorstep and became a dutiful wife and mother. She had five children.”

 

In 1946, her father gave the newspaper to Phil for him to be publisher, leaving Katherine only stock and the lack of faith that she could run a newspaper on her own. "Phil had an erratic personality,” Gerber said, calling his wife “a fat Jewish cow — putting her down publicly and privately.” Phil, who probably suffered from a bipolar disorder and suffered deep depressions, had plans to divorce Katherine and "throw her out of company her father started.” After suffering a very public breakdown in 1963, Katherine thought he was doing better and agreed to accompany him to their country home, Glen Welby. He then himself with shotgun.

 

Why did Katherine stay with this clearly abusive man? Gerber said, "Women who are abused often equate abuse with love — and because of her mother, she had a history of understanding abuse in that way.”

 

Still reeling from trauma and grief, Katherine moved quickly to convene the Post’s board of directors, “and told them she was going to run it, and run it as a public service. Warren Buffett bought stock in the paper as a vote of confidence. He became her mentor, and that’s where she learned about the finances.”

 

Her shining moment, as chronicled in the “The Post” as played by Meryl Streep, was the publishing of the Pentagon Papers. The Post was enjoined by courts by justice department. But Supreme Court gave a historic ruling that there cannot be prior restraint. “And It was her decision - (editor) Ben Bradlee wanted to, but legal team said they’d lose the entire company. Despite threats from Nixon and his justice department she held firm and the Nixon house of cards began to tumble.

 

Gerber said that Katherine Graham "stands in history as the first Fortune 500 woman CEO. She was a survivor of domestic abuse, who created herself as an inspirational figure.”

 

Robin has written a one-woman play, “The Shot,” starring Sharon Lawrence, which was scheduled for a theater run but was cancelled for Covid. Thank you Robin for a fascinating discussion about a remarkable woman.