“This worked out perfectly for me in college, because what nineteen-year-old Virginia boy doesn’t want a wide-hipped, sarcastic Greek girl with short hair that’s permed on top? What’s that you say? None of them want that? You are correct.”
~ Tina Fey in Bossypants
You, yes YOU, have the power to select the winners of the 2013 GABBY Awards. What’s that? You’ve never heard of the GABBYs? Where have you been, my friend? The GABBY Awards celebrates Greek America’s best and brightest:
The Gabby Awards were created to celebrate those Greek North Americans who strive to be the very best at what they do. Whether in business, philanthropy, the arts, education or other areas of interest that our awards cover, we celebrate the pursuit excellence as a core Greek ideal and are inspired by people who pursue excellence.
The name “Gabby” comes from the acronym “Greek America’s Best and Brightest Stars” and the Gabby has quickly become the top achievement awards for Greek North Americans. The awards are based on a purely meritocratic system that involves a 100-member Academy that determines the nominees, followed by a popular vote via the internet.
I attended the 2011 GABBY Awards on Ellis Island, which were AMAZING. Here are my recaps.
This year, the star-studded festivities will take place in Hollywood.
And the nominees are….
…Drum roll, please!
Business & Entrepreneurism
- Sophia Amoruso, Founder and Owner, Nasty Gal (fashion)
- George Kalogridis, President, Walt Disney Resort
- Arianna Huffington, Journalist and Founder of the Huffington Post
Politics & Public Service
- Andromache Karakastanis, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
- Reince R. Priebus, Attorney, Chairman of the Republican National Committee
- John Sarbanes, Maryland Congressman
Philanthropy
- John Paul DeJoria, Co-founder of Paul Mitchell Systems, Patron Spirits, and JP Selects
- Michael Lazaridis, Founder of Blackberry, Philanthropist
- John Pappajohn, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Athletics
- George Kontos, Professional Baseball Player
- Christina Loukas, Olympian, Diver
- Nick Markakis, Professional Baseball Player
Education
- Nicholas Economides, Professor of Economics
- C. L. Max Nikias, President, University of Southern California
- Nicholas Zeppos, Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
Arts & Culture
- Alexander Payne, Screenwriter and Director
- George Pelecanos, Novelist, Writer and Producer
- Greg Yaitanes, Director and Innovator
Performing Arts
- Chris Diamantopoulos, Actor
- Tina Fey, Actress
- Zachary Galifianakis, Actor and Comedian
Science & Medicine
- Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science
- Dr. Peter Diamandis, Founder, Chairman & CEO of the X Prize Foundation
- Constantine Stratakis, M.D. D.Sc., Medical Investigator
You can officially vote here. Let me know in the comments section, though, who you’re voting for. Also, is there anyone that didn’t make the cut that you think should have been nominated?
After reading about how Benjamin Anastas describes his father as “a brooding Greek beatnik” who is “potbellied from lentils and with a beard down to his solar plexus chakra,” I knew I had to read his memoir Too Good to Be True. After all, I write about Greeks and so-called beatniks. Too Good to Be True is the story of the breakup of his marriage and the dissolution of his writing career.
Its not told in an overtly emotional manner, yet its frankness is almost unsettling. These days we’re used to people baring all when it comes to relationships, but to tell the truth about money? To admit that even though he’d taught at an Ivy League and published in big-name magazines, he had to dig around in couch cushions to come up with money for his son’s dinner? That’s the type of honesty that’s hard to read because you worry he’s sabotaging his career by admitting his writing isn’t going all that well and putting it out there for editors and agents to read without the distance of time.
But isn’t that the struggle of the memoirist? While many critics claim that memoir writing is egocentric, a memoirist must lay down his ego. He must sacrifice self and present the truth. And while a memoirist may be introspective by nature, the beauty of memoir is discovering the truth along with the author.
This section from the chapter “Old Friends” is worth considering in terms of both memoir writing and living life:
How much of our lives do we write, and how much of them are written for us? I’ve been thinking about this problem lately, looking back over the trail that brought me to this place, and reading my progress at every step along the way—as adrift as I have been from the usual compass points, as unaware of my direction—for signs of an author, for the fingerprints left behind by some great invisible hand. My life is not a story. It has never been a story, not for me, not even while I’ve been taking great pains with this testament to tell it truthfully on the page. I am in too deep to call it a story. It hurts too much for me to understand it. But I am trying.
The contents of the book may center around infidelity and a mid-career slump, but the deeper story, the one that Anastas circles around to, is the relationship between parents and children, the relationship he had with his parents and the relationship he has with his son.
If I could request a follow up to Too Good to Be True, I would ask Benjamin Anastas to write a memoir about his childhood.
Ninety-two-year-old Greek diner St. Clair has closed down, reports Grub Street, after learning the news from Brownstoner.
Owned by five Cypriot brothers, according to New York magazine, offered various Greek dishes such as the Greek Delight Platter, Corfu Salad, and Greek Moussaka alongside classic American dishes like The Best Baked Meatloaf and 14 Oz. new York Cut Sirloin Steak Sandwich. Brooklyn Daily provided a little history that when the diner was revamped in 1967 it was opened up as the New St. Clair by the Costa family. In 2007, they sold it to Spiro Katehis, who also owns the Carroll Gardens Classic Diner. The Greek diner was at the corner of Smith and Atlantic in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
In The Town and the City, Jack Kerouac housed the parents of his main character in Brooklyn and mentioned the Boerum Hill neighborhood. Of course back then, the neighborhood hadn’t gone through its yuppie gentrification—Kerri Russell and Michelle Williams have called it home—and was known as South Brooklyn or North Gowanus.
Considering the establishment had already opened in 1920 and Kerouac was in the area in the 1940s and ‘50s, it’s possible—though not proven—that he could have stopped in the St. Clair Diner.
The neighborhood is famously home to another writer: Jonathan Lethem, who told the New York Sun, “’My image of the writer came from people like Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac.’” When he was younger, Letham hitchhiked to California and worked at used bookstores. In 2011, he was the Roy E. Disney Professor in Creative Writing at Pomona College, where I studied literature and Classical Greek.
HarperCollins Publishers promoted Tina Andreadis to senior vice-president of publicity, according to Publishers Lunch. Hired in 2005 as vice president, director of publicity, Andreadis oversees publicity for many of the publishing house’s imprints.
The Greek America Foundation named Andreadis as part of the Class of 2010 winners of the Forty Under 40; she was thirty-nine at the time. They noted:
Andreadis is very involved in philanthropic and media efforts on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. In October 2009 she was a key member of the media team for Patriarch Bartholomew’s historic tour of the United States, working to promote his trip to America. Her influence helped secure an opinion piece by the Patriarch in the Wall Street Journal. Andreadis is an active member of Kimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons. There she is media chair for the future expansion of the church and a committee chairperson for the church’s annual festival in Southampton.
Congratulations to Tina Andreadis on her new role at HarperCollins!
The New York-based publishing house’s origins go as far back as 1817 when Harper & Brothers was founded and is now one of the largest publishing houses in the world. Side note: like most publishing houses, they have a history of publishing Beat Generation-related books, including Rub Out the Words: The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1959 – 1974 and Howl: A Graphic Novel.
A while back The Huffington Post, run by Greek American Arianna Huffington, posted an article entitled “9 Books That Make You Undatable.” Among the books was Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.
The reason? Well, according to The Huffington Post, liking On the Road signals commitment issues and money woes.
Apparently no one ever reads a book for its literary merits or for pure escapism.
You may also like:
On the Highway of Love, Jack Kerouac Divides Men and Women
January 1 marked the anniversary of my blog! Thank you all for your support and encouragement of my writing and blogging. It means so much to me that you take the time to read and comment on my blog entries.
I just reviewed a report of my year in blogging, and it’s been a good year!
Here’s a recap of my most viewed posts of 2012:
Notice anything interesting? They all have to do with Greece, and four out of five of them have to do with Greek beauty and fashion. Despite the fact that most of my blogging efforts this past year were about Jack Kerouac, not a single Kerouac-related entry made it into the top 5.
Two out of the above-mentioned blog posts didn’t receive any comments, despite being popular views. My most commented on post of the year was:
That just goes to show you that comments and views aren’t necessarily correlated.
What were your favorite posts from 2012?
What a full year 2012 was! Here’s a quick little recap:::
In January I announced that the rumors were true. But it took the full year for it to finally look like this.
In February I joined Pinterest to discover how it may help me as a writer and have been happily pinning ever since.
In March my personal essay was included in the book Creating Space.
In April I was one of the editors representing the Burnside Writers Collective at the Festival of Faith & Writing. It was so special to get to catch up with the other editors and writers, whom I just adore. I also had the opportunity to teach a writing workshop while I was there.
Image via On the Road with Bob Holman / Rattapallax
In April I also worked to create awareness about what we lose when we lose a language. My interview with poet Bob Holman appeared in BOMBlog.
In May I received my MFA in creative nonfiction from The New School. I had a fantastic thesis advisor and a beloved peer group, who challenged me to dig deeper in my memoir about growing up Greek American. After I read a snippet at our thesis reading, an instructor I’d never even had came up to tell me how much he liked my work!
Image via The Human Tower / Rattapallax
In June I witnessed the world record being broken for the tallest castell on a rooftop.
In July I heard Amber Tamblyn read for The Paris Review at the Strand. Afterwards we somehow ended up on the elevator together, and I didn’t say anything to her. I never know in those situations if it’s polite to say something like “nice reading” or if the person just wants her privacy. I know she’s involved in the Beat literature community, though, so I should’ve probably talked to her about that.
Image via The Millions
In August an article I wrote about a funny incident I had related to Jack Kerouac sparked a fiery debate and went viral, getting mentioned everywhere from The New Yorker to The Paris Review.
Photo via RA Araya
In September I had one of the most surreal moments of my life–reading with David Amram. I got to hear him perform again, this time as an enthralled audience member, in December.
Photo via RA Araya
That month I also read for poet Miguel Algarin‘s birthday bash.
I also road tripped through northern and central California, visiting Cannery Row, City Lights Bookshop, The Beat Museum, and attending my college friend’s wedding.
In October Hurricane Sandy hit New York, and I spent a lot of time in bed.
In November I failed miserably at NaNoWriMo, but I had a lot of fun creating this ever-evolving Pinterest board for the book I never wrote.
I also gave a reading that got upstaged by a wedding proposal.
In December there was a flurry of Jack Kerouac-related activities to promote the film adaptation of On the Road, and I got to see author Ann Charters and film director Walter Salles in person at IFC. I also got to take a writing class with screenwriter Jose Rivera at 3rd Ward.
I also went out to Lowell and got to meet Jack Kerouac’s friend and pallbearer Billy Koumantzelis.
What were the highlights of 2012 for you?
Have you ever noticed that Greek families all seem to be named after the same relative? It’s customary in Greek culture to name the firstborn boy after his papou, the father’s father, and the firstborn girl after her yiayia, the father’s mother. Subsequent children are named after the mother’s side of the family.
According to the Greek Orthodox faith, though, children are supposed to be named after the saint whose feast day they are born on.
A child born on December 27 would be named after Saint Stephen. Stephen was one of the first deacons of the Church. However, after a vicious argument, he was accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death by stoning. Standing up for himself and his beliefs, he said that those Church leaders were the very people who persecuted the prophets. He is now recognized as a martyr.
The name “Stephen” comes from the Greek word “stephanos,” which translates to “crowned.”
My birthday is not December 27 nor was my yiayia’s name Stephania, so my name is a bit of a break from the Greek culture. I’m actually named after my father’s stepfather. And yes, family reunions can get a bit confusing, with my cousin Stefanos and I both responding to “Stef.”
Today I’ll be celebrating my name with my family!
How did you get your name? Do you celebrate your name day?
Whether you’re giving a Greek American a taste of their homeland when they can’t make it back for the holidays or satiating a Hellenophile’s interest in Greek culture, there are countless foods, books, beauty products, and jewelry that will suit your needs. Plus, select a gift made in Greece and you’ll also be supporting the struggling Greek economy. Here’s just a small selection of Greek gift ideas, some made in the States, some in Greece, and others elsewhere, but all unique and lovely.
Gifts for the Greek food lover:::
Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors by Janet Fletcher
How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis
A selection of delicious dressings and marinades from Sophia’s Gourmet Foods
A selection of three different flavors of honey from Odysea Shop
Traditional Greek preserves (rose petal and pergamot) by Monastiri
Bonus tip! – Gifts appear so much nicer when they come as a set. You may want to give a cookbook with some Greek spices. A duo or trio of a certain type of product (such as honey or olive oil) is a great way for the recipient to try out a few flavors. Or, you may want to give a gift basket of assorted Greek candies.
Gifts for someone who loves Greek literature:::
Antigonick by Sophocles, translated by Anne Carson, illustrations by Bianca Stone
The Greek Poets: Homer to Present by Peter Constantine
The Odyssey: A Pop-up Book by Sam Ita
Holidays on Ice by David Sederis
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
Subscription to Greek America Magazine
Bonus tip! – Trying pairing the book with a book light, a notebook and pen, a bookmark with a quote by a Greek philosopher, or a coffee mug (maybe even with a bag of Greek coffee).
Gifts to make someone feel like a beautiful and pampered Greek goddess:::
Beauty products from Korres. I would especially recommend Korres Wild Rose + Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial. You can read my review here.
Olive oil body lotion by Olivia
Jewelry by Konstantino
Bonus tip! – Include a lovely handwritten letter. A bottle of Greek wine (here’s my review of the Greek American wine Pindar) or some fine Greek chocolates (here’s my review of the Greek American chocolatier Chocolate Moderne) would also make someone feel loved and pampered.
As the Greek proverb says, “A gift, though small, is welcome.”
Stephanie Nikolopoulos is a writer and editor based in New York City. This blog features her rambling thoughts on Greek American identity, the Beat Generation, social media, and the literary life.
She is co-authoring a book with Paul Maher Jr. on Jack Kerouac called Burning Furiously Beautiful that is due out in 2013.
She's also currently working on a memoir about growing up Greek American.
You can email her at snikolop {@} alumna.scrippscollege.edu.
