“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?
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.”
While writing for Saturday Night Live, everyone’s favorite Gripster Tina Fey ate a lot of disgusting food in the wee hours of the night, according to Grub Street. The grossest? Old meatballs from Carmines.
The Grub Street article points to the obvious fact that those of us who stay up late, writing at our desks, probably eat pretty poorly. I’ve never been to Carmines, and I don’t eat meatballs anymore, but my sister makes fun of me because I often eat leftover pasta without bothering to heat it up.
When you think Greek literature, what do you think? Homer’s The Odyssey? Plato’s Republic?
I often worry that the world at large does not recognize contemporary Hellenic literature. This month, though, we see two books by famous Greek-American comedians turned Greek-American authors.
Bossypants by Tina Fey
A few years ago, when Christopher Hitchens said that women aren’t funny, he said it with the caveat, “there are some impressive ladies out there. Most of them, though, when you come to review the situation, are hefty or dykey or Jewish, or some combo of the three.” That was in 2007. By then, Tina Fey had already showed the world her comedic chops by following up her “Weekend Update” skit on Saturday Night Live with another hit: 30 Rock. Last year she became the youngest person ever to win the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
In a recent interview, Fey actually said that it was only after she lost weight that she was able to move from comedy writer to comedy actress.
Tina Fey is a Greek-American by birth. Her given name is Elizabeth Stamatina Fey. Her 2001 wedding to Jeff Richmond was held in a Greek Orthodox Church.
She—and a lot of other women—proved Hitchens wrong on all three counts. And now she has a memoir coming out that lets you step into the life of this very funny Greek-American woman.
This Is a Book by Demetri Martin
Books by comedians usually go one of two ways: either really funny or really sad. Demetri Martin goes funny in his first book, a collection of short stories. Martin, known for his work on “The Daily Show” and Comedy Central’s “Important Things with Demetri Martin,” was born in New York City and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. His dad, Dean C. Martin, is a Greek Orthodox priest. Martin’s Greek heritage plays into his comedy and writing.
Kirkus Review notes that in “Socrates’s Publicist,” one of the short stories in Martin’s upcoming book, “imagines the deadly consequences of the Greek philosopher acquiring a chirpy PR rep eager to brand him and bring his “question thing” to a wider audience.”
Look for it: April 11
Last week’s 30 Rock was an episode titled “TGS Hates Women,” a commentary on late summer’s “Franzenfreude” and the recent findings by VIDA that women writers don’t get as much attention as male writers.
When I look around the publishing house I work in and the classroom at the MFA program I attend, I see women. Lots of them. That’s not to say there aren’t any guys. There are. I see them in their windowed offices, I attend the lectures they organize, and I read the newsletters they write. That isn’t to say there aren’t women in high-level, high-visibility roles. There are. But the percentage of men versus women in these upper-management roles is significantly skewed.
That’s why I wasn’t surprised when I read VIDA’s “The Count 2010.”
The short take is that men far outnumber women in getting published in lit mags and having their books reviewed. I definitely agree with the commenters that the statistics are inconclusive without the facts of how many women versus men submit manuscripts. My editor friend Elizabeth sent me this follow up to the article, in which the editors responded to the criticism that their publications don’t publish an equal ratio of women to men.
Part of the problem is that women do not submit to well-known, “gender-neutral” publications at the same rate as men. A few months ago, I went with my writer friend Jane to hear Lorrie Moore (Birds of America) talk with fiction editor Deborah Treisman at the wonderfully designed (hello, tilting fish-tank!) (le) Poisson Rouge for The New Yorker Festival. One of the comments that stuck out the most for me (Elissa Bassist, with whom I took class taught by Susan Shapiro, offers further notes on The Rumpus) was that men more often than women submit stories to The New Yorker, which is why men, more often than women, get published in The New Yorker.
I am a feminist, not a whiner. I don’t believe in railing against the injustices of this or that without actually doing something positive to enact change. Dialogue itself is useful but dialogue without action is meaningless. It reminds me of the whole Christian debate of faith versus works, which is solved quite eloquently by the phrase “faith without works is dead.” In other words, we can talk until we’re blue in the face about how more women should be published but unless more women are submitting quality work and unless more women are studying and working hard to become editors and unless we get over the silly notion that matters of politics are for men and the world at large and matters of domestic life are for women exclusively then all our philosophizing is for naught. (Yes, I just said “for naught.”)
Women, if you want to be taken seriously as writers and if you want to get published then study writing, write, revise, and submit to publications! Aim high. If you get a rejection, try to find out why. Then find another publication that you believe is a good fit for your writing style (remember there’s a huge difference between Cosmo and The Times) and submit. Take classes, form writing groups, seek out professional freelance editors, and work on your craft, continually submitting high-quality work. Make your writing so good they can’t say no!
Let’s not end up like Elaine Mozell in Meg Wolitzer‘s The Wife. Let’s look at the example Tina Fey set by becoming the first female head writer of Saturday Night Live. And wouldn’t you know it, she’s a Greek!
Stephanie Nikolopoulos is a writer, editor, writing teacher, and speaker based in New York City.
She is the coauthor, with Paul Maher Jr., of "Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road.'"
You can email her at stephanie_701 {@} yahoo.com
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 