lots of stuff at once

Here's a wonderful L.A. Times article about the huge difference parents -- or merely parental figures -- can make, in vivid contrast to arguments a la Judith Harris that the influence of genes and peers far outweigh anything we can do.........

....An old friend, Jill Wolfson, got in touch recently after many years and has a new book for 9-12 year-olds, "What I Call Life," based a lot on Jill's long reporting on kids in foster homes and juvenile halls. Jill has always been a wonderful writer, and the book has gotten great reviews, so I've ordered it. As a bonus, you can also learn to knit on her site, though not cast.....

....In other news, I had lunch today with Bob Berner, director of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, the nation's first land trust dedicated to preserving farmland. After 20 years, the trust controls more than 35,000 acres in Marin County, 40 percent of which is still in farmland, Berner and his public relations director, Elisabeth Ptak told me. The key is buying easements which preserve the property as farmland forever; it's a great cause. I am hoping to get my two kids out to one of MALT's farms during "ski week" later this month to see if peer pressure can finally make them do chores. I'm picturing it as a potentially irresistible force meeting immovable ankle-biters...Stay tuned!