Category: The Big Hits

Observer Media Group – Leon Panetta talks scandals and sardines at town hall

When former Secretary of State Leon Panetta was growing up in Monterey, Calif., he caught “tons” of sardines before watching Cannery Row collapse in part due to overfishing. “I saw the impact of losing a very important resource,” Panetta said during a roundtable discussion as part of the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture […]

Sarasota Herald Tribune – Panetta hopes for Hillary vs. Jeb in 2016

You would expect Leon Panetta to play up Hillary Clinton’s credentials for the White House in 2016 as he did on Thursday during a stop in Sarasota. After all, Panetta was chief of staff for Bill Clinton and served in the Obama Administration as CIA director while Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. “Ultimately […]

Sarasota Herald Tribune – Former Fed chief tapped for 2015 lecture series

SARASOTA – Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, will close the 2015 Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall lecture series with two lectures about the Great Recession and his efforts to keep the economy from slipping into “financial Armageddon.” Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, will be a speaker in the […]

VIDEO: Wes Moore talks second chances at town hall

Author Wes Moore praised My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative aimed at helping “young boys of color,” avoid jail and embrace education, during an informal interview before the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series Thursday morning. “This isn’t just about how exactly how are we helping young boys of color, this is […]

‘The Other Wes Moore’ writer talks of choices and expectations

While Wes Moore was being awarded a Rhodes scholarship to study in England, another Wes Moore, who had grown up under the same circumstances in Baltimore, was being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in an armed robbery that took the life of a police officer. The choices […]

Who’s in Store: Mission Avenue’s Bernabe Somoza

Bernabe Somoza revitalizes vintage pieces at his Mission Avenue Studio in Sarasota What’s old is new again at Mission Avenue Studio, a fledgling vintage furniture restoration business that’s the brainchild of former Houston art dealer Bernabe Somoza. “Every day is an adventure,” exclaims Somoza, a cancer survivor who moved to Sarasota to continue his recovery […]

Renewed purpose

Bernabe Somoza has a story for every piece of furniture that fills his 10,000-square-foot warehouse. As he walks around the periphery, his eyes light up beneath hip, circular-framed glasses as he points out pieces. A red loveseat was in his son’s bedroom before getting new upholstery at Mission Avenue Studio, his Sarasota-based, vintage-furniture repurposing business. […]

Former NYC mayor to speak in Sarasota

SARASOTA – Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will deliver a lecture in Sarasota in March to benefit a library project for the Ringling College of Art and Design. The lecture is not part of the Ringling College Library Association’s annual Town Hall Lecture Series, but in addition to it, said Jay Logan, Town […]

Platon finds inspiration in simplicity

Platon’s portraits are simple. But, using that simplicity the world-renowned photographer can capture complexity of a world leader’s icy stare, like that of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A flick of a finger or movement of an eyebrow can reveal a person’s true character, Platon explained before speaking as part of the Ringling Town Hall Lecture […]