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Home , Aaron Sorkin, Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Joy Mangano, Money Monster

Issue 118 May 2015

A NEWSLETTER OF THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

For Your Consideration – Crystal Ball Edition

Ji m K e l l e r

The early part of the Oscar race is a moving how they affected his family life and pos- my most anticipated films of the year. Eg- target. There are a few awards stops along sibly his health. plays gers won the Directing Award in the U.S. the way: Sundance, SXSW, and Cannes, Jobs and could figure prominently in the Dramatic category at this year’s Sundance to name a few, but by and large spitballing Best race. Film Festival. what may come down the slippery slope of Why I’ve got my eye on it: Like Hoop- the Oscar pike is tricky. For one, a lot of the er, Boyle is permanently on the Academy Macbeth (director: Justin Kurzel): films do not have distributors yet or have watch list ever since his go for broke Slum- Why you might like it: Michael Fass- soft release dates. This makes it easy for dog Millionaire swept the 2009 Oscars and bender stars in this drama, based on Wil- films to be pushed to the following year. won eight awards including Best Picture liam Shakespeare’s play of the same name, Second, the films discussed here haven’t and Best Director. Here he is paired with as the ill-fated duke of Scotland who re- screened, so it’s really impossible to know Aaron Sorkin, an Oscar perennial since his ceives a prophecy from three witches that what kind of film they are—all we have to 2011 Best Adapted Screenplay win for The he will become King. At once consumed by go on is the log line and the talent attached. Social Network. And of course, there’s the ambition and goaded by this wife, Macbeth Sometimes we get lucky and the films stick aforementioned Fassbender, who always murders the king and takes the throne. the Oscar nomination landing (FYC’s gives deserving performances and who Why I’ve got my eye on it: See above, Crystal Ball Edition covered four of nine earned a Best Supporting Actor nomina- Fassbender has yet to win an Oscar and this 2014 Best Picture nominees), but out of the tion for 2013’s 12 Years a Slave. could do it. Further, the prospect of seeing eight 2015 Best Picture nominees only one Marion Cotillard, (who is in the hunt for was featured. Here are some films of inter- Joy (director: David O. Russell): her second Oscar after her 2008 Best Ac- est debuting this year that could wind up in Why you might like it: The biopic tress win for La Vie en Rose) as Lady Mac- this year’s Oscar conversation. chronicles the life of (Jenni- beth is scintillating to say the least. fer Lawrence) the struggling (director: ): single mom who invented the Miracle Mop (director: John Crowley): Why you might like it: Based on David and became one of the most successful Why you might like it: This film adap- Ebershoff’s novel of the same name, the film American entrepreneurs. tation based on Colm Tóibín’s novel of the depicts the true story of Danish artists Lili Why I’ve got my eye on it: Russell has same name follows young Ellis Lacy who is Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and his wife Gerda been after the Oscar since his Best Direc- forced to choose between two men and two (Alicia Vikander) whose marriage is tested tor nomination for 2010’s The Fighter. Jen- countries after she moves from a small Irish after Lili becomes one of the first known re- nifer Lawrence is amazing in almost every- town to Brooklyn, NY in the 1950s. cipients of sexual reassignment surgery. thing she does (RIP 2014’s Serena) and with Why I’ve got my eye on it: Saoirse Why I’ve got my eye on it: Redmayne Bradley Cooper and on- Ronan has been a favorite of mine since she is on fire after his Best Actor Oscar win for board, the chemistry exhibited between the earned a Best Supporting Actress nomina- last year’s The Theory of Everything. What’s three since 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, tion for 2007’s Atonement. This early on in more, early pictures of Redmayne as Lili are which landed all three Oscar nominations, the Best Actress race she is considered the intriguing and the transgender topic has thrives. de facto frontrunner by some after a warm been gaining steam. After helming 2011’s reception for the film at this year’s Sun- Best Picture winner The King’s Speech and The Witch (director: Robert Eggers): dance Film Festival. winning Best Director for it, Hooper is al- Why you might like it: It’s a horror ways on the Academy’s radar. film that takes place in a devout, Christian Money Monster (director: ): 1630 New England homesteading commu- Why you might like it: This drama/ (director: ): nity. When a series of strange events thriller concerns TV personality Lee Gates Why you might like it: This biopic happening a family begins to turn on one () who is taken hostage by a of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs was another. It’s a chilling portrait of family viewer (Jack O’Connell) on-air after he loses adapted from ’s unraveling within their fear and anxiety, his family’s money on a bad tip from Gates. of the same name. It explores the modern leaving them vulnerable to inescapable evil. The film is said to have elements of such clas- day genius’s triumphs and tribulations and Why I’ve got my eye on it: This is one of sics as Dog Day Afternoon and Network. 1 Why I’ve got my eye on it: Foster’s Why you might like it: The film - ad last film 2011’s The Beaver earned the ac- aptation of Jesse Andrew’s novel of the Editorial Board tress turned director the respect of her same name concerns a teenage filmmaker EDITORIAL BOARD peers and I’m curious to see what she can (Thomas Mann) who befriends a classmate do with more serious subject matter. Also, with cancer (Olivia Cooke). Jim Keller, Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor O’Connell has been climbing the rungs to Why I’ve got my eye on it: After pre- Peng Kate Gao, Copy Editor, Oscar after his one-two punch performanc- miering at this year’s Sundance Film Festi- Assistant Managing Editor es in last year’s Starred Up and Unbroken. val, the film earned a standing ovation and Aileen Marshall, Assistant Copy Editing Clooney is of course always in the Oscar went on to win both the U.S. Grand Jury Manager conversation and he has yet to win a Best Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award Susan Russo, Copy Editor, Distribution Actor Oscar, despite his Best Supporting for U.S. Drama. Last year’s winners for Jason Rothauser, Production Designer Actor win for 2005’s Syriana. Finally, it’s the same awards? Eventual 2015 Best Pic- Qiong Wang, Copy Editor, Webmaster, a timely piece for these economically hard ture and Best Director nominee Whiplash. Public Relations Manager times—though there is a strong possibility Cooke, who stars on TV’s Bates Motel, is of a 2016 release. also one to watch in the Supporting Actress selections.rockefeller.edu [email protected] race. Black Mass (director: Scott Cooper): Why you might like it: This crime dra- Beasts of No Nation (director: Cary Fu- Houses of Parliament in the UK and is be- ma depicts the true story of Whitey Bulg- kanaga): ing done with full permission of members er—the brother of a state senator and the Why you might like it: Based on of parliament (MPs). most infamous violent criminal in the his- Uzodinma Iweala’s novel of the same name, tory of South Boston, who became an FBI it’s a drama about the experiences of a child Knight of Cups (director: Terrence Malick): informant to take down a Mafia family in- soldier whose family was torn apart by Why you might like it: True to form, vading his turf. It’s based on the book Black militants fighting in the civil war of a West the latest from the helmer of 2010’s The Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance African country. Tree of Life (nominated for three Oscars Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Why I’ve got my eye on it: I was capti- including Best Director and Best Picture) Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. vated by 2012’s War Witch, which dealt with is shrouded in mystery, but the plot is said Why I’ve got my eye on it: Cooper’s similar subject matter. also stars to concern themes of celebrity and excess. films, for better or worse, end up being as Commandant, which could translate to Regardless, if you’re a fan of the auteur, bandied about during the Oscar race ever recognition. The film is being distributed chances are, you’re all-in. since his first film 2009’s Crazy Heart won by , it would be interesting to see if Why I’ve got my eye on it: I’m a fan of the Best Actor Oscar. Also, it Netflix can garner Academy attention as it the director as well as everyone in his re- stars as Whitey and Benedict has done for the television voting bodies. markable cast, which stars Cumberbatch as Bill Bulger. My bet (unfortunately) is that it won’t. and includes Natalie Portman, and . Among them, they boast four Icon (director: Stephen Frears): Suffragette (director: Sarah Gavron): Oscar wins and five nominations. The film Why you might like it: This biopic of Why you might like it: It’s a drama didn’t come out last year, so hopefully it the famed athlete Lance Armstrong (Ben that centers on early members of the Brit- comes out in this one. Foster) is told through Irish sports jour- ish feminist movement of the late 19th and nalist David Walsh (Chris O’Dowd) who 20th century. These women were forced un- Carol (director: Todd Haynes): is convinced the bicyclist’s Tour de France derground to pursue a dangerous cat and Why you might like it: It’s a drama victories were possible via the use of banned mouse game with an increasingly brutal about a 1950’s department-store substances. Through his conviction Walsh State. clerk (Rooney Mara) who dreams of a bet- hunts for evidence to expose Armstrong. Why I’ve got my eye on it: It has a stellar ter life and falls for an older, married wom- It’s based on Walsh’s book Seven Deadly cast led by , which includes an (Cate Blanchett). It’s based on Patricia Sins. , , and Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt. Why I’ve got my eye on it: Frears di- . Mulligan earned a Best Ac- Why I’ve got my eye on it: I’ve been rected 2006’s The Queen, which was nomi- tress nomination for 2009’s An Education, a fan of Haynes since 1998’s Velvet Gold- nated for six Oscars including Best Director Bonham Carter earned two Best Actress mine and his work only gets better with and Best Picture. He was previously nomi- nominations for 1997’s The Wings of a Dove age like a fine wine, see 2002’s Far From nated for directing The Grifters in 1991. His and 2012’s The King’s Speech. Meanwhile, I Heaven, which earned him a Best Original last film 2013’sPhilomena also earned a Best need not go into detail on Streep’s awards Screenplay nomination. Highsmith’s nov- Picture nomination. Two of the three films haul which includes 16 Oscar nominations els have been adapted for the screen since were biopics, you do the math! Also, Foster and 3 wins, and Garai has earned two Gold- Hitchcock’s 1951 adaptation of Strangers has been on an uphill climb since his work en Globe nominations for her leading role on a Train and this could be the first one in 2007’s 3:10 to Yuma. on two mini-series: The Hour and Emma, to garner Academy attention since 1999’s in 2012 and 2011. The Talented Mr. Ripley. It’s always a treat Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (direc- As if that weren’t enough, this will be to see Oscar winner Blanchett perform and tor: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon): the first film in history to be shot at the Mara was brilliant in 2011’s The Girl with 2 the Dragon Tattoo, which earned her a Best Why I’ve got my eye on it: Outside of and temptation from a mysterious outsider. Actress nomination and 2013’s Ain’t Them the super charged plot it stars Mark Ruffalo Why I’ve got my eye on it: Del Toro’s Bodies Saints. who has two Best Supporting Actor nomi- films are always exciting to watch and nations under his belt for 2010’s The Kids with Wasikowska and on- Spotlight (director: Thomas McCarthy): Are All Right and last year’s Foxcatcher. board, this one should be no different. Both Why you might like it: It’s a thriller women deliver consistent performances in about the true story of how the Boston Crimson Peak (director: Guillermo Del varying roles and across several genres. Globe uncovered the massive child moles- Toro): tation scandal and cover up within the local Why you might like it: It’s a horror In closing I’d like to share some person- Catholic Archdiocese. The Globe won the film that follows a 19th century northern al news: I’m getting married next month! 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its England aspiring author (Mia Wasikows- To that end, the next edition of FYC will be investigation and its coverage is among the ka) who in the wake of a family tragedy is in our July/August double issue. ◉ most celebrated journalism projects of the swept away to an isolated mansion and is 21st century. torn between love for a childhood friend

Biography of an Amazing Artist

S u s a n R u ss o

Based on a personal story from his grand- Milan, where Luisada’s paintings were soon In 1955, to be closer to relatives and daughter and the website www.luisada.com exhibited throughout Italy. In 1936 he was other friends who had moved from Italy, Avigdor Renzo Luisada was born in first invited to present his work at the Ven- the family moved to Ramat-Gan. Luisada Florence, Italy, in 1905, third son of a secu- ice Biennale. continued painting and drawing in a studio lar Jewish family. His father was a promi- During the ominous rise of Hitler in near their new home. Then, in 1972, Luisada nent doctor and his older brother became a Germany, members of the Northern Italian and his wife spent a year in Paris, where he cardiologist in the United States. Luisada’s Jewish community formed an illegal orga- had a solo exhibit in the Espace Gallery. grandfather was an Italian painter, musi- nization, the Delegation for the Assistance In 1970, the Italian government award- cian, and photographer, who told seven- of Jewish Emigrants, for the difficult move ed Avigdor Renzo Luisada the Chivalry year-old Avigdor, “Don’t be a painter! This to Israel. Avigdor Luisada was elected as the Medal, and the Ministry of Culture and is a hard life...” After high school, Avigdor organization’s secretary, and later became Education in Israel presented him with a served in the Alpinist unit of the army. On president of the Milan chapter. During this Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1982, he his discharge, at the insistence of his father, time his daughters Daphna and Dina were was awarded the Dizengoff Prize for Paint- he studied engineering at university, but born. ing and Sculpture from the Municipality of soon left for the Academy of Fine Arts of In September of 1939, Luisada and his Tel Aviv. Florence. family left for Israel on the last boat out of Avigdor Luisada’s paintings and draw- In 1929, Luisada moved to Rome, con- Trieste. In Israel, the Luisada family joined ings have been on display in museums and tinuing art studies at the Academia di San with other Italians to form a communal vil- institutions throughout Israel, in the Gal- Luca, where he received a drawing award in lage (called a “moshav”), in the Sharon re- leria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Torino, Italy, 1931. Returning to Florence, he supported gion, naming it Tel-Dan (after a respected and in exhibits in Montreal, New York, San himself by illustrating children’s books, but Italian Zionist, Dante Lattes.) As farming Paola, Brazil, and Frankfurt, Germany. continued his painting. He met his future was a struggle, Avigdor started teaching In 1972, Luisada suffered a heart attack, wife, Paula Malvano, in Florence. After painting in regional elementary schools, which left him partially paralyzed, but he their marriage in 1933, the couple moved to continued illustrating children’s books, and continued to work in his studio. Avigdor drew images for magic lanterns. Renzo Luisada passed away at the age of 82, After the war, Luisada and his family leaving a memorable legacy for his family, visited Italy to see relatives who had stayed friends and his life in art. ◉ there, and to meet with their artist friends. In 1947, they moved to Tel Aviv, where Lui- sada taught painting and art history at the Art Teachers Seminar and lectured at muse- ums throughout Israel. His first solo exhibi- tion was at the Katz Gallery in Tel Aviv. In 1948, with the assistance of Yossef Zaritsky, Luisada and his fellow artists mounted an Israeli group exhibition at the Venice Bien- nale. Members of this group created the be- Composition. From www.luisada.com. All Rights ginning of a modern art movement called Untitled illustration. From www.luisada.com. Reserved. Ofakim Hadashim (“New Horizons”). All Rights Reserved. 3 Twenty-four visits to : a concise history of the Rockefeller Nobel Prizes Part VIII: Joshua Lederberg, 1958 Prize in Physiology or Medicine Jo s e p h L u n a

“You say [it was] a wonderful scientific that could not make the amino acid leucine. testing whether E. coli with different muta- achievement?” said Paul Ehrlich. “My dear These bugs could only grow when leucine tions could correct one another, no trans- colleague, for seven years of misfortune I was present in the media, and would die formation required. He failed, numerous had one moment of good luck!” otherwise. Next, they attempted to trans- times. Perhaps sensitive to the frustrating Joshua Lederberg, then only 13 or so, form these mutants using DNA from nor- impasse reached by his student, or reti- read these final lines of The Microbe Hunt- mal Neurospora to restore leucine produc- cent to sink any further time or money in ers and closed his copy, exhilarated. Paul tion. As they suspected, they were able to the project, Ryan suggested collaborating de Kruif’s semi-non-fictional account of recover bugs that could grow in the absence with his former mentor, Edward Tatum, twelve great microbiologists had inspired of leucine. Yet there was a catch, they fig- who had just moved to Yale University and the young Lederberg and cemented his ured out that this was not due to the DNA who had made a wide array of E. coli mu- desire to be one of them. It was an odd they were introducing into cells, but instead tants. Maybe one of them could work? In life choice to make in 1941, but Lederberg because the mutant microbes had reverted short order, Lederberg hopped on the train was no ordinary teenager. After graduat- to their parental, or prototroph, condition. and found himself in Tatum’s lab in New ing high school at age 15, Lederberg headed But where they failed to show transforma- Haven. It was a move simultaneously bold straight to Columbia University. He gradu- tion, they succeeded in showing something and foolish, as he effectively dropped out ated three years later with a degree in zo- else: Lederberg and Ryan had invented a of medical school to pursue these studies. ology just shy of his nineteenth birthday prototrophic recovery method to isolate Just imagine for a moment, what his mother and continued on at Columbia for medical rare natural revertants (termed “back mu- must’ve thought of her 21 year old former school as part of a wartime Navy program. tations”) to show that induced mutations prodigy medical student turned homeless His precociousness had not gone unno- could sometimes spontaneously switch graduate student son. ticed, for Lederberg also sought a scientific back to their ancestral condition. Microbes, But none of that would matter, because mentor as an undergrad, and found one in they discovered, were ceaselessly tinkering. within the first 6 weeks, Lederberg hit a young assistant professor named Francis Their original hypothesis, to correct a paydirt. Using Tatum’s recently isolated Ryan. Having trained with George Wells mutation at will with DNA transformation K12 strain of E. coli, Lederberg appropri- Beadle and Edward Tatum for his postdoc, in Nuerospora was a spectacular failure, ated two double mutants (strain A could Ryan established his laboratory to study the but it got Lederberg to thinking that maybe not make the vitamin biotin and the amino bread mold Neurospora as a new model for transformation wasn’t all there was. Maybe acid methionine; strain B could not make microbial genetics. Within a year, Leder- there was a way for microbes to transform the amino acids threonine and proline), berg all but abandoned his medical studies each other naturally and exchange genetic mixed them together and tested whether to work in Ryan’s lab, partly due to a single information. And maybe this might’ve gone any bacteria could grow in minimal media paper that both stunned and spurred the unnoticed because it was such a rare event, that by definition lacked the above com- young men to action. just like back-mutations were a rare event. ponents. Strain A by itself was dead, same Across town at Rockefeller in 1944, Hence, one failure became an opportu- for strain B, but the mixed cultures would Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Ma- nity: Lederberg decided to use his prototro- yield colonies at a frequency of about one clyn McCarty established that DNA was phic recovery method to try to find instanc- in ten million. The use of double mutants the molecule of heredity in Pneumococcus es of genetic exchange between bacteria. It ensured that this wasn’t a reversion, but bacteria. Suddenly the race was on to char- was a bold idea, and about as far from the instead mutant A had acquired the genetic acterize the role that DNA played in other fungus Neurospora as could be imagined. components from mutant B to correct the micro-organisms; Lederberg and Ryan Unlike Neurospora, bacteria by and large mutations. In other words, bacteria could leaped at the chance to try this out in their reproduce asexually, that is, they make cop- exchange genetic information. They could favorite fungus. Whereas the Rockefeller ies of themselves not by shuffling their ge- be used to test the nature of the gene. group established DNA as the key ingredi- netic information but by dividing and mak- Lederberg was 22 when he made this ent for transforming non-virulent bacteria ing identical daughter cells. Thus any idea discovery, received a PhD from Yale a year to more deadly forms, Lederberg and Ryan of crossing two mutants, as the key method later after mapping theE. coli chromosome, aimed to uncover whether DNA could also for any genetics experiment, seemed out of and shared the Nobel prize at 33 with Beadle be responsible for correcting nutritional the question. There was a strong argument and Tatum, for launching bacterial genet- mutants in Neurospora. In other words, to be made that Lederberg was wasting his ics. His addendum to The Microbe Hunters they sought to confirm that manipulating time. could’ve read, “My dear colleague, I had a genes as Beadle and Tatum had done was Undaunted, he started by isolating nu- single moment of good luck in over 10 mil- the same as manipulating DNA. tritional mutants of a benign intestinal bac- lion tries!”◉ They started with Neurospora mutants terium called Escherichia coli, and started

4 Culture Corner Visiting Hemingway’s House in Key West B e r n i e L a n g s

After shopping on Duval Street in Key many miles. Our guide told us the story of West, Florida on a hot and beautiful day in how Hemmingway’s wife, Pauline, had in- late April, my wife and I were guided by our stalled the swimming pool with costs, to closest friends through back roads to The the writer’s distress, that ran up to $20,0000 Hemingway Home and Museum to visit ($330,000 today adjusted by inflation). It is the house where the famed author spent said he tossed a penny at her, angrily declar- most of the 1930s producing some of his ing that she’d take his very last penny. She best written works. This was my first visit retaliated by imbedding the penny in the to Key West and the anticipated imaginings still wet cement of the patio and it’s there to of how it would look had missed the mark. this day for tourists like myself to gaze at in The closely placed houses on the streets amusement. leading to “Papa’s” abode all had beautiful- The main house itself is fairly sparse Views of the Key West home of Ernest Heming- ly manicured small yards boasting fabulous in terms of furnishings, yet it exudes the way (photos by Bernie Langs). and unique trees. The local vegetation had great time-worn flavor of an era long past. a scintillating quality to it and the leaves Hemingway’s actual writing studio is found tour informed us that he’d suffered from of the palm trees swayed slowly, dancing on the second floor of a smaller, adjacent bi-polar disorder and had received shock to the beat of the occasional wind. The se- building. This room was the highlight of my treatments that left him unable to practice rene atmosphere primed us for the grounds visit. It’s much more built up and decorated his craft. I can still recall being a child and where Ernest Hemingway had lived. than the living quarters, with bookshelves, witnessing my parents’ grief on learning We entered the house and set out for a wall hangings, and a fine, wooden table the details of his death from news reports. tour of the property. Our guide was a col- with a black typewriter placed on it in front I read Hemingway’s “For Whom the orful character who had probably given the of a chair. Hemingway, perpetually aching Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea” same prepared speech from room to room from a shrapnel war wound from younger during my high school and years. In hundreds of times over the years. She had a days, would stand as he wrote to alleviate the 1980s I also read some of his more rustic peculiar, yet engaging, Southern drawl and his chronic pain. The studio is cordoned off short stories, part of a large volume of his although she was restrained, she exuded by a high black grating behind which one collected short works. I never bought into a continuous enthusiasm for her subject. can clearly view where Hemingway gave life the macho bravado of big game hunting or I found her dry jokes about Hemingway to his ideas and imagination. Although so watching bullfights or getting into drunken and his antics truly engaging as our group much of Hemingway’s life was marred by scraps that are associated with the Heming- learned about Hemingway’s life, his four emotional turmoil and physical pain from way brand. But by visiting his house and wives, his children, and about his many pas- incessant injuries including those inflicted basking in the kind sunlight of Key West, sions for drinking, deep-sea fishing, travel, by war, plane accidents, falls, and so on, it was a privilege to gain a glimpse of where and general debauchery. I had learned a bit his writing studio boasts an atmosphere of a true American Master worked at his best of this, as many of us do, in school, but the clarity and seriousness. On the other hand, and lived large in the downtime when he sense of the man as an individual was en- the sunshine of Key West and the vegeta- was not practicing his craft. I would feel hanced by being surrounded by the things tion of the grounds of the house may have venture that many of the guests to The he’d actually lived with and experienced. lightened the load of the Nobel Laureate so Hemingway Home and Museum exit the A highlight of the visit was the up-close that he could see past the darkness and do grounds with a strong feeling of inspira- look at the beautiful swimming pool on the what he was compelled to do best at that tion, whether they pursue creative practices grounds, which is surrounded by various typewriter. or just have a passion and lust for life to be trees and shrubs. It was the first pool built The Hemingway House, as it is popu- lived to the fullest. ◉ in Key West and the largest at the time for larly known, is also the famous stomping ground for dozens of cats that are descen- dants of Papa’s original herd of uniquely six- toed felines. That’s a lot of cats for grounds of just an acre or so (yet this is a large plot size for Key West homes). The kitties man- age however, to spread out and about on the property. Ernest Hemingway died in 1961 at his home in Idaho from what is often described as a “self-included wound,” that being a eu- phemism for blowing his head off with one of his favorite shotguns. Our guide on the 5 The Union Forever! Dedicated to the memory of Bruce Voeller G e o r g e B a r a n y, M i c h a e l H a n ko , a n d Pau l L u f t i g

This puzzle is modified and updated from versions that went on-line in the run-up to the 2012 Presidential election. We dedicate the puz- zle to the memory of Bruce Voeller (1934-1994), a Rockefeller alum (1961) who served on the Rockefeller faculty and raised some eyebrows when he asked for his office to be painted pink. Voeller later did research in human sexuality and looked for ways to reduce the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. As our modern society has shifted toward accepting same-sex marriages, the puzzle’s theme remains just as relevant today, and we note with sadness that Dr. Voeller was never able to experience this basic right with the man his New York Times obituary listed as “his companion.”

George Barany is a Rockefeller alum (1977) currently on the faculty at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities; Michael Hanko is an NYC voice teacher, writer, and performer; Paul Luftig lives in Larchmont and is retired from a remarkable career in the world of finance. For more about this specific puzzle, including a link to the answer, visit http://tinyurl.com/union4brucepuz. More Barany and Friends crosswords are at http://tinyurl.com/gbpuzzle.

Natural Selections is not an official publication of The Rockefeller University. University administration does not produce this newsletter. The views expressed by the contributors to this publication may not necessarily reflect views or policies of the University. 6 Across 50. “___ I” from Gershwin’s “Lady, Be Good!” 13. Lacking, in Lyon 1. Sailors do it on deck 52. One of a papal dozen 18. Neet idea? 5. Disciplines 53. Exemplars of loveliness 19. Gently persuade 10. Prepares leftovers for a quick bite 57. Too, in Toulouse 23. It’s 1 for H and 4 for He 14. Mata ___ 61. Non-traditional marriage of “Atlas 24. Japanese chess 15. ___ Lama Shrugged” novelist to a pair of politicians, 26. Square threesome? 16. Institution with its med. sch. named af- one a current Presidential candiate, the 27. Pitch-black ter David Geffen other who ran for Veep under Romney 28. Prevent 17. Non-traditional marriage of the gay pop 64. Manitoba native 30. Rock bands? icon who wrote “Candle in the Wind” to a 65. Traffic trouble 31. Send war hero who ran for President 66. Dope 32. “La ___ Vita” 20. Pen, in Montpellier 67. What a lumberjack does behind the 35. Hide-hair connector 21. Tenets of Flat-Earthers or Evolution woodshed 36. Heidi Abromowitz, according to Joan Deniers, e.g. 68. Pink-slips Rivers 22. Epiphanies 69. Ball handler? 39. What they use rubbers for in 25. Valley where David slew Goliath 40. Prefix with distant or lateral 26. Amenity at a high-end spa Down 41. Kind of aid or arts 29. Like Napoleon while in Elba 1. ___ Got a Way” (Billy Joel hit of 1971) 46. Scintilla’s Greek cousin 33. Suffix added to “Mercedes-Benz” in a joke 2. Frazier or Whitman 47. Sullies the reputation of told by a professor of organic chemistry 3. Pretentious about paintings, polonaises, 49. “Oy vey” elicitor 34. “Then Again, Maybe ___” (Judy Blume or plays, perhaps 51. Word with circus or blitz young adult novel) 4. One of many at The Rockefeller Univer- 53. P.D.Q. ___, alter ego of sometime cross- 37. Ex-Veep Agnew’s plea sity, informally word constructor Peter Schickele 38. Non-traditional marriage of an ex-Veep/ 5. Hot or heavy, e.g. 54. Brontë heroine Nobel Peace laureate to a novelist who be- 6. 1990’s Indian P.M. 55. Freshly lieved in the pan-sexuality of men and women 7. Grades K-12, for short 56. Work detail 42. When doubled, a movie 8. Where one could have viewed “Kirstie 58. “Auld Lang ___” 43. One who was more shocked than awed Alley’s Big Life” 59. Word before “word” or “sex” in March 2003 9. Comparison 60. “Are you ___ out?” 44. “Yadda, yadda, yadda” 10. Ratatouille ingredient 62. Arctic bird 45. ___ -laced (excessively strict) 11. Berry in dietary supplements 63. Happy times 48. “Hamilton,” for one 12. Baryshnikov’s bend

Quotable Quote “Loblolly – A lout; a stupid, rude or awkward person Blatherskite – A person who talks foolishly at length Poltroon – A spiritless coward Cacafuego – A swaggering braggart or boaster Crepehanger – A killjoy; someone who takes a pessimistic view Slubberdegullion – A dirty rascal; scoundrel….” Amusing name-calling words compliments of Merriam-Webster’s “Top 10 Rare & Amusing Insults, Vol. 2” Send in interesting quotes to be included in future issues to [email protected]. Quotes can be philosophical, funny, clever, anecdotal - but NOT too salacious or outright unpublishable - and short enough not to need copyright permission.

7 Life on a Roll Q i o n g Wa n g

Segovia, a small town an hour away from Madrid, presents people with a magnificent Roman aqueduct that was well kept for almost two thousand years. It is said that no cement-like agent was ever used in between the giant stones that hold up this masterpiece. How did they do it? No matter from what angle you look at it, you will be awed by its majesty and mystery. Not too far from it is a fairytale-like castle standing on top of a hill. About six-hundreds years ago, the charming and ambitious Queen Isabella of Castile ensued her crown here, in the Alcazar of Segovia. Nowadays, life is rather simple here, like killing a random afternoon alone with a saxophone player. ◉

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