booksWhen Little Is Big Josef Lhévinne, were classmates of Rachmaninoff, How a $1,000 grant rocked and had immigrated to the U.S. after losing their two warring cultures savings in the Russian Revolution. BY ASHLEY MAY A boyish Baptist Texan in drawn to Russian music at a time when it had very little cachet, Cliburn was an anomaly. He had a brush Much writing about charitable work today is focused with fame when he won the philanthropically funded on “big.” How to make a “big bet.” Making bigger ­Leventritt Award and toured the United States for a footprints by replicating your program. Attracting few years. But after the dew wore off his fresh baby bigger partners to good causes. It’s enticing—who face, and he grew professionally hesitant and anxious, doesn’t love a larger splash? And don’t huge problems he began to struggle. After his mother took a hard fall, require huge solutions? he moved back to Kilgore to keep an eye on her. He It’s with these eyes that I recently read ­ took on her students, and began to play for the local Nights by Nigel Cliff, a narrative of the life of con- Lutheran church. He awaited a draft summons from cert Van Cliburn. With the trill of a key, the Army, which eventually excused him from service he became the of the U.S.S.R. at the because of a long history of nosebleeds and allergies. height of the . Cliff describes Cliburn’s Today, we might say Cliburn was then in the “val- journey to master Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, ley of death”—that period between the end of formal then bring their deeply Russian music back to the study and the confident establishment of vocational Russian people. In the process, he brought classical credibility. His agent was trying to arrange a European music to the masses. And some timely philanthropy tour, but Van was reluctant to commit. “It was the low- propelled him along this journey. est ebb of his young professional life,” writes Cliff. Harvey “Van” Cliburn was born in 1934. His Then a series of small philanthropic acts began father was a railroad-station agent who became an to accumulate. Rosina Lhévinne heard of a new oil buyer, moving his young family to Kilgore, , Moscow Nights: International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, in the process. The boy’s mother was a teacher The Van Cliburn Story: and through sheer will nagged Cliburn into agreeing whose dream of becoming a concert performer had How One Man and His to participate. Then Juilliard dean Mark Schubart been hampered by parents who didn’t approve of Piano Transformed went in search of someone to sponsor the penni- women as public entertainers. She had studied with the Cold War less pianist. (Van was known for being generous to a By Nigel Cliff a prominent Russian teacher and was a time cap- fault. After a piano broke during one of his perfor- sule of a particular style of piano playing no longer mances, he immediately bought the hosting church in vogue. She would entrust this lost knowledge to a new piano, taking on debt akin to the size of his her son—who at a young age declared his interest in car payment.) playing piano for a living, and practiced long enough After rebuffs from government administrators of to back it up. the foreign-exchange program, Schubart finally con- Mrs. Cliburn sent her son to play at any venue vinced the Martha Baird Rockefeller Aid to Music for any audience, starting with hymns at the nearby Program to subsidize Cliburn’s participation in the funeral home before he knew how to read letters on competition with a $1,000 grant. The reluctant Van a page. At 12, Van had his first “major” performance: had to be convinced to accept the donation. memorizing Tchaikovsky’s No. 1 While Cliff is telling this story, he also describes and performing for the annual Texas State Music the rise of and his spiraling Cold Contest. He won the $200 prize, and played with the War with the United States. Amidst the late-1950s Houston Symphony Orchestra. After his brief flirta- jousting between the superpowers, the Union of tion with operatic singing was thwarted by puberty, Soviet Composers suggested that a high-profile the tracks were laid for him; he would focus on piano, music competition on Russian soil would be the and only piano, for the rest of his life. perfect propaganda opportunity, because “classical After high school his mother escorted him to music had become prime evidence in the Soviets’ New York City, where she left him with ­Russian-born triumphalist case that their political system was the Juilliard teacher Rosina Lhévinne. She was, in Cliff ’s perfected culmination of everything that had come words, “America’s foremost link to the golden age of before.” The Soviet state then employed 900,000 arts Russian Romanticism.” She and her husband, pianist workers under the Ministry of Culture, and ­operated

54 PHILANTHROPY Males Beyond the Pale An invisible army of able-bodied men are 503 theater companies, 314 arts middle schools, 48 not working, and getting away with it high schools, and 43 advanced conservatories. A BY DAVID BASS young phenom pianist named Lev Vlassenko was expected to win this inaugural music battle. But Lev didn’t win, and not because he crumbled. Instead, the Russian people unexpectedly swooned I’ve recently authored two guidebooks for The for a sensitive young American who came to their ­Philanthropy Roundtable, Clearing Obstacles to Work homeland and played their music in a lush style their and then Learning to Be Useful, about how thoughtful own performers had forgotten. Van was described as donors can help economic strugglers become gainfully an “American Sputnik” who completely reoriented employed and self-sufficient. The reasons for these expectations of what the “philistine nation” could books are self-evident—too many Americans today are do. After his performances were broadcast across the unemployed or lack the skills to thrive in our modern , Cliburn became a national sensation, economy. Many of these individuals rely on welfare or with even a teenage following that rivaled rock ‘n’ roll disability payments instead of earned income. ­Nicholas groupies. Khrushchev himself had to give permission Eberstadt’s Men Without Work reveals the depth of to award Cliburn the competition’s first prize. this problem, and warns that the pattern of prime-age “Vanya” returned to the U.S.S.R. several times, males fleeing work can no longer safely be ignored. to ever-increasing and more-excited crowds. His Eberstadt uses stark words to describe our cur- career in the United States skyrocketed as well. He rent situation. Unemployed males today make up experienced the first—and so far only—tickertape “a sort of invisible army, ghost soldiers lost in an parade staged in New York for a classical musician. overlooked, modern-day depression.” The facts back He popped up regularly in the , includ- up his rhetoric. By 2016, more than 7 million men ing for a summit between Reagan and Gorbachev between the ages of 26 and 54 were idle and not in 1987 where he told the world leaders that “I love seeking to enter the labor market. That’s up from my home country…but in addition to that…I love Men Without Work: about a million counterparts in 1965. In 2015, work the Russian people, and your culture and your art… America’s rates for U.S. prime-age males were worse than and it is for both my beloved president and for you Invisible Crisis during the Great Depression. that I am so happy to do this.” The night ended in By Nicholas Eberstadt This non-working brotherhood doesn’t include an impromptu singalong with hugs and kisses and the unemployed worker who is actively seeking a new applause. Then-Vice-President Bush said, “I’ve never job. This is a cohort with deeper pathologies. They seen anything like it in this house.” have dropped out, unplugged, and given up on work Today the performer’s legacy is continued by the altogether. They depend on wives, girlfriends, older Van Cliburn Foundation, which was organized not family members, and government support (particu- by the man himself but by admiring volunteers. The larly disability payments) to survive. National Guild of Piano Teachers created a $10,000 Eberstadt begins his case by providing a brief international competition named in his honor and statistical history of tumbling labor force partic- held in Fort Worth. Now in its sixth decade, the ipation. Male work rates began a steady decline competition is still organized and run entirely by pri- decades ago, but really fell off a cliff over the last vate money and volunteers, and it has launched many 15 years. Eberstadt notes that a full 10 million more sterling careers. The foundation also brings classical male workers would now be in the labor force if the artists to Fort Worth for concerts, hosts competitions employment patterns of 1965 simply held true today. for amateur , and leads a music-education The only reason this hasn’t damaged the U.S. effort in elementary schools. economy more badly is because of the increase of Thus did a humble Texan, his driven mom, female labor. Women have partly offset the declines and a timely philanthropic gift nudge world affairs. in the male work ethic, with the percentage of Somehow, people adoring the same piece of art, in women in the labor market more than doubling two very different countries, helped thaw hearts that between 1948 and 2015. “For two full generations, could have frozen. The Rockefeller grant was a min- the upsurge of employment for women disguised the iature investment with outsized results. steady decline in work for men,” Eberstadt writes. He also describes a tectonic cultural shift Ashley May is managing editor of Philanthropy. regarding marriage. As marriage rates have declined,

WINTER 2017 55 books many males do not have the responsibility of sup- opportunities for male workers to rise again and com- porting a wife and children financially. Males can mand middle-class wages. The key for an applicant is choose to not seek employment at all, and be sup- to obtain the right mix of training that combines tech- ported by social safety nets and the indulgence of nical knowledge with the soft skills and “language” benevolent females or parents. “A life without work of work—which men who have been unemployed (or the search for work) has become a viable option for years must re-learn. This training must be closely for today’s prime-age male—and ever-greater num- tied to real jobs that exist in the economy. There are bers of them seem to be choosing this option.” real jobs in our economy available for men with this Eberstadt also dives into the consequences background, but struggling men presently lack the of not working. The annual time-use survey con- necessary attitudes and skills to hold them. ducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Despite doom-and-gloom pronouncements on shows how non-working men spend their ample the decline of U.S. manufacturing, the sector is actu- free time. Most of their activity falls into the cat- ally experiencing a shortage of qualified knowledge egory of “socializing, relaxing, and leisure”—to workers—to the tune of 2 million advanced man- which they devote an average of eight hours per ufacturing jobs expected to go unfilled in the next day more than their working brethren (the equiv- decade. Machines may have replaced the routine alent of a full-time job). What specific activities tasks once accomplished by the hands of men, but filled this time? Gambling, tobacco and drug use, competent workers are needed to run the machines. listening to the radio, arts and crafts, and watching And there simply aren’t enough laborers today, cre- TV were the top results. ating a yawning skills gap. Men pursuing such activities aren’t even If advanced manufacturing is going to be among contributing to their households in non-income-­ the keys to widespread reintegration of men into the producing ways like caring for children or elderly workforce, philanthropy will have a crucial role to family members, doing household chores, or par- play to train, support, and encourage these men to ticipating in religious and charitable causes. “To pursue these opportunities. Government job train- a distressing degree, these men appear to have ing programs have been notoriously ineffective. There relinquished what we think of ordinarily as adult are many exciting philanthropic models, however— responsibilities not only as breadwinners but as as chronicled in the two Philanthropy Roundtable parents, family members, community members, and guidebooks I mentioned earlier. And a renewal of citizens,” notes Eberstadt. male work needn’t be limited to the manufacturing To address this problem, he suggests a welfare sector. Many service occupations could be well filled overhaul focused on men, equivalent to the reforms by today’s aimless males. of the 1990s that helped many single mothers tran- Beyond the immediate training and placement sition to the workforce. But even if public-policy of men in jobs, philanthropists can help chip away reform cuts off enabling payments, these nonwork- at this toxic problem by encouraging a culture of ing men will also need something else—training to self-sufficiency, moving men away from depen- fill the jobs of the twenty-first century. Public-spirited dence on family members and transfer payments. philanthropists will be important here. By funding The notion of able-bodied men failing to work was work-readiness nonprofits, innovative high schools, unthinkable two generations ago. Today, it’s qui- and high-­performing community colleges, donors can etly accepted. Society’s mediating institutions have play a key role in bringing about a renaissance of male urgent work ahead of them to revive expectations of work in the U.S. economic independence and self-reliance. The decline of well-paying blue-collar jobs likely “It is high time for American citizens and plays a role in the male flight from work. But an esti- policy­makers to recognize the American male’s post- mated 29 million “middle-skill jobs” will open in the war flight from work for what it is: a grave social U.S. over the next two decades, presenting abundant ill,” writes Eberstadt. “It is imperative for the future health of our nation that we make a determined and sustained commitment to bringing these detached Most of the activity by non-working men men back—back into the workplace, back into their families, back into our civil society.” today is socializing and leisure, David Bass is the author of the Philanthropy Roundtable to which they devote over eight hours guidebooks Learning to Be Useful and Clearing more per day than their working peers. Obstacles to Work.

56 PHILANTHROPY {books in brief }

around the country for at-risk children, he and Campbell­ arrived at several con- clusions. Long-term relationships with responsible adults are important. These and joined the football team. He found adults can effectively manage about eight relief in school, doing his best; and from vulnerable students each, spending about his grandparents, whom he lived with for four hours per week with them. The endur- weeks in the summer. From age ten, he ance of the relationship is key to build- always had a job. ing the child’s resilience. To keep these In his teens, he started to stray, shop- relationships in place over the long haul lifting with friends and venting a sharp they should be paid positions, Campbell temper. But the people who cared—his and Bolstad believed. They put these con- older brother, the brothers and fathers of ditions into practice in Portland, bracing The Art of Being There: Creating his friends, his high-school football coach, themselves for criticism about the high Change, One Child at a Time and a school counselor course-corrected price per child. BY DUNCAN CAMPBELL AND — the young Campbell. Eventually, he gradu- In this way, Friends of the Children was CRAIG BORLASE ated with degrees in finance and law, from founded, in 1993 with $2 million, aiming to the University of Oregon. break the cycle of generational poverty, low At any given moment, Duncan Campbell After college, Campbell did a variety educational attainment, teen parenting, drug will suddenly grab a scrap of paper, a nap- of jobs: supervising condo construction, and alcohol abuse, and criminality. The orga- kin, a Post-it note, anything nearby, and working in the juvenile court system, and tax nization selects from school classrooms only start scribbling ideas racing through his work. Running through it all was his desire the most challenged children—the ones no head. As a classic entrepreneur, he has lots to help children with childhoods similar to one wants. And the earlier the better. Friends of them. Once they’re on paper, he groups his. “No child should have to be raised the of the Children promises kids a 12-year and staples them together, sticks them into way I was.” Looking at the immensity of the commitment, from the end of kindergarten file folders and then into boxes, and takes problem, he wanted more financial resources through high-school graduation­ —­ no matter it all to a storage unit. Here, cabinets and to put toward a solution. So he turned what—from a full-time, salaried, and trained more boxes, organized alphabetically and to entrepreneurship, creating a timber-­ professional, or “Friend.” by year, constitute his library of thought. investment firm called The Campbell Group, In 2010, Campbell left Campbell Campbell’s brainstorming habits illus- now Campbell Global. Its success made him Global to devote his full effort to Friends trate one theme highlighted in The Art millions, and enabled him to exercise his of the Children, with the goal of expand- of Being There, his story as told to author dream of helping at-risk children, whom he ing to 20 cities over the next 20 years. Craig Borlase—how created order can thought of as “the little Duncans.” The organization is now in Seattle, San become a path out of disorder. Born into Orin Bolstad, a clinical child psychol- ­Francisco, New York City, Boston, and Tampa disastrous circumstances, Campbell found ogist, advised Campbell that consistent, Bay, ­Florida, as well as Cornwall, England. peace in his life by building regimens positive influences could help children The organization says 83 percent of partic- and structure into his days. These include through difficult childhoods, and the two ipating children graduate from high school methodical efforts to help other people, agreed that this needed to start early. or get their GEDs, more than double the particularly children. Research showed that age five or six is rate of their parents. Mere teenagers gave The story begins in Portland, Oregon, when many youngsters begin to make birth to 85 percent of these children, 98 where Campbell grew up in a welfare fam- wrong choices in dealing with problems, percent of whom are avoiding early parent- ily. His parents were both alcoholics, prone unless they have guidance. Duncan and ing themselves. While 50 percent have a to binge drinking on the weekends; and Bolstad tested their ideas in a $25,000 pilot parent who’s been incarcerated, 93 percent he would sometimes find strangers passed study funded by Campbell, conducted with steer clear of the juvenile justice system. out in his room overnight. His father was early-­elementary-school students at three In addition to learning about imprisoned twice. Neither was violent, but schools in Campbell’s old neighborhood. ­Campbell’s life in The Art of Being There, nor were they affectionate. And they never The findings held, and two more projects we get to know several of the children his said “I love you.” confirmed they were on to something. program serves. Their stories of domestic Generally neglected by his parents, Together Campbell and Bolstad abuse and neglect will darken your imagi- Campbell took initiative and went to church formed the Campbell Children’s Institute. nation. But this book reminds us that birth alone, enrolled himself in the Cub Scouts, From the latter’s visits to other programs isn’t necessarily destiny. —Claire Sykes

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