The Montebello Voice an independent gazette let it shine November 30, 2017 Photo by Dian McDonald voices on the 37 An invitation to join The Wolfe Pack By Arnie Haiman I belong to The Wolfe Pack, an or- ganization dedicated to the Nero Wolfe murder mysteries, authored by the late Rex Stout� Like the Baker Street Irreg- ulars and the Sherlockians in their ded- ication to Sherlock Holmes, the Wolfe Pack features book discussions, literary contests, as well as gatherings focused on food featured in the corpus of Wolfe stories� There have been two recent televi- sion series featuring Nero Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, as well as old radio shows and movies� The books were popular for four decades spanning the middle of the 20th century� All you need to know is that Wolfe is a genius, prefers to stay at home super- vising his private chef and tending to his orchids, but Archie can be relied on Cityscape over balcony flower Photo by Joel Miller to bring him cases to solve� Critics cred- it Stout with creating not one, but two strong characters, unlike the Holmes/ Chess Club game nights Watson or Poirot/Hastings combina- The ntebel Voice tion� holiday season schedule o l The local chapter meets for lunch update M o and discussion every other month� Feel By Lisa Stedge an independent gazette free to contact me at haimanarnold@ya- Alexandria, Virginia hoo.com for further information� You can December’s event is cancelled in ob- also go to my website, www.Arnold- servance of the December holidays� This publication accepts no funding or over- Haiman.com to read my Nero Wolfe The Chess Club will resume its regu- sight from advertisers, residents, or the Monte- stories� Comments are welcome� lar schedule in January 2018, ringing in bello Condominium Unit Owners Association. a new year of chess starting on Thurs- All opinions are encouraged and reflect the di- day, January 25, 2018� versity of views in the community. All articles Happy Holidays from the Chess and photographs come from Montebello resi- Club! dents. To receive or contribute to this email-only gazette, contact montebellovoice@cox. The Montebello Voice wants to hear from you: mus- net or visit on the web at www.monte- ings, travels, announcements, photos, book reviews, bellovoice.com. commentary, memoirs, essays, analysis, poems, Editor & Designer �������������Mikhailina Karina suggestions, club news, recipes, and free ads Contributors ����������������������Carole Appel, Heather Click, Arnold Haiman, Mary Long, Azita Mashayekhi, Dian McDonald, A twice-monthly publication for the residents, Joel Miller, John Powers, Lisa Stedge, Paul by the residents Zeisset The Montebello Voice 2 November 30, 2017 voices on the 37 Emergency preparedness for Montebello residents By John Powers your food in your refrigerator plus oth- en to a terrorist� I spent six of the last er functions� A generator would have nine years working with Department of Many thanks to Erwin Jacobs for his to be run on the balcony with the door Defense and the Office of the Director timely piece in The Voice (Emergency closed� of National Intelligence on reducing and disaster planning for residents, No- aA hot plate if you have an emer- the threat of a nuclear incident, plus vember 2�) The right response would gency generator or a camp stove and a two additional years working with the be to go to https://www.ready.gov/ propane tank if not� leadership in New York City and con- build-a-kit and build an emergency aMultiple comforters or sleeping tiguous counties and in Washington, kit� bags for use during extremely cold D�C�, on responding to a nuclear inci- The essentials indicated there in- weather� dent (I had some considerable success clude: one gallon of water per per- aA fuel level in your car that is half in the former and almost no success in son per day for at least three days, full or more (one of the major causes the latter)� (for drinking and sanitation); a three- of the 1973 gasoline shortages was that There are four credible targets for day supply of non-perishable food; the average automobile had only 3/8th someone with a nuclear weapon and a NOAA Weather Radio; flashlight; of a tank of gas when the embargo was these are New York City, D�C�, Los An- first aid kit; extra batteries; N-95 mask; announced� Everyone then rushed to geles, and Chicago� We are far enough moist towelettes for personal sanitation, fill up, totally depleting gasoline sup- away from D�C� that we should be and other items� plies)� immune from the blast and thermal I would double the amount of water, The above should handle most effects. We could have some window but the above will cover most conven- conventional contingencies, including breakage that would not be good if the tional contingencies� There are emer- an earthquake that does not seriously winds are from the north-northwest to gency LED lamps that are infinitely su- damage the buildings, wind storm or the east-northeast� Avoiding radiation perior to flashlights. In addition, please a snowmageddon that downs power exposure in this case may require re- consider: lines and possibly contaminates our maining in the center of the building aAn emergency generator, a can of water supplies (which occurred exten- for an extended period� If you are in- oil, an empty gas can, a siphon to get sively in hurricane Andrew)� A local terested in my 2011 keynote in Toronto gas from your gas tank and a 100-foot terrorist event including a chemical, see: http://present.knowledgevi- electric extension cord� This will sustain non-contagious biological and radio- sion.com/account/divbusiness/ logical incident will cause link/John_Powers_WCDM2011� huge concerns, but should Whenever I give a presentation like not overwhelm our support- this, I always emphasize a concern ing structures� about the indirect effects that will seri- Our major concern should ously disrupt our supply chains, espe- be a nuclear incident� This is cially for those sectors dependent on the only contingency that will just-in-time-delivery� As a consequence, disrupt the Western econo- I strongly recommend anyone requir- mies� We should not worry ing life-sustaining medications to get a about a North Korean missile full month’s supply in addition to the attack, as a nuclear missile normal replenishment to be used as has a return address, but we a rolling supply� If you have addition- should be concerned about a al thoughts or concerns, please let me full up weapon diverted from know� M a weapons compound or giv- Pianist Christopher Schmitt performed pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Chopin. The Novem- ber 26 concert in the community center was sponsored by The Montebello Music Club and Mount Vernon at Home. Photo by Dian McDonald The Montebello Voice 3 November 30, 2017 By Carole S. Appel Why Four Colors suffice the Illinois celebration, as was Robin Wilson, a Brit- ish mathematician who has few months written a book about the ago, the math- some memories about history of the Four Col- ematics depart- a famous mathematical proof or Conjecture: Four Colors ment of the Suffice: How the Map Problem University of Illinois at Ur- A was happy to be working as a part-time Was Solved (London: Pen- bana-Champaign invited me to speak instructor� I later joined the University guin Books, 2002; U�S� edition, Princ- during a three-day celebration of the of Illinois Press, where I was an editor eton University Press)� publication of the proof of a 150-year- for 20 years before we moved to New old mathematical conjecture� The Hampshire in 1993. Andrew is now the Here are a few of the things I said on No- problem had been solved in 1976 by Eugene Higgins Professor of Comput- vember 3 at a great university, founded among Kenneth Appel, my husband, and his er Science at Princeton� Our son Peter the cornfields of Illinois as a land grant college colleague Wolfgang Haken� The proof and his family live in McLean, Virgin- 150 years ago. was noted by mathematicians world- ia, and Peter (whose specialty became wide, and made Ken and Wolfgang transportation planning and logistics), t is always wonderful to be back at famous� Newspapers across the globe suggested I move to Virginia after Ken this magnificent university where mentioned their accomplishment� died in 2013 and our daughter, Laurel, Ken Appel and I had the pleasure A few words about what the proof Iof living and working for 32 years, and succumbed to cancer that year as well� was all about: it had been apparent for Andrew was one of the speakers at where our children had the opportunity at least 150 years that to color a flat to go to fine public schools and to the map so that no adjoining territories university’s academic high school, had the same color, only four colors where Andrew, Laurel, and Peter were necessary� Experimental draw- had free run of the facilities of this ings of many maps had shown this campus� to be true for those maps – but no In 1854, Louis Pasteur stated one had proved that only four col- that “chance favors the prepared ors were necessary for any map� mind�” I want to talk a little about Many mathematicians had tried� It how chance did, and did not, bring was not until 1976 that the two Il- together Kenneth Appel and Wolf- linois mathematicians proved that gang Haken� It was not by chance four colors would suffice. Ken and that the logician Bill Boone in 1961 Wolfgang wrote a note on the office asked department head Mahlon Day blackboard: Modulo careful checking, it to invite Ken to join the mathemat- appears that four colors suffice.