In Brief: Margaret Atwood at Book Ball; Staunch Moderates’ radio show; new Christie’s broker for Snowmass
Book Ball features two-time Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood
Aspen Words’ annual Book Ball is scheduled on Tuesday, June 20, at the Hotel Jerome Grand Ballroom, with reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7.
Two-time Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood is the featured guest, and the literary organization will present the Aspen Words Leadership Award to Suzanne Bober.
Also scheduled to attend are luminaries Claire Dederer, Ashley C. Ford, Major Jackson, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Erin Entrada Kelly, Katie Kitamura, Joshua Mohr, Tom Perrotta, Emily Raboteau, Victoria Redel, Luis Alberto Urrea, Michelle Wildgen, and publishing industry professionals. The event will also feature an auction and paddle raise to support Aspen Words in its mission to encourage writers, inspire readers, and connect people through the power of stories.
For more information, contact Madeline.Lipton@aspeninstitute.org.
Staunch Moderates launch radio show
Greg Simmons, a founder of the Bigfoot & Staunch Moderates movement, announced the group has a new one hour national radio show” on Mondays: “Staunch Moderates Radio.” Listen here: podcasts.kcaastreaming.com/moderates.
“Our intellectual movement born 2019 in Aspen is Staunch Moderates.,” he said. “Simply stated, Staunch Moderates harken back to a time in both American discourse and policy — not long ago but nearly forgotten — where candidates and leaders strove towards the center, seeking consensus, and staking out moderate positions rather than throwing stones from the fringes.”
The Staunch Moderates have chosen multiple platforms for the promulgation of their ideas and to spread the word of their movement for peace: a news bureau; a feature length documentary film called “Mission Peace”; jazzy, cool, hip hop music/albums; and sports videos. The documentary summarizes the founding of the movement through the conclusion of the 2020 election.
The Staunch Moderates’ videos, news reports, and music has totted up an astonishing 85 million views and streams, according to Simmons. Find them here: staunchmoderates.org or “Staunch Moderates News” on YouTube at youtube.com/@staunchmoderatesnews/videos.
Kelly joins Chistie’s Real Estate Aspen Snowmass as principal/broker
Stacey K. Kelly, a top-producing residential real estate professional, has joined Christie’s International Real Estate Aspen Snowmass, where she will be a principal/broker.
She will help to lead the luxury brand’s expansion into Snowmass, where she will be based when the new location opens this summer.
Courtesy photo
A founding partner of the Rulon Kelly Team, she assembled a group of agents and brokers who generated annual sales that consistently qualified the group’s ranking among the market’s Top Five sales leaders.
Since 2005, Kelly, her husband, and two children have lived in the Roaring Fork Valley within the Aspen Snowmass area.
Throughout her career, Kelly has focused on not only sales success, but also stellar customer service, Christie’s said in a statement, which has earned her over 50 5-star reviews on Zillow, a 5-star rating on Google, and unsolicited appreciation from other brokers.
“I will be in a new location, but clients can expect the same great service,” Kelly said. “I have been part of the Snowmass community for a long time, and it is one of my favorite places in the world. This is a great opportunity for me to join Christie’s Snowmass office and to expand my efforts in the right way for me and for my clients.”
Winners announced from Chris Klug Foundation
The Chris Klug Foundation announced the three winners of their 2023 CKF Awards. The awards aim to celebrate three trailblazers in the transplant community who have worked hard to inspire and educate others.
There are three categories in the CKF Awards to honor the three aspects that go into the transplant process.
The winner of the inaugural Hero Award is Katrina Fountain, a donor mom who lost her 5-week-old son suddenly. When asked about organ donation, Fountain said yes, even when her family disagreed.
Her son Jaleel went on to rescue a young boy with his heart and a young girl with his liver giving the gift of life. Since losing her son, Fountain decided to honor his legacy by gaining her life coach certification specializing in grief. She joined LiveOnNY‘s Aftercare Department facilitating quarterly donor family support groups, which aim to ensure individuals have a safe space to share.
Dave Galbenski is the 2023 Bounce Back Give Back Award Winner. He is the recipient of a liver through living donation. He was in his forties when he was diagnosed with PSC, a rare autoimmune disease that led to him being told the only hope was a liver transplant. In 2019, he was added to the transplant waitlist, and his brother-in-law donated his left liver lobe. Since his transplant, Galbenski has become a long-distance runner racing in the Detroit Free Press half marathon. He has also competed and won medals in the US Transplant Games, the transplant version of the Olympics.
He worked with Henry Ford Memorial Hospital to encourage transplant recipients to join their local Transplant Games team. Currently, living donation only accounts for 6% of all liver transplants, he has worked to increase awareness by hosting Living Donor Awareness Nights at Utica, Michigan’s professional baseball field.
Maria Fernanda Filizola won the Community Champion Award. She is both a caregiver and Donate Life Northwest (DLNW) employee who has become an advocate for donations. Her transplant journey began about 20 years ago with her ex-husband. He was diagnosed with Alport’s syndrome, and during the marriage, he received two kidney transplants. Filizola was his caregiver during their relationship; now their daughter Nevaeh has been diagnosed with Alport’s syndrome and has received two tissue transplants and is facing the probability of a kidney transplant.
As a result of this, Filizola became passionate about donation and began volunteering for DLNW with the hope of focusing on outreach in the Latino community. She was later hired as the Latino outreach coordinator and then the community engagement manager. She has focused on improving access to education and resources in both Spanish and English.
The award winners will join the team of CKF volunteers and speak at events across the country, sharing their stories and inspiring others.
The Chris Klug Foundation was founded in 2003 by liver transplant recipient and Olympic medalist Chris Klug.
Aspen girls golf ties for second at 3A championship; Persson, O’Sullivan in top 10
Playing in the final group of the Class 3A girls golf state championship on Wednesday, Lenna Persson finally discovered the nerves that had been absent two days earlier in her practice round at Aspen Golf Club.
