EDITOR’S LETTER
LAST SATURDAY I witnessed one of the more compelling speeches I’ve heard in a while. Kaisone Keomixai, a young teacher from Laos, commanded the stage at a black-tie fundraiser for literacy nonprofit, Room to Read. Born into a poor rice farming family from the Katang minority ethnic group, she spoke of her experience going from an outcast disparaged for not being able to speak Lao to a government-sponsored degree holder and teacher, with authenticity and compassion. She did not read o a script but delivered her speech in English — her third language, mind you — and kept her audience riveted as she spoke on how education can break the cycle of poverty.
One of the more fascinating pieces of journalism I’ve read recently can be found in this month of Prestige (page 128). Written by London-based Steve Ali, an interpreter at a news agency, it is a very personal account of the ravages of war and his own harrowing escape from Damascus as an asylum seeker. The article isn’t about politics, religion or race, it is about friendship and humanity. Like Kaisone’s address, there’s no veneer, pretence or poetics. Just a straightforward sharing of one’s own experiences, with the simple hope of inspiring change.
Assigned to cover the always-glossy Premiere Napa Valley Auctions this issue, our wine writer also returned with an atypical wine review. Instead of taking meticulous tasting notes, he spoke to the winemakers aected by the California wildfires of October 2017 that prompted evacuation of more than 20,000 people and razed 1,500 buildings. Again, his report (page 150) celebrates the human spirit; the refusal to cower to misfortune, and what communities and people can do when they pull together.
And of course, we have our cover story on Kim Lim (page 74). You know her and love her, but I promise this read will show you a very dierent side to the globetrotting heiress. Opening up about motherhood for the first time, she tells us: “It’s just not about me anymore.”
These are all stories that warrant telling, and I’m glad we’re able to do so.