The Editor of Eating

Picky. It’s not a word that Stacey Ornstein usually uses, but it’s one that makes her plate too full. Stacey is the founder of Allergic to Salad. Picky. Stacey, who teaches after-school healthy-cooking classes to kids, wrinkles her nose when she utters the distasteful descriptive. “I have parents who tell me their children are picky eaters and are not going to eat anything we cook,” says Stacey, the founder of Allergic to Salad. “They say this in front of their kids,…

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The Grammy Guy

The sound of silence in James Cruz‘ apartment is deafening. “Do you mind if I put on some music?” he pleads rather than asks. James fine-tunes the sounds on recordings. His apartment — home to him, his wife, Melissa, their 5-year-old son, Henry, and 11-month-old daughter, Stella, and thousands of CDs and vinyl records — is just too damn quiet for him to think even with a full cup of coffee in hand. James, a Grammy-winning mastering engineer, is used to listening to…

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The Man at the End of the Line

The rush-hour regulars are lined up when John Zizzo steps behind the deli counter at Andrew & Frank’s Catering. John is the owner of Andrew & Frank’s Catering. He smiles, the happiness drawing little lines at the corners of his black eyes. There is no place he would rather be. In fact, there is no other workplace that he has ever been. Andrew & Frank’s and John came into this world together 48 years ago. Andrew, John’s father, and Frank, John’s uncle,…

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The Sneakers in the Sky

I live around the corner from a private high school. If I ever need to be reminded of this fact, all I have to do is look up in the sky. Are they lonely at the top? There, dangling dangerously on the high wires of the telephone poles, are sneakers strung up like Christmas tree lights. They look as though they’re running away. From what, I don’t know. I can’t help but wonder why the shoes were so callously tossed to the sky. I suspect it has something to do with marking off territory…

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