Arianna Huffington, the founder heart and soul of the Huffington Post, was in Chicago this evening, en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos, and gave Columbia College Chicago precedence over the State of the Union message from President Obama.
I went to her really marvelous 80 minute talk and Q and A in the Columbia College Conversations in the Arts series. And stellar indeed she was. The depth and breadth of her thinking comes across so eloquently and persuasively in a context such as this. There is time to pursue topics in depth - its not just a quick TV sound byte. She is of course absorbed in politics but toes no party line. She seeks out and adresses truth - and her passionate search for such a precious commodity is what has made her remarkable enterprise, founded in 2005, a beacon of hope for those who believe in honest discourse and intellectual integrity.
Arianna Stassinopoulos, as she then was, was a part of our life in England all those years ago - that was when she was writing about Maria Callas and Pablo Picasso. Her old friends rejoice in and celebrate her success in the USA over these years. And she loves opera. We need to get her here during our opera season! Working on it........