Publisher’s LETTER
W
hile we continue to combat COVID, the last few weeks have forced us to face another challenge: nationwide protests against racial inequality. There is no quick fix for this problem. I am Chinese-American, and many of my friends are African-American and people of all colors. We have all encountered discrimination. While we support racial equality,
we embrace the art and music in this issue, which has no borders and shares with all races and for all colors. Art and music cheer our spirits and inspire us to strive for artistic beauty, love, and hope. On our cover story, we feature the anonymous San Francisco street artist fnnch, who painted depressing, boarded-up storefronts with his cute honey bears to brighten people’s days during this tough times. In the COVID theme, most of his honey bears wear masks, some of them hold bottles of hand soap. The masked bears represent care and positivity for the community. As fnnch said; “If there has ever been a time for a bit of whimsy and positivity, now is it!” We are so delighted that fnnch painted our exclusive “Honey Living” cover. We also profiled artist Eric Greenberg, a long-time client of mine who was the poster child of the internet boom and bust. Eric went from a “dot.com” billionaire in 1999 to losing nearly everything. He redirected his creativity from high-tech into art of love. His Africa Love and Faces/Lips of Love artwork featured in the interview are so colorful, cheerful, and up-lifting to our spirits in this very difficult time. For COVID topics, we thank Dr. Eduardo Hariton who brought our attention to a very important UCSF’s ASPIRE study (Safety of Pregnancy in the Coronavirus Pandemic). We hope you will support their funding. We also interviewed Dr. Clara Shayevich on love and sex in the time of COVID-19. As you can imagine, staying six feet apart, wearing masks, and worrying about catching the disease is not sexy. Dr. Shayevich shares her advice. For music, we profile Paula West, San Francisco’s beloved jazz singer whose voice has entertained the Bay Area for over three decades, and symphony orchestra conductor Carlo Ponti who brings the power of music to America’s youth through his nonprofit Los Angeles Virtuosi OLIVIA HSU DECKER OWNER/PUBLISHER Olivia@HauteLivingSF.com www.HauteLivingSF.com Text 415.720.5915 Keep up with us digitally at www.HauteLivingSF.com
Orchestra. The LAV is rich with both national and international talent and dedicates 100 percent of the net profits to the study and development of music education. Our former editor and current Wine Country Ambassador Kelly Carter, an African-American, award-winning journalist, and New York Times bestselling author, contributed “Black Wines Matter: A Toast to Black Wine Professionals.” She gives us the story of the increasing number of African-American sports and entertainment figures who venture into the wine business: John Legend, Charles Woodson, Dwyane Wade and Ayesha Curry, there is also the former NBA player Yeo Ming whose Napa Valley wine has been a big success in China. Visit his tasting room on Highway 29 in St. Helena. Last but not the least, we pay tribute to our beloved Festival Napa Valley Orchestra conductor, Joel Revzen, who succumbed to complications, caused by COVID, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York on Memorial Day, just a few weeks before his 75th birthday. Festival Napa Valley is establishing the Joel Revzen Conducting Fellowship which will be awarded every summer to a promising young conductor. We hope you found solace reading this issue of our magazine. We wish you health and wellness in the beauty of art and music.
