- The Power of Words: John Gumas President & Ceo of Gumas Advertising
- Lord Byron’s Epic Heroism and his Role in the Greek War of Independence
- Serbs in The Greek Revolution
- Leadership 100 Concludes 32nd Annual Conference with more than $5 Million in Grants
- Alkistis Protopsalti and Dimitris Mpasis to Perform in the US
All posts by Dimitri C. Michalakis
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The KalandaA cousin sent me Facebook greetings for the New Year and included a recording of the old “kalanda” from some gathering long ago in Chios. According to Myparea blog, the singing of “kalanda,” carols, goes back to...
- Posted January 13, 2020
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Papou O PolemistisPapou Petro and Yiayia Pota were coming from Florida for Christmas and this time they were bringing Propapou Herakles—Hercules—even though Propapou Hercules looked more like a Hobbit. And Mom said he was staying with George in Petro’s...
- Posted December 12, 2019
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Memories Past and Present
My mother-in-law suffered from depression, but she was fiercely-loyal to her family, and Christmas always made her come alive and exhaust herself buying gifts for her kids and grandkids. My in-laws were not rich people, but the...
- Posted December 12, 2019
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War and RemembranceOne family’s war memories My grandmother in Chios, Greece had a big lacquered cabinet (with a pattern of flowers) and on top of it, incongruously, stood the housing of two gleaming-gold cannon shells: with wheat stalks in...
- Posted October 26, 2019
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The Cost of Peace
This issue, and the article I wrote about the military service of my papoudes and my father (“War and Remembrance”), remind me of the perilous times they lived in and how courageous they were to plunge into...
- Posted October 26, 2019
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A New Lease on Life
My daughter and her husband were recently in Greece, visiting Athens, Santorini and Crete and with the marvels of the age sending us photos of their travels on their phones and Facetiming with us one night while...
- Posted July 12, 2019
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The community of Holy Week
When I was a kid and we lived in Chicago I remember the highlight of the evening vespers during Holy Week at the great domed cathedral of our church, the Assumption on Central Avenue: it was long...
- Posted April 25, 2019
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Startup-Heaven Greece
Over past issues we’ve been featuring the exciting news that Greece, despite the economic climate and hidebound bureaucracy, is a hotbed of startups that have exploded in number and are making their mark throughout the world. As...
- Posted March 13, 2019
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May Old Acquaintance Never Be ForgotIt seems that every year we rue what happened the year before and hope for better for the coming year. We make resolutions that we keep imperfectly, or not at all, and then another New Year comes...
- Posted January 2, 2019
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Maria Zoitas’ MADE WITH LOVE: The Ultimate Greek Cookbook from Lefkada to ManhattanMaria Zoitas was a young bride when she first came to America and her husband John (who took her on romantic carriage rides during their honeymoon back in Greece) now plunged back to work at the grocery...
- Posted December 2, 2018
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Food for thought
Our cover story on food maven and cookbook author Mazia Zoitas highlights how food—any food—is more than just something you cook: there is a whole history behind it. The cooked wheat berries that she features in her...
- Posted December 2, 2018
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A Profile of America
After working as a journalist in the Greek American community for so many years and meeting so many remarkable people I’ve decided to publish a book of profiles about only a few of those people, some who...
- Posted October 16, 2018
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Summer Plans
My friend is a doctor and when I asked him recently if he was going to be around for the summer he said to me, What do you think: doctors do nothing but travel? And then he...
- Posted July 7, 2018
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Holy Week
For the most part I grew up in Brooklyn and I was an altar boy at two of its churches: Holy Cross and Kimisis. Kimisis was the older church on 18th Street and the one that most...
- Posted April 14, 2018
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Top Gun Demetries Grimes, a Naval War Hero, Runs for Florida’s 26th CDHow does a man who served his country so well in the military take the next step to serve his country and complete his mission in civilian life? For Demetries Grimes it means running for Congress in...
- Posted March 11, 2018
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Military Heroes
Our story this issue on Demetries Grimes, a decorated Navy commander, who is running for Congress from Florida is in the long line of American military heroes who are propelled to public office either by their own...
- Posted March 11, 2018
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Who inspires you?
On a positive note, who inspires you this year? My eldest daughter inspires me because she got married the end of last year to her husband Mike and they are two peas in a pod. They have...
- Posted January 14, 2018
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Thanks to the Immigrants
My oldest daughter recently got married at a beautiful venue in Brooklyn that overlooked New York Harbor and all its fabled sights: the Statue of Liberty lit up across the water, the Freedom Tower lit up to...
- Posted December 14, 2017
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Greek tourism—stronger than ever
Greek tourism is booming: the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) said it expects a record 30 million visitors to Greece in 2017, which is a 7% growth over last year, or 2 million more visitors, and close...
- Posted July 11, 2017
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Role Models
Great men and women rarely live up to their billing in person, but who can live up to such expectations? We’re all human, we all have our foibles, our Paris Hilton moments when we’re young and our...
- Posted April 22, 2017
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We Are All Refugees
The documentary 4.1 Miles featured in this issue gives just a glimpse into what people are suffering who flee their countries torn apart by war because they need to save their children. And what a country like...
- Posted March 17, 2017
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A listing of gratitude
Should we stop talking politics and instead talk about what we’re grateful for as we enter 2017? I’m grateful—knock on wood—and my late mother would spit to ward off the evil eye—for my health and hope that...
- Posted December 30, 2016
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So here we are
We are coming (hopefully—but you never know) to the end of this fraught election season that even after the votes are counted will still leave us deeply divided. Half of us want a popular rebellion because we...
- Posted October 27, 2016
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JOHN G. RANGOS, SR: CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE OF AMERICA – A kid from a steel town cleans up America and spreads his charity to allJohn Rangos learned several things growing up during the Depression in a steel town like Weirton, West Virginia: he learned about the pluck of people like his mother Anna Rizakus who talked herself into a job at...
- Posted September 13, 2016
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John Brademas: A lifetime of public and private serviceJohn Brademas (1927-2016) In Memoriam A reprint of NEO’s cover story, May 2007 John Brademas is still in a hurry, even more so now. He just celebrated his 80th birthday, but as he leads the way through...
- Posted September 13, 2016
