When Brian Spaly, MBA ’07, got tired of searching in vain for pants that fit properly, he teamed up with classmate Andy Dunn to create their own Bonobos trousers for men with an “athletic” build. They’ve since created a whole line of men’s wear, available online, and Nordstrom stores started carrying their bestselling bottoms in April.
Having written the dramatic story in Stanford about the Internet-based persecution of Daniel Lee, ’02, MA ’02, Josh Davis, ’96, traveled to Seoul for a follow-up on the Korean rapper, known as Tablo. Davis uncovered a bitter family feud that may have helped fuel the attacks; he recounts his discoveries in Wired magazine.
A decade ago, Mark Pastore, ’89, opened his Italian restaurant Incanto, which became the first in California to win a seal of approval from the animal-welfare organization Humane Farm Animal Care. But recently he’s been subject to verbal attacks, threats and vandalism at the hands of animal rights extremists for expressing his views on California’s law banning foie gras. In his blog, Pastore argues that legislation won’t achieve the humanitarian ends that veterinary-based standards could.
Nobel laureate John Steinbeck’s concern for social justice is well known. A recent book shows a lesser known side of the writer, who studied intermittently at Stanford from 1921 to 1925. Steinbeck in Vietnam: Dispatches from the War reveals the hawkish stance he took in his Newsday columns from December 1966 to May 1967. Quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle review, author Thomas E. Barden says Steinbeck had a change of heart about the war soon after, but only revealed it in private papers.
