Loose ends

Now that Clinicals IV and V are underway, life often feels like a dizzying blur of clinicals, ride time and paid ambulance work. It has been an exciting week, but the start of Phase II of my field internship wasn't the only exciting thing going on. The chess, sports and publishing worlds all check in with notable occurrences too.

The U.S. Chess Championship concluded on Tuesday with the coronation of Gata Kamsky as the new national champion. Kamsky last won that title in 1991. Hikaru Nakamura, last year's champion, finished in a tie for third place overall. Interestingly, there has not been a repeat champion since Lev Alburt won back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985.

Speaking of repeat championships, the Dartmouth baseball team defeated Columbia to clinch its second consecutive Ivy League championship. Last year's victim was Cornell, and I was fortunate enough to attend the clinching game. I wasn't so lucky this year, but a hearty congratulations to the Dartmouth baseball team all the same!

The Daily Dartmouth reported last week that Smith and Kraus Publishing has released its In An Hour series. This is a twenty-seven volume collection that provides a brief overview of major theatrical plays, including plot summary, author biography and historical context. The idea is for a theatergoer to pick up a copy of the corresponding In An Hour volume beforehand, thereby maximizing their understanding and enjoyment of the performance.

It's a neat concept in its own right, but I am primarily interested because I worked on this series while an editorial intern for Smith and Kraus in early 2008. My responsibility was primarily marketing, with a little conventional editing thrown in as well. As with Annette Gordon-Reed's National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hemingses of Monticello, it is always exciting to see a book I worked on come out in print.