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Miriam LaFollette "Mimi" Summerskill (June 2, 1917-January 31, 2008) was an American educator, author, political activist, and vineyard owner. [1]
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Miriam LaFollette "Mimi" Summerskill (June 2, 1917-January 31, 2008) was an American educator, author, political activist, and vineyard owner. [1]
Mimi was the eldest of four children. She grew up in Colfax, Washington where her father was an attorney and politician and her mother was the daughter of the Congregational Church missionary. She was educated in the local public schools. She studied the violin, was rodeo queen, and took lessons in elocution with Ida Lou Anderson. She began college at nearby Washington State University and graduated from Stanford University, where she played the violin in the college orchestra and was part of the Speakers' Bureau.
In the pre World War II radio era she hosted her own show for NBC, broadcasting from Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. In the 1950s she worked on several programs in the early days of public television for KQED in San Francisco.
A firm believer in learning through doing, she founded InterAlp, a program that sent American high school students abroad to live with local families in Greece and Kenya. She helped establish the theater at Athens College in Greece. [2]
Along with her husband, John Summerskill, she founded LaFollette Vineyard in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, New Jersey. They produced a Seyval blanc in the winery they built on their 30-acre (120,000 m2) vineyard just north of Princeton, New Jersey. Their LaFollette brand was a local favorite and the annual grape harvest was featured in the November 15, 1989, issue of Wine Spectator. [3]
Mimi encouraged political dialogue and discussion. Politicians, policy makers, journalists, business people, artists and show business people discussed issues around her pool. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton spent a day at the LaFollette Vineyard discussing political strategy with fourteen Democratic governors and their staffs. [4]
She authored four books:Aegean Summer,Seduced by a Greek Island,Daughter of the Vine, and The Land of Solomon and Sheba. [5]
She was a member of the La Follette family. Her grandfather was Washington state Congressman William La Follette, cousin of Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette, Sr. Indiana educator and Tennessee industrialist Harvey Marion LaFollette was her great uncle. Her father was William Leroy LaFollette, Jr., Whitman County, Washington prosecuting attorney and state legislator. The artist, Chester La Follette was her uncle. Editor and writer Suzanne La Follette was her aunt. Political leader Richard L. Wright was her son.
The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, in the Whitewater Development Corporation. This failed business venture was incorporated in 1979 with the purpose of developing vacation properties on land along the White River near Flippin, Arkansas.
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, and host of This Week, ABC's Sunday morning current events news program.
Belle Mead is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Montgomery Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 216.
Suzanne Clara La Follette was an American journalist and author who advocated for libertarian feminism in the first half of the 20th century. As an editor she helped found several magazines. She was an early and ardent feminist and a vocal anticommunist.
André Tchelistcheff was America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker. Tchelistcheff is most notable for his contributions toward defining the style of California's best wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Called the "dean of American winemakers", industry pioneers, such as Rev. John Staten of Field Stone Winery, Robert Mondavi, Louis Martini, Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, Joel Aiken, Michael Silacci of Opus One, Greg La Follette, of Ancient Oak, and Rick Sayre of Rodney Strong Wine Estates, considered him their mentor. Andre advised Warren Winiarski in launching Stag's Leap Wine Cellars which famously made the 1973 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon that was awarded the most points in the Paris Tasting, also known as the "Judgement of Paris", in 1976. Andre also assisted Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in launching the Anthology program at Conn Creek Winery in 1991.
Robert Chester La Follette, was an American painter. His portrait of his cousin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. hangs in the Senate Reception Room of the United States Capitol. Allyn Cox supervised the placement of the painting in the United States Capitol.
Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards is a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines. The winery is located in Oakville, California, north of the town of Napa in the Napa Valley.
The La Follette family is a prominent family in the United States, especially in Wisconsin. Many of the family members have pursued political office.
Susan P. Thomases is a New York-based attorney. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 1995. She served as the model for the character Lucille Kaufmann from the 1996 political novel Primary Colors.
Helen Turley is a pioneering American winemaker and wine consultant. She is known for bringing several Californian cult wines to the public awareness, and as the owner of a 20-acre (8.1 ha) boutique winery, Marcassin Vineyard. She is the recipient of several prestigious American wine awards, to include Wine Spectator's Distinguished Service Award and Food & Wine's Achievement Winemaker of the Year.
Harvey Marion LaFollette was an American teacher and educator, who as a young man, served two terms as Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. He then moved to Tennessee, where he established the town of LaFollette. His company, LaFollette Coal, Iron, and Railway Company, eventually employed more than 1500 people and was the largest blast furnace in the Southern United States.
William LeRoy "Roy" LaFollette Jr. (1890–1950) was an American political figure and lawyer. He served in the Washington House of Representatives in the State Legislature. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Whitman County several times. He was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to the Washington State Public Works Commission.
Richard LaFollette Wright is an American political leader who held a number of positions at both the state and national level. He served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey in the Cabinet of Governor Jim Florio. He was National Finance Director in the presidential campaign of Senator Bill Bradley. He worked on the energy task force of President Jimmy Carter and as a senior advisor in the United States Department of Energy. Prior to joining the government, he was Executive Director of Amnesty International in Washington, D.C.
John Henry Summerskill was a Canadian educator who served as the seventh president of San Francisco State University in the 1960s. Prior to this he was vice president for student affairs at Cornell University. In the 1970s he was named president of Athens College in Greece. He later moved to New Jersey, where he established a vineyard and became president of the New Jersey Wine Growers Association.
Mimi is a feminine given name and a shorter form (hypocorism) of the given names Miriam, Emilia or Naomi.
Summerskill may refer to:
Bethel Heights Vineyard is an Oregon winery in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. Founded in 1977 by twin brothers Ted and Terry Casteel, their wives Pat Dudley and Marilyn Webb, and Pat's sister Barbara Dudley, the vineyard was one of the earliest plantings in the Eola-Amity Hills region. A winery soon followed, with the first estate wines produced in 1984. Bethel Heights specializes in Pinot noir, offering several individual block and vineyard designated bottlings, but also produces wines made from Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Gewürztraminer.
Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano is an Italian businessperson. A wine personality, she is known for owning many well established vineyards and Cinzano Glass. Her flagship wine is considered to be Noemía de Patagonia.
Nancy Ponzi is a pioneer of the Oregon wine industry and the Oregon brewing industry, and the founder of Ponzi Vineyards, one of the Willamette Valley's founding wineries. She and her husband Dick Ponzi also established Oregon's first craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Company.
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