mark…

“Why do you think so many people recommended we talk to you?” “That’s a fair question,” Felix replied. “Before I answer, I want to ask: You mentioned you’re a single mom, and I imagine there’s a lot to juggling motherhood and a career. This might seem unusual, but I’m wondering: What would you tell someone who’s getting a divorce?” The woman went silent for a beat. “I guess I’ll play along,” she said. “I have lots of advice. When I separated from my husband—” Felix gently interrupted. “I don’t really need an answer,” he said. “But I want to point out that, in a room filled with professional colleagues, and after less than an hour of conversation, you’re willing to talk about one of the most intimate parts of your life.””

— Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg”
― Charles Duhigg

“he liked to show his music students, who idolized Coltrane as the seminal figure of jazz saxophone, the photo from the Elate Club concert. “I say, ‘Well, if it started with Coltrane, what is he doin’ about to burn his hand lookin’ at Charlie Parker play, with his mouth open?’ ”
― James Kaplan, 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool

“The custom of leaving coins with the deceased traced its history to the Roman Empire when coins were placed into the mouths of fallen soldiers to pay for passage and protection across the River Styx. In naval history, sailors placed coins under the masts of sailing ships to pay the “ferryman” for safe passage into the afterlife.”
― Chad Robichaux, Silent Horizons

“Miles Davis got to sit in Buddy Anderson’s chair for the Eckstine band’s entire two-week stand at the Riviera—though the two weeks were more memorable to the eighteen-year-old than to anybody else. As Eckstine recalled, “Miles, you couldn’t even hear him past the reed section.”
― James Kaplan, 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool