Who inspires you?

There are many people that I admire and who inspire me for different reasons. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture given by one of my current-day inspirations about one of my other inspirational figures! Pete Souza, President Obama's chief White House photographer, recently published a compendium of his work; Obama, An Intimate Portrait, and has been touring to promote the book.  His presentation gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it was like to shadow President Obama (he was given full and unfettered access) and a little of what his life was like (both in practicality and in the grand scheme of things.) It was fascinating to learn some of the background behind the pictures and what led up to or came out of some of the photo experiences. Pete is an extremely talented photographer who is also very humble and quite funny. If you are on Instagram, you can find him at @petesouza and may be interested to know that he had to look up the term "throwing shade" to understand how he was being characterized with his current line of posting!

His photos are stunning and give great insight into, not only the man, but also the challenges of the office of the President and allow you to feel as if you are there in the moment. It's hard to choose a favorite image but just to give you a feel if you have not already seen the book I have included a few here.

​And, tell me, who is it that inspires you? And, why?

PS: As a bonus, I also serendipitously ran into another one of my  inspirations this day! Chef Lidia Bastianich happen to be in Boston for a book signing and, while having lunch at an outdoor cafe I watched her approach (she was heading to her parked car) and managed to say a quick hello and call out out to her using her own catch phrase...  "Tutti a tavola a mangiare!" which means "Everyone to the table to eat!"  ​I have had the good fortune to have met her on another occasion and she is lovely, down-to-earth, and also quite funny. She brings joy to the world with her food and I try to do the same, hoping that people feel loved and cared for when they eat that which I have prepared. On a side note, Lidia's heritage and immigration history are very similar to that of my paternal family and I often feel like she is another Nonna to me. Cin-cin, Lidia! 

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