Jeanna Park. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN SUBAR
Jeanna Park is the President of the Board of Trustees at Ragdale, one of the largest interdisciplinary artists’ communities in the country located on the former Lake Forest estate of Howard Van Doren Shaw. During her Ragdale tenure, Park helped launch the Ragdale in Schools program enriching local arts education in classrooms from Chicago to Zion. Fresh off the heels of Novel Affair—Ragdale’s tremendously successful annual fundraiser celebrating artists and authors—Park takes a moment to share how she stays current between board meetings and fundraisers.
IN HER EARBUDS
“I’m a fan of bands and singers that have endured—Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John, and Sting to name a few. NPR can usually be heard somewhere in our house, a favorite show is Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! I also like On Being with Krista Tippett (she was featured at Novel Affair a few years ago and has the most interesting interviews). Of course, I love listening to my son practice his tuba every day.”
ON HER MOBILE
“Running is my form of meditation and also keeps me linked to my running friends who distract me from the many miles we log together. I’m not very tech-savvy but my favorite app is linked to my Garmin running watch, which helps track my mileage and pace, especially if I’m following a race training plan. After my daily run, I use my Starbucks app to get coffee.”
ON HER NIGHTSTAND
“Always more books than I can read. I like to read at least one book from each author participating in Novel Affair. While in the Bahamas, I appropriately read award-winning author Laura Lippman’s Sunburn inspired by classic noir. I also finished books by Ragdale alumni and National Book Award Finalists whose novels were partly written at Ragdale: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley. Next on my list is the newest book on style and clarity, Dreyer’s English by Random House editor and chief copy-writer Benjamin Dreyer.”
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