Holman Jenkins gives a tony to Phil Anschutz, a man who, apparently, is not seeking public attention or media coverage. "Anschutz has an amazing knack for being at center stage and yet completely invisible," says Jenkins. "He's the brains behind Quest Communications, which is now involved in the biggest merger battle of the decade. Nobody even knows he's part of the deal. He was a big Ray Charles fan. He bankrolled this movie when Hollywood wouldn't. It won two Oscars. He's also the owner of the L.A. Kings. He's in the middle of this big strike to shut down the league for the season now, involved possibly in selling the whole league. Nobody knows."
Some French wine sales are down 30 percent since 2001. Hardly a surprise after the pushy, relentless anti-Americanism displayed by the nation's president and foreign minister during the Iraq war, says Daniel Henninger. In making their patriotic purchases of homegrown wine, many Americans have discovered they prefer fruitier, oakier, new world varieties, he adds. "In the movie SIDEWAYS the main character's favorite bottle of wine is a 1960 Cheval Blanc. Well, if someone wants to give me a bottle of Cheval Blanc to drink, I'll be happy to drink it. But until the French repudiate Jacques Chirac for what he did, I'm still two corkscrews down on buying French wine."
Paul Gigot gives a tony to 60-year-old adventurer Steve Fossett, who became the first man to fly a plane around the world without stopping or refueling. "He did it in 67 hours and landed with his fuel tanks almost empty," says Gigot. "It took courage and commitment, to say nothing of money, and it captured our admiration and imagination."
