Over dinner on Sunday, the subject turned to sharks. Since it was the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week blitz, this was not surprising.

Over the years I had received those familiar email requests from people asking me to be the conduit for money to be deposited in my account and sent elsewhere, and those obvious scams were always deleted. Why not this one?

I’ve watched Tom Wolfe at a church bazaar, was elbow to elbow with Bianca Jagger at the video store, browsed books with Billy Joel, shopped for antiques with Martha Stewart, and saw Candice Bergen outside Citarella. I admit it, whenever I see someone famous, I go a little goofy.

It’s my late stepfather’s birthday today, and while we were at the antipodes, I think, when it came to societal questions, we were on the same page when it came to sports, to baseball, squash, and tennis in particular.