The Berkshires
Baron ’ s interest in the Berkshires grew out of rejection , so to speak . When he was looking at colleges , he toured Williams College and applied . He was rejected . The same goes for Amherst . But he got a feel for the Berkshires , liked it , and it stuck with him . He moved to Boston in 2001 and asked people at The Boston Globe where they went in the summer . Everybody said they went to the Cape or Maine . “ When I was thinking that I really wanted to get away , I thought maybe I should go in the other direction ,” he says . Baron knew the Berkshires was a cultural center , and he is a lover of classical music . “ I studied classical piano for eight years . I don ’ t have any talent , but I did that for eight years .”
The Berkshires was everything he was looking for . Ultimately , Baron bought a condo in 2007 and kept it when he was in Boston and D . C ., only coming every few months to check on it . Then , during the pandemic , he would come to the Berkshires for two weeks at a time . Anticipating retirement , he started looking for a larger home , which was accelerated because of the pandemic . “ I figured I ’ d better get a start on it ,” he says . He bought a house in Stockbridge , a small apartment in Manhattan , and sold his place in D . C .
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Reflections
Baron wanted to write about Bezos , the person and personality , rather than a caricature drawn by other publications . In Collision of Power , Baron provides an account of the newspaper ’ s coverage of Bezos ’ divorce , affair , Amazon , and so on . Baron also describes his own interactions with Bezos , his insights into Bezos ’ business philosophy , and Bezos ’ steadfast support for The Washington Post despite enormous pressure from Trump .
Baron met Trump once and received two phone calls from him . The meeting happened five months into Trump ’ s tenure as president . He met secretly on June 15 , 2017 , with the brain trust of The Washington Post — owner Jeff Bezos ; publisher Fred Ryan ; editorial page editor Fred Hiatt ; and Baron . Bezos was driven to the White House in a black SUV with tinted windows , and Baron ’ s reporting staff were kept in the dark about the meeting and what was discussed .
“ This was not a dinner I was looking forward to ,” writes Baron , disclosing the meeting with Trump and his wife , Melania , and Jared Kushner for the first time in his book . Over cheese soufflé and Dover sole , Trump enumerated grievances that would be repeated again and again over his tenure . “ His list of grievances appeared limitless . Atop them all was the press , and atop the press was The Post .” Within two weeks after the meeting , Trump called Bezos twice to complain how he was portrayed in articles in The Washington Post .
What ’ s Trump like ? “ He ’ s a big person ,” says Baron . “ He ’ s physically big . He dominates the room . He ' s the one who does all the talking . He does very little listening . Extremely little listening . Even when you think he ' s listening , he ' s actually just hearing , he ’ s not really listening . When I met him , he and Melania and Jared tried to be friendly . They were hospitable and all of that . Nobody was abrasive or rude or offensive in any way . It wasn ' t really authentic . With Bezos there , they had to be friendly .”
In news coverage , one instance that Baron wishes he had done better was regarding the hack of Democratic National Committee
34 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday Spring 2024 2023