“Surround yourself with whip‑smart, self‑aware, non‑performative people.” That was my journalist dad’s single‑step recipe for a happy life.
In 1966, dad invited fifteen of these triply wonderful people to a Saturday lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant. They had such a good time, they ended up meeting again. 2,546 Saturdays in a row. I first met the group at Nom Wah, in 1980, when I was eleven.
The Trees project combs the planet for these people; captures and shares their 'If not for…' stories about one another; connects them through gatherings; and publishes a feed of the things they say, make, and do.
Thirty-year-old dad. Washington, 1961.
'If not for…' stories.
An 'If not for…' story is a very short tribute to a person who’s had an invaluable impact on the storyteller.
Here's an example —
Long-time Canadian Public Radio host and media consultant Robert Ouimet talking about the man who taught him how to sail. (Photo of Robert in his boat in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet.)
Gatherings.
They run the gamut from 3-day, 25-person, private-chef-equipped, agenda-less destination retreats…
Katie, a set designer, and Eugene, a comedian and actor; knight in tarnished armor with Peggy, a bookseller; vegetarian pigs; and chef Cali, at Temple Guiting Manor in the English Cotswolds.
to one-on-one, neighborhood lunches...
to three-headed, topical phone conversations.
Composer and guitarist, Joel Newton, playwright, director, and university professor, Jonathan Bernstein, and saxophonist and composer, Paul Carlon, gang tackling two questions — 'What makes something elegant?' & 'Why is or isn't it important to you to make things that are elegant?'
Feed.
It's filled with interviews we do…
Host of the Slate Political Gabfest and CEO of CityCast, David Plotz, talking about the people who helped make him who he is. Recorded at his home in Washington, DC.
Author, photographer, and symphonic clarinetist, author, photographer, and symphonic clarinetist, Arlene Alda, talking about the people who helped make her who she is. Recorded at her and her husband Alan's New York City apartment.
Artist, illustrator, author, and New Yorker cover maker, Christoph Niemann, talking about his artistic influences. Recorded at his studio in the Mitte district of Berlin.
and things we find online.
Singer, songwriter, and conductor, Bobby McFerrin, talking about his responsibility as an artist and his backstory.
Historian, author, and voice actor, Sarah Vowell, in an illustrated interview about her childhood and the 2017 political climate.
The music video for The Shins' song, 'The Rifle's Spiral,' from director, cinematographer, and stop-motion artist, Jamie Caliri.
Writer and magazine publisher, Kurt Andersen, interviews architect and architecture dean, Deborah Berke, about her work.
Comedian and actor, Eugene Mirman, giving the 2012 commencement address at his alma mater, Hampshire College.
Faq.
Who are you?
I'm Ted Pearlman.
My dad, Sy; me; and dad's brother, Boris, a radiologist. At Glen Wild Lake, New Jersey, 2004.
I’m married to Allison, an architect. We live in Denver, Colorado, with our ridiculous eleventh-grader, Oscar, and our couch potato Newfoundland dog, Mabel.
Way back when, Oscar and his first Newfoundland, Tatou, were a bit famous on Youtube for entertaining each other.
I have a BA in Music (Cornell University ’90). Until 2012, I worked at technology companies, including Sony and IBM. From 2012 to 2020, I helped a small cadre of technology CEOs find specialists to help them tackle acute challenges.
One of my clients, CEO Phil Caravaggio, collaborating with Rodrigo Corral on the book design for Ray Dalio's New York Times bestseller, 'Principles.'
Dad's all-time favorite quotation. From one of the Avvaiyars (ancient, female Tamil poets).
Why did you start The Trees?
When I left home for college in 1986, all I wanted to do was find people who reminded me of my dad's friends. A year later, I'd met more of them than I anticipated, and started sending them out to eat together. It became a lifelong hobby.
I first sent folks out to eat together at the rathskeller-like dining room in the basement of Cornell University's Sage Hall.
When the pandemic descended in 2020, I decided to turn it into a full-time project.
How do I subscribe to the feed?
Send me an email at ted@thetre.es and I'll add you to the distribution list.
A Corkscrew Willow in Amsterdam's Amstelpark, near Wan Shun, my favorite food-centric gathering spot in the Netherlands.
How do you find these people?
Mostly through referrals from ones I already know.
Laura, a social worker, Renee, a nurse, Deb, a children’s librarian, and Courtney, a horticulturalist — four women with similar backstories — at Saigon Bowl in Denver.
Who created the illustration at the top of this page?
The delightful Howell Golson. Drawing it took him 70 hours.
Why do you call this The Trees?
At my first few lunches with dad's friends, everyone, including dad, was wearing "Hi Ted, I'm…" name tags shaped like maple leaves. Eleven-year-old me was obsessed with spycraft at the time (having recently seen Moonraker) and decided it would be absolutely brilliant to codename dad's lunch group 'the trees'.
“Surround yourself with whip-smart, self-aware, non-performative people.” That was my journalist dad’s one-step recipe for a happy life.
In 1966, dad invited fifteen of these triply wonderful people to a Saturday lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant. They had such a good time, they ended up meeting again. 2,546 Saturdays in a row. I first met the group at Nom Wah, in 1980, when I was eleven.
The Trees project combs the planet for these people; captures and shares their 'If not for…' stories about one another; connects them through gatherings; and publishes a feed of the things they say, make, and do.
Thirty-year-old dad. Washington, 1961.
'If not for…' stories.
An 'If not for…' story is a very short tribute to a person who’s had an invaluable impact on the storyteller.
Here's an example —
Long-time Canadian Public Radio host and media consultant Robert Ouimet talking about the man who taught him how to sail. (Photo of Robert in his boat in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet.)
Gatherings.
They run the gamut from 3-day, 25-person, private-chef-equipped, agenda-less destination retreats…
Katie, a set designer, and Eugene, a comedian and actor; knight in tarnished armor with Peggy, a bookseller; vegetarian pigs; and chef Cali, at Temple Guiting Manor in the English Cotswolds.
to one-on-one, neighborhood lunches...
to three-headed, topical phone conversations.
Composer and guitarist, Joel Newton, playwright, director, and university professor, Jonathan Bernstein, and saxophonist and composer, Paul Carlon, gang tackling two questions — 'What makes something elegant?' & 'Why is or isn't it important to you to make things that are elegant?'
Feed.
It's filled with interviews we do…
Host of the Slate Political Gabfest and CEO of CityCast, David Plotz, talking about the people who helped make him who he is. Recorded at his home in Washington, DC.
Author, photographer, and symphonic clarinetist, author, photographer, and symphonic clarinetist, Arlene Alda, talking about the people who helped make her who she is. Recorded at her and her husband Alan's New York City apartment.
Artist, illustrator, author, and New Yorker cover maker, Christoph Niemann, talking about his artistic influences. Recorded at his studio in the Mitte district of Berlin.
and things we find online.
Singer, songwriter, and conductor, Bobby McFerrin, talking about his responsibility as an artist and his backstory.
Historian, author, and voice actor, Sarah Vowell, in an illustrated interview about her childhood and the 2017 political climate.
The music video for The Shins' song, 'The Rifle's Spiral,' from director, cinematographer, and stop-motion artist, Jamie Caliri.
Writer and magazine publisher, Kurt Andersen, interviews architect and architecture dean, Deborah Berke, about her work.
Comedian and actor, Eugene Mirman, giving the 2012 commencement address at his alma mater, Hampshire College.
Faq.
Who are you?
I'm Ted Pearlman.
My dad, Sy; me; and dad's brother, Boris, a radiologist. At Glen Wild Lake, New Jersey, 2004.
I’m married to Allison, an architect. We live in Denver, Colorado, with our ridiculous eleventh-grader, Oscar, and our couch potato Newfoundland dog, Mabel.
Way back when, Oscar and his first Newfoundland, Tatou, were a bit famous on Youtube for entertaining each other.
I have a BA in Music (Cornell University ’90). Until 2012, I worked at technology companies, including Sony and IBM. From 2012 to 2020, I helped a small cadre of technology CEOs find specialists to help them tackle acute challenges.
One of my clients, CEO Phil Caravaggio, collaborating with Rodrigo Corral on the book design for Ray Dalio's New York Times bestseller, 'Principles.'
Dad's all-time favorite quotation. From one of the Avvaiyars (ancient, female Tamil poets).
Why did you start The Trees?
When I left home for college in 1986, all I wanted to do was find people who reminded me of my dad's friends. A year later, I'd met more of them than I anticipated, and started sending them out to eat together. It became a lifelong hobby.
I first sent folks out to eat together at the rathskeller-like dining room in the basement of Cornell University's Sage Hall.
When the pandemic descended in 2020, I decided to turn it into a full-time project.
How do I subscribe to the feed?
Send me an email at ted@thetre.es and I'll add you to the distribution list.
A Corkscrew Willow in Amsterdam's Amstelpark, near Wan Shun, my favorite food-centric gathering spot in the Netherlands.
How do you find these people?
Mostly through referrals from ones I already know.
Laura, a social worker, Renee, a nurse, Deb, a children’s librarian, and Courtney, a horticulturalist — four women with similar backstories — at Saigon Bowl in Denver.
Why do you call this The Trees?
At my first few lunches with dad's friends, everyone, including dad, was wearing "Hi Ted, I'm…" name tags shaped like maple leaves. Eleven-year-old me was obsessed with spycraft at the time (having recently seen Moonraker) and decided it would be absolutely brilliant to codename dad's lunch group 'the trees'.