A Royal Response
Louis Perry has long enjoyed sending personal notes to the famous. The surprise? He often gets responses. The latest came from King Charles III of the United Kingdom, who last month sent Perry a note saying, “It was so very kind of you to send me such as wonderfully generous message following the death of my beloved mother.” The note, with a Buckingham Palace postmark, was accompanied by a photo of a young Prince Charles and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II – who years ago also responded to one of Perry’s personal notes.
Over the years, Perry, the founder and chief executive of Kadima Security Services in Encino, has received notes from such luminaries as Pope Paul II, Oprah Winfrey, Ronald Reagan and every president who followed him, and Warren Buffett – who sent a handwritten response. And Perry is not afraid to ask for selfies, such as one he got last year with Halle Berry.
Does he have a favorite response? No, said Perry. “Every letter has its special place.”
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California’s business leaders are a bit more pessimistic about the economy this year than their colleagues across the nation. At least, according to JPMorgan Chase’s 2023 annual Business Leaders Outlook survey, 72% of midsize business leaders in California expect a recession this year compared to only 65% nationally. What’s more, California’s business leaders are less optimistic about their local and regional economy with 28% of Californians expressing optimism compared to 39% nationally.
Other highlights and lowlights from the survey, which came out last week: 92% of California businesses are experiencing inflation challenges, and 71% of them have passed on at least some increased costs to buyers; and, on a more bullish note, 65% are optimistic about their company’s performance in the year ahead and 57% expect their profits to increase.
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If you made a New Year’s resolution to exercise more or lose weight, you can’t blame Los Angeles if you fail to follow through. That’s because Los Angeles ranked fairly high – 13th – among 100 U.S. cities, for supporting an active lifestyle.
A survey, conducted by Wallet Hub and released last week, judged cities on 36 metrics including average health club fee, tennis courts and hiking trails per capita, Google searches for “at home workouts” and the like. L.A.’s fairly high ranking means that active-lifestyle amenities are accessible, relatively affordable and have a high rate of use.
California cities ranking higher are San Francisco (2nd) and San Diego (7th). Ranking lower are Irvine (17th), Long Beach (34th) and Anaheim (60th).
The Insider column is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
