Entrepreneur Brian Lee is business partner to the stars

The gig: Lawyer-turned-serial-entrepreneur Brian Lee, 41, is pulling double duty as the chief executive of two celebrity-backed e-commerce websites: ShoeDazzle, co-founded with Kim Kardashian, and Honest Co., co-founded with Jessica Alba. The companies are headquartered in Santa Monica and offer customers monthly subscription plans in addition to typical a la carte shopping for shoes and baby products, respectively.

ShoeDazzle has more than 15 million registered users and last year posted $100 million in revenue, up 80% from 2011; it has raised $66 million from investors including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Honest Co., launched a year ago, has yet to release membership or financial numbers but has raised $27 million.

From Seoul to L.A.: Lee was born in Seoul. When he was 1, his family immigrated to Huntington Beach, where he grew up.

As an 8-year-old, Lee mapped out his trick-or-treating route on Halloween so he could collect as much candy as possible. When he got home, he separated his loot into Ziploc bags, which he sold at school for 25 cents each.

"Cost of goods: zero. Profit margins: 100%, outside of my own little labor," he said. "I probably did that for five years."

He now lives in Marina del Rey with his wife, Mira; their 4-year-old son, Davis; and their 1-year-old daughter, Madison.

Education: Bachelor's degree in business economics from UCLA in 1993, J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 1996.

Bold cold call: After practicing law for a few years, Lee came up with the idea for LegalZoom, which offers self-help legal documents such as divorce and bankruptcy forms, prenuptial agreements and wills. He wanted a high-profile name to represent the start-up, and decided to approach O.J. Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro.

Lee got Shapiro's number from 411 and called him at 10 p.m. "He picked up the phone and said, 'Hi, this is Robert Shapiro, how can I help you?' and I said, 'Well, my name is Brian Lee and I have a business opportunity I'd like to run by you.'... I think he heard the desperation in my voice and he said, 'You've got two minutes.'"

LegalZoom, based in Glendale, launched in 2001.

Online shoe shopping: ShoeDazzle was inspired by Lee's wife, who one day returned from a shopping spree on Robertson Boulevard with a pair of pricey designer shoes. When Lee asked her why she didn't just go to Loehmann's or DSW, she said discount chains didn't provide the type of personalized, one-on-one service that small boutiques did. Lee set out to replicate that experience online and met Kardashian through Shapiro, who is a family friend.

ShoeDazzle launched four years ago as an online subscription business, with members viewing a customized showroom of shoes based on a personal fashion quiz and choosing one new pair to receive every month for $39.95 including shipping.

Taking back the reins: In November, Lee became CEO of ShoeDazzle for a second time. He returned after the departure of Bill Strauss, who scrapped the company's subscription-based business model last year, leading to speculation that the company wasn't doing well.

In his first 100 days on the job, Lee laid off about two dozen employees and hired celebrity fashion stylist Rachel Zoe as the company's chief stylist; ShoeDazzle also began introducing one new shoe style every day. This month the company will roll out an optional $9.95-a-month VIP membership program that includes free shipping, early access to sales, discounts and an extended return policy.

Since a site relaunch in January, orders have increased 30% and repeat visits are up 12%, Lee said. The company sells as many as 250,000 pairs of shoes per month.

From shoes to babies: Lee was approached by Alba when the actress wanted to start an eco-friendly baby products line. Honest Co. sells diapers, shampoo, sunscreen and household items online that are nontoxic and made with organic ingredients.

Caffeine junkie: As the CEO of two companies, Lee arrives at Honest Co. offices by 7 a.m. every day and is there until 9:30 a.m. He then heads over to nearby ShoeDazzle, where he stays until 5 p.m. or so. Then it's back to Honest Co. until about 8 or 9 p.m.

"I drink seven Coca-Colas a day," he said. "Regular Coke, which is really bad for me."

Advice to entrepreneurs: "Believe in the idea with 100% certainty," Lee said. "But also don't be scared to change that idea and pivot very quickly. Because as an entrepreneur, nothing ever goes to plan."

For instance, Lee said that in the early days of LegalZoom, the company created do-it-yourself software programs such as Estate Planning in a Box that it hoped to sell at Staples and OfficeMax. When LegalZoom realized that Internet-based downloading was the future, it dropped those plans.

"We spent a lot of resources on it," he said, "but we weren't afraid at all to just cut it."

andrea.chang@latimes.com

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Big Bear locked down amid manhunt

The bustling winter resort of Big Bear took on the appearance of a ghost town Thursday as surveillance aircraft buzzed overhead and police in tactical gear and carrying rifles patrolled mountain roads in convoys of SUVs, while others stood guard along major intersections.

Even before authorities had confirmed that the torched pickup truck discovered on a quiet forest road belonged to suspected gunman Christopher Dorner, 33, officials had ordered an emergency lockdown of local businesses, homes and the town's popular ski resorts. Parents were told to pick up their children from school, as rolling yellow buses might pose a target to an unpredictable fugitive on the run.

By nightfall, many residents had barricaded their doors as they prepared for a long, anxious evening.

PHOTOS: A tense manhunt amid tragic deaths

"We're all just stressed," said Andrea Burtons as she stocked up on provisions at a convenience store. "I have to go pick up my brother and get him home where we're safe."

Police ordered the lockdown about 9:30 a.m. as authorities throughout Southern California launched an immense manhunt for the former lawman, who is accused of killing three people as part of a long-standing grudge against the LAPD. Dorner is believed to have penned a long, angry manifesto on Facebook saying that he was unfairly fired from the force and was now seeking vengeance.

Forest lands surrounding Big Bear Lake are cross-hatched with fire roads and trails leading in all directions, and the snow-capped mountains can provide both cover and extreme challenges to a fugitive on foot. It was unclear whether Dorner was prepared for such rugged terrain.

Footprints were found leading from Dorner's burned pickup truck into the snow off Forest Road 2N10 and Club View Drive in Big Bear Lake.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said that although authorities had deployed 125 officers for tracking and door-to-door searches, officers had to be mindful that the suspect may have set a trap.

"Certainly. There's always that concern and we're extremely careful and we're worried about this individual," McMahon said. "We're taking every precaution we can."

PHOTOS: A fugitive's life on Facebook

Big Bear has roughly 400 homes, but authorities guessed that only 40% are occupied year-round.

The search will probably play out with the backdrop of a winter storm that is expected to hit the area after midnight.

Up to 6 inches of snow could blanket local mountains, the National Weather Service said.

FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for rampaging ex-cop

Gusts up to 50 mph could hit the region, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Moede, creating a wind-chill factor of 15 to 20 degrees.

Extra patrols were brought in to check vehicles coming and going from Big Bear, McMahon said, but no vehicles had been reported stolen.

"He could be anywhere at this point," McMahon said. When asked if the burned truck was a possible diversion, McMahon replied: "Anything's possible."

Dorner had no known connection to the area, authorities said.

Craig and Christine Winnegar, of Murrieta, found themselves caught up in the lockdown by accident. Craig brought his wife to Big Bear as a surprise to celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary. Their prearranged dinner was canceled when restaurant owners closed their doors out of fear.

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Year after Houston's death, Davis gala returns

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Last year, Whitney Houston died hours before Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy gala went on. This year, the music executive says she'll be remembered.

"In saying I'm proud of her legacy, I'm going to make sure that she's felt somehow during that night, yes," the 80-year-old said in an interview Thursday.

Davis' gala will take place Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, where Houston died on Feb. 11, 2012, at age 48.

The annual event is where Davis introduced a young Houston to the music world more than two decades ago. Davis — Houston's mentor, producer, champion and longtime friend — memorialized her at last year's gala, held downstairs from the hotel where she died and where her body was being examined by coroner's officials.

"Whitney and I had great times at this party over the years," he said, smiling. "I'd played her new songs and she'd come over in her pajamas and be listening late at night ... so it is bittersweet. Tragedy is still foul."

Houston was found drowned in a bathtub. Coroner's officials ruled her death accidental, with heart disease and cocaine use contributing factors.

The night continued last year after Houston's death — and the music will live on this year.

R&B singer Miguel, who's up for five awards at Sunday's Grammys — including song of the year for "Adorn" — will hit the stage. He rehearsed some of the song happily Thursday.

"I've dreamt about coming to this party," the singer said. "It's a huge honor to be included and perform."

Davis, per usual, was tight-lipped about the other performers.

"You should expect being blown away by the diversity of the music, by the vitality of the music, by the range of music today," Davis said.

Last year's performers included Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Alicia Keys, Jessie J and others.

R&B singers Brandy and Monica, mentees of Houston, were supposed to perform their new duet at that time, but were heavily emotional due to Houston's death.

Emotional Houston moments will be captured in an hour-long CBS special titled "The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family." It's a behind-the-scenes look at how Houston's death affected last year's Grammy Awards and will air the same night as Davis' gala. It includes interviews with Jennifer Hudson, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and other artists.

Saturday's event will honor Epic Records chairman and CEO Antonio L.A. Reid.

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu at http://www.twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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Well: One Dish, One Hour

Fast-food from a restaurant is not as fast as you think. There is drive time to and from the restaurant, waiting time to pay and collect your food, and then it still takes a few minutes to sort through it and set it on the table at home. (Assuming you don’t just eat it in the car.) But if you are willing to invest a few more minutes of time for a more healthful option, you can still make a homemade meal from scratch in less than an hour, writes Martha Rose Shulman in this week’s Recipes for Health column:

This week, in response to readers’ requests on the Recipes for Health Facebook page, I focused on quick one-dish dinners. You may have a different opinion than I do about what constitutes a quick meal. There are quick meals that involve little or no cooking — paninis and sandwiches, uncomplicated omelets, scrambled eggs, and meals that combine prepared items with foods that you cook — but I chose to focus on dishes that are made from scratch. I bought a cabbage and a generous bunch of kale at the farmers’ market, some sliced mushrooms and bagged baby spinach at Trader Joe’s, and used them in conjunction with items I had on hand in the pantry and refrigerator.

I decided to use the same rule of thumb that a close French friend uses. She refuses to spend more than a half hour on prep but always turns out spectacular dinners and lunches. My goal was to make one-dish meals that would put us at the table no more than 45 minutes after I started cooking (the soup this week went over by 5 or 10 minutes but I left it in because it is so good). For each recipe test I set the timer for 30 minutes, then let it count up once it went off. All of the meals are vegetarian and the only prepared foods I used were canned beans.

I do believe that it is healthy — and enjoyable — to take time to prepare meals for the family (or just for yourself), even when you are juggling one child’s afterschool soccer practice and homework with another child’s dance recitals and homework. Sometimes it is hard to find that half hour, but everybody benefits when you do.

Here are five new one-dish meals that you can make in an hour or less.

Soft Black Bean Tacos With Salsa and Cabbage: Canned black beans and lots of cabbage combine in a quick, utterly satisfying one-dish taco dinner.

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Couscous With Tomatoes, Kale and Chickpeas: A comforting topping that is both a stew and a sauce.

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Mushroom and Spinach Frittata: A hearty frittata that is good for any meal of the day.

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Quick Tomato, White Bean and Kale Soup: A hearty minestrone that can be made in under an hour, start to finish.

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Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper: The chopping is the most time-consuming part of this recipe, but you can still be eating within 35 minutes.

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Stocks edge higher after trade deficit report

Stocks edged higher in on Wall Street after a report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in December. The major indexes were also boosted by strong earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49 points to 13,933 as of 11:54 a.m. (1654 GMT) Friday and climbed back above 14,000 during morning trading. On Feb. 1, the index closed above 14,000 for the first time since 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 7 points at 1,517 and the Nasdaq composite rose 29 points to 3,194.

The trade deficit fell nearly 21 percent in December from November to $38.6 billion, as exports rose while oil imports plummeted, the Commerce Department said Friday. That's the smallest in nearly three years. The smaller trade gap means the economy likely performed better in the final three months of last year than first estimated last week.

“The trade balance was surprisingly very good,” said Phil Orlando, chief market strategist at Federated Investors.

The government estimated last week that the U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the last three months of 2012. Orlando estimates that growth may now be revised to show growth of 0.5 percent.

Shares of LinkedIn, the online professional networking service, jumped $23.55, or 19 percent, to $147.60 after the company reported fourth-quarter results late Thursday that beat analysts' forecasts. AOL soared $2.15 to $33.56 Friday after the Internet company said its quarterly revenue grew for the first time in eight years, helped by strength in worldwide advertising.

Currently, analysts are expecting earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012 to rise 6.5 percent for S&P 500 companies, according to data from S&P Capital I&Q. That's an increase from the 2.4 percent growth rate recorded for the preceding quarter.

Wall Street is also bracing for what is forecast to be the largest winter storm in more than a year with up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow forecast along the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor from the New York City area to Boston and beyond.

Markets are little changed for the week, suggesting that a rally that pushed the major indexes close to record levels early this year may have stalled.

The Dow had its best January in almost two decades and is up 6.9 percent on the year. The S&P 500 is 6.4 percent higher in the same period. A last-minute budget deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” and optimism about the housing market and a gradually improving jobs market have powered the rally.

Stocks have benefited as investors poured a net $4.1 billion into stock mutual funds since the start of the year, according to data provided by Lipper.

As stocks have gained, Treasurys have slumped. The yield on the 10-year note rose, which moves inversely to its price, rose one basis point to 1.97 percent.

Among other stocks making big moves;

— Microchip Technology, a semiconductor maker, jumped $2.22 to $36.16 after its earnings beat estimates. The company said it was seeing “exceptionally strong” bookings.

— Moody's slumped $2.60 to $44.45 even after reporting that fourth-quarter net income jumped 66 percent and revenue blew away expectations. Many are expecting the ratings agency will be the next target of the Justice Department, which filed a suit against rival Standard & Poor's for its actions before the housing market collapse.

— Activision Blizzard, the video game maker that counts blockbuster “Call of Duty” among its titles, rose $1.32, or 10.9 percent, to $13.48. The company posted sharply higher earnings and revenue in the fourth quarter, surpassing Wall Street's expectations.

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Search for ex-cop in shootings extended statewide, into Nevada

As authorities scoured Southern California for an ex-Los Angeles police officer suspected of shooting three officers, killing one, officials broadened the alert to include the entire state Thursday morning, and authorities in Nevada were warned.

The California Highway Patrol originally issued a "blue alert" for nine Southern California counties, warning that suspect Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, was considered "armed and extremely dangerous," early Thursday. Shortly after 9 a.m. that alert was broadened to the include the entire state.

A statewide “high alert” was sent out about 8:30 a.m. across Nevada for Dorner, authorities with the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Arizona authorities were aware of the situation but had not issued any formal alerts, said Officer Carrick Cook with the state's Department of Public Safety.

Local, state and federal authorities are involved in the search for Dorner, who threatened "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against police in an online manifesto. Dorner is also wanted in connection with a double homicide Sunday in Irvine, where the daughter of a retired LAPD captain and her fiance were killed.

The search intensified early Thursday after three police officers were shot in Riverside County and Dorner was identified as a possible suspect.

The first shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. Thursday in Corona, where two Los Angeles Police Department officers were providing protection for someone mentioned in Dorner's manifesto, officials said. One officer suffered a graze wound to the head during a shootout and Dorner fled the scene, police said.

Ex-LAPD officer threatened to kill in online manifesto

A short time later, two Riverside officers were shot at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Arlington Avenue in Riverside. Toussaint said the officers were sitting at a red light when they were ambushed. One was killed, the other was undergoing surgery Thursday morning.

There was no indication the officers were "actively seeking Dorner," Toussaint said.

“Our officers were stopped at an intersection at a red light when they were ambushed," he said. "Because of the close proximity to the timeline, we believe there is a strong likelihood that former LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner was involved in our incident.”

As authorities swarmed the area, two officer-involved shootings occurred in Torrance after police came across vehicles they thought might be Dorner's.

The first Torrance incident occurred about 5:20 a.m. in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue in Torrance, Lt. Devin Chase said. That incident involved Los Angeles police detectives from the Hollywood division, sources said.

Two women delivering newspapers were struck by gunfire and transported to an area hospital with unknown injuries, Chase said. No officers were injured. The women were not identified.

The second incident, which involved Torrance police officers, occurred at Flagler Lane and Beryl Street about 5:45 a.m. No injuries were reported in that incident.

Chase said both incidents involved vehicles matching the description of the one sought in connection with Dorner.

"Now it appears neither of them are directly related," Chase said. "In both of them, officers believed they were at the time."

Authorities said they believe Dorner attempted to steal a boat from an elderly man about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Point Loma Yacht Club in San Diego, hours before the shootings in Riverside County.

The boat owner reported being accosted by a burly man who tied him up, threatened him with a gun and said he wanted the boat to flee to Mexico.

But while they were trying to get underway, a rope became entangled in the propeller and the boat was inoperable, authorities said.

The suspect fled the scene and the boat owner was unharmed.

About 2 a.m., a citizen reported finding property belonging to Dorner on a street near Lindbergh Field, not far from the scene of the attempted boat theft. The property included a briefcase and Dorner's LAPD badge.

In the online manifesto, Dorner specifically named the father of Monica Quan, the Cal State Fullerton assistant basketball coach who was found dead Sunday in Irvine along with her fiance, Keith Lawrence.

Randy Quan, a retired LAPD captain, was involved in the review process that ultimately led to Dorner’s dismissal. A former U.S. Navy reservist, Dorner was fired in 2009 for allegedly making false statements about his training officer. In the manifesto, he complained that Randy Quan and others did not fairly represent him at the review hearing.

“The violence of action will be high .... I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty," Dorner wrote.

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Afghan boys from nominated film to walk red carpet

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Fawad Mohammadi has spent half his life peddling maps and dictionaries to foreigners on a street of trinket shops in Kabul. Now the 14-year-old Afghan boy with bright green eyes is getting ready for a trip down the red carpet at the Oscars.

It will also be his first time out of the country and his first time on a plane.

Mohammadi was plucked from the dingy streets of the Afghan capital to be one of the main stars of "Buzkashi Boys," a coming-of-age movie filmed entirely in a war zone and nominated in the Best Live Action Short Film category.

The movie is about two penniless young boys — a street urchin and a blacksmith's son — who are best friends and dream of becoming professional players of buzkashi, a particularly rough and dangerous game that somewhat resembles polo: Horseback riders wrangle to get a headless goat carcass into a circular goal at one end of the field.

It's also part of an American director's effort to help revive a film industry devastated by decades of civil war and by the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement that banned entertainment and burned films and theaters during its five years in power.

Sam French, a Philadelphia native who has lived in Afghanistan for about five years, said his 28-minute movie was initially conceived as a way of training local film industry workers — the first installment in his nonprofit Afghan Film Project.

"We never dreamed of having the film come this far and get an Oscar nomination," French, 36, said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he is preparing for the Feb. 24 Academy Awards and raising money to fly the two young co-stars in for the ceremony.

The two boys playing the main characters — Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz — can barely contain their excitement about going to the Oscars.

"It will be a great honor for me and for Afghanistan to meet the world's most famous actors," said Mohammadi, whose real-life dream is to become a pilot. He's also hoping to go see the cockpit during the flight.

The farthest Mohammadi has ever traveled was to the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif when he was younger.

Mohammadi's father died a few years ago, leaving him with his mother, five brothers and a sister. He started selling chewing gum when he was about 7 years old and soon expanded his trade to maps and dictionaries.

He learned to speak English hustling foreigners on Chicken Street, the main tourist area in Kabul with shops selling multicolor rugs, lapis bowls and other crafts and souvenirs, and gained a reputation for being polite, helpful and trustworthy. He was even able to enroll in a private school, thanks to the generosity of some other foreigners unrelated to the film project.

In the movie Mohammadi plays the blacksmith's son, Rafi, whose father wants him to follow in his footsteps.

"His life was so much harder than mine," Mohammadi said. "The blacksmith made him go out on the streets. I came myself here (to Chicken Street). My family didn't make me come. I wanted to make money to feed myself and to feed my family. He didn't have a home. They lived in the blacksmith shop."

Ironically it's not Mohammadi but Paiz, the youngest son of a well-known Afghan actor, who plays the homeless boy Ahmad.

Paiz, also 14, already was an experienced actor: He's appeared in films since the age of 5 and has gone to the Cannes Film Festival.

Paiz and Mohammadi had a lot to learn from each other and became friends. He gave Mohammadi tips for acting and handling himself in live interviews, while Fawad taught him about life outside his sheltered surroundings.

"When I saw Fawad was such a good actor even though he was a street boy and he was so brave in acting, I was very surprised and I said to myself, 'Everybody can achieve what they desire to do,'" Paiz said during an interview this week, shivering in the snow-covered courtyard of the Afghan Film Institute while a local TV series was being filmed nearby.

French, who co-wrote the script and produced "Buzkashi Boys" with Martin Roe of the Los Angeles-based production company Dirty Robber, launched a fundraising drive that's raised almost $10,000 so far to help bring the boys to Los Angeles for the ceremony. Any extra money will be placed in a fund to provide for Mohammadi's education and help his family. The boys will travel with an escort and will stay with the extended Afghan family of one of the film's producers, French said.

French said he's aware of the pitfalls in working with child actors from developing countries.

The makers of "Slumdog Millionaire," the rags-to-riches blockbuster about three poor Indian children, have struggled to make a better life for the young stars, and four boys who acted in "The Kite Runner" had to leave Afghanistan out of concern they could be ostracized or subject to violence because of a rape scene in the movie.

French said he and others involved in the "Buzkashi Boys" took pains to involve the community and made sure to avoid any scenes that could be offensive.

"We're not filmmakers who just do a film and leave. We remain there and present," he said. "We had lots and lots of tea with lots and lots of people."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says there have been three documentary features nominees filmed at least in part in Afghanistan since 2007 — all about the U.S. military. The Kite Runner, which was nominated for original score in 2007, was set in Afghanistan but not filmed there.

Afghanistan had a burgeoning film industry starting in the early 20th century, but it suffered from fighting during the civil war and the Taliban campaign to stamp out entertainment. Actors and film industry workers like Paiz's father and the actor who plays the blacksmith, Wali Talash, fled the country. They returned only after the 2001 U.S.-led assault that ousted the Islamic movement and its al-Qaida allies.

Talash, 56, said he hopes the "Buzkashi Boys" will show the world the rich culture of Afghanistan, which too few in the world know beyond reports of roadside bombs and suicide attacks.

"I hope if this movie wins that it will be an earthquake that will shake the industry and help Afghan filmmakers get back on their feet," he said.

Mohammadi, meanwhile, says he knows the money and fame he earned from the movie can carry him only so far. He still sells maps, though not so often as before, because he has school.

"For my work I used to know a lot of foreigners and I still do, but before they used to know me as a map seller. Now they know me as an actor," he said, waving a plastic-covered map as weary Afghans walked by on the muddy street. "Most of them take pictures with me and sometimes they buy maps from me even if they don't need any just because they spotted me in the movie."

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Associated Press writer Steve Loeper in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Online:

Fundraising site — https://rally.org/buzkashiboys/c/h95pGSpJAiE

Film website — http://www.buzkashiboys.com/

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Well: Expressing the Inexpressible

When Kyle Potvin learned she had breast cancer at the age of 41, she tracked the details of her illness and treatment in a journal. But when it came to grappling with issues of mortality, fear and hope, she found that her best outlet was poetry.

How I feared chemo, afraid
It would change me.
It did.
Something dissolved inside me.
Tears began a slow drip;
I cried at the news story
Of a lost boy found in the woods …
At the surprising beauty
Of a bright leaf falling
Like the last strand of hair from my head

Ms. Potvin, now 47 and living in Derry, N.H., recently published “Sound Travels on Water” (Finishing Line Press), a collection of poems about her experience with cancer. And she has organized the Prickly Pear Poetry Project, a series of workshops for cancer patients.

“The creative process can be really healing,” Ms. Potvin said in an interview. “Loss, mortality and even hopefulness were on my mind, and I found that through writing poetry I was able to express some of those concepts in a way that helped me process what I was thinking.”

In April, the National Association for Poetry Therapy, whose members include both medical doctors and therapists, is to hold a conference in Chicago with sessions on using poetry to manage pain and to help adolescents cope with bullying. And this spring, Tasora Books will publish “The Cancer Poetry Project 2,” an anthology of poems written by patients and their loved ones.

Dr. Rafael Campo, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, says he uses poetry in his practice, offering therapy groups and including poems with the medical forms and educational materials he gives his patients.

“It’s always striking to me how they want to talk about the poems the next time we meet and not the other stuff I give them,” he said. “It’s such a visceral mode of expression. When our bodies betray us in such a profound way, it can be all the more powerful for patients to really use the rhythms of poetry to make sense of what is happening in their bodies.”

On return visits, Dr. Campo’s patients often begin by discussing a poem he gave them — for example, “At the Cancer Clinic,” by Ted Kooser, from his collection “Delights & Shadows” (Copper Canyon Press, 2004), about a nurse holding the door for a slow-moving patient.

How patient she is in the crisp white sails
of her clothes. The sick woman
peers from under her funny knit cap
to watch each foot swing scuffing forward
and take its turn under her weight.
There is no restlessness or impatience
or anger anywhere in sight. Grace
fills the clean mold of this moment
and all the shuffling magazines grow still.

In Ms. Potvin’s case, poems related to her illness were often spurred by mundane moments, like seeing a neighbor out for a nightly walk. Here is “Tumor”:

My neighbor walks
For miles each night.
A mantra drives her, I imagine
As my boys’ chant did
The summer of my own illness:
“Push, Mommy, push.”
Urging me to wind my sore feet
Winch-like on a rented bike
To inch us home.
I couldn’t stop;
Couldn’t leave us
Miles from the end.

Karin Miller, 48, of Minneapolis, turned to poetry 15 years ago when her husband developed testicular cancer at the same time she was pregnant with their first child.

Her husband has since recovered, and Ms. Miller has reviewed thousands of poems by cancer patients and their loved ones to create the “Cancer Poetry Project” anthologies. One poem is “Hymn to a Lost Breast,” by Bonnie Maurer.

Oh let it fly
let it fling
let it flip like a pancake in the air
let it sing: what is the song
of one breast flapping?

Another is “Barn Wish” by Kim Knedler Hewett.

I sit where you can’t see me
Listening to the rustle of papers and pills in the other room,
Wondering if you can hear them.
Let’s go back to the barn, I whisper.
Let’s turn on the TV and watch the Bengals lose.
Let’s eat Bill’s Doughnuts and drink Pepsi.
Anything but this.

Ms. Miller has asked many of her poets to explain why they find poetry healing. “They say it’s the thing that lets them get to the core of how they are feeling,” she said. “It’s the simplicity of poetry, the bare bones of it, that helps them deal with their fears.”

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Have you written a poem about cancer? Please share them with us in the comments section below.

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Retail sales rise 5.8%, but cold weather and payroll taxes sting

Shoppers trod carefully in January, lured into stores by retailers dangling post-holiday clearance deals but spending sparingly to balance out higher payroll taxes and lingering economic uncertainty.

Same-store sales at major retailers such as Nordstrom, Gap and Costco reported a 5.8% upswing last month from January 2012, handily beating earlier estimates of a 3.5% boost.

The data, from Thomson Reuters, features a roundup of 18 retailers sans drug stores such as Walgreens and Rite Aid. Same-store sales account for revenue at retail locations operating for at least a year, stripping out the fluctuations of recent openings and closings.

Quiz: Do you know your premium jeans?

Target Corp. showed a 3.1% swell as “guests responded to clearance prices on holiday inventory,” said Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel in a statement. Analysts had anticipated a 1.7% increase.

“Our guests continue to shop with discipline in the face of a slow economic recovery and new pressures, including recent payroll tax increases,” he said.  

Consumer confidence slid in January to its lowest level since November 2011 amid increasing pessimism over business conditions, according to the Conference Board last week.

Kohl’s Corp. said that its efforts to clear seasonal merchandise and a 59% surge in e-commerce sales last month helped bring its same-store sales up 13.3%.

Macy’s Inc. was so heartened by its “outstanding” 11.7% advance in January that it raised its earnings forecast for its fourth fiscal quarter, which it will report on Feb. 26.

The retailer, which also owns the Bloomingdale’s brand, said its online sales boomed 48.9% last month. The company now predicts fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.94 to $1.99, up from its earlier projection of $1.91 to $1.96 per share.

Thomson Reuters’ figures don’t include sales data from behemoths such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. Both Macy’s and Target have said they will stop reporting monthly numbers after January.

Separately from the Thomson Reuters report, Anthropologie and Free People owner Urban Outfitters Inc. said comparable sales from stores were flat for its fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. Without consumer returns -- likely from unwanted gifts -- the figure would have risen several percentage points, the company said.  

Retail analyst Ken Perkins, who puts out another sales report through Retail Metrics Inc., said shopper traffic slowed in the final 10 days of the month as holiday sales waned and temperatures stayed frigid.

“Retailers began to transition floor sets to early spring merchandise, which got off to a slow start in part due to cool weather across the country,” he wrote in an email.

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Postal Service seeks to end Saturday mail delivery

Postal Service to Cut Saturday Mail

By Michael Muskal

February 6, 2013, 8:34 a.m.

The U.S. Postal Service, struggling under a financial load and facing tough competition, will stop delivering mail on Saturdays beginning this summer, officials announced.

The announcement, which had been expected, is seen as an attempt to force Congress to deal with the Postal Service's increasing financial woes. Congress has tried to reorganize the agency, but efforts have been derailed because of politics.

Material prepared for a Wednesday news conference by Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe says that Postal Service market research and other research has indicated that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the agency to reduce costs.

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"The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's changing mailing habits," Donahoe said. "We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings."

The Postal Service contends that it has the authority to cut back service, though some in Congress insist that lawmakers have the final word. In any case, the announcement is expected to move the issue to a front burner.

According to postal officials, the end of Saturday delivery would begin on Aug. 1. The service said it will continue to deliver packages on Saturdays.

Ending Saturday service is estimated to save the agency about $2 billion a year. Officials said it lost about $16 billion in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30 -- about three times the loss it had a year ago.

The proposal comes as the agency has closed post offices and changed procedures to try to stem its hemorrhaging of billions of dollars in recent years. More people have been turning to alternatives to traditional mail service, including electronic tools such as email and outside competitors such as Fed Ex, both of which have seriously cut into the Postal Service's erstwhile monopoly.

Congress in recent years has prohibited the Postal Service from dropping Saturday mail delivery, but the initial response to Wednesday's announcement was more accepting of what might be inevitable.

"This common-sense reform would save the Postal Service more than $2 billion annually," two top Republicans, Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, said in a statement.

"In his recent inaugural address, President Obama spoke about the need to find real solutions to our nation’s problems. Supporting the U.S. Postal Service's plan to move forward with 5-day mail delivery is one such solution worthy of bipartisan support," they said.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chaired by Issa, agreed that action was needed, but questioned whether the Postal Service could act alone.

"The Postal Service's declining mail volume poses a significant challenge, and the enactment of comprehensive postal reform legislation must be an urgent priority for the current Congress," Cummings said in a statement. “However, the issue of service delivery frequency should be addressed in that legislation rather than through arbitrary action by the Postal Service.”

Recent national polls show that a majority of respondents support ending Saturday mail delivery, and Obama has proposed halting such service as part of his budget-cutting proposals. Though the Postal Service is a quasi-governmental, self-funding entity, its worker compensation and retirement plans are tied to the federal budget.

Lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully for years to overhaul the Postal Service, but efforts have fallen victim to different needs in different areas. Representatives of rural areas tend to argue that traditional mail delivery is needed, a position backed by magazine publishers and other heavy users of the Postal Service.

The president of the National Assn. of Letter Carriers, Fredric Rolando, said in a statement that the end of Saturday mail delivery is "a disastrous idea that would have a profoundly negative effect on the Postal Service and on millions of customers,” particularly businesses, rural communities, the elderly, the disabled and others who depend on Saturday delivery for commerce and communication.

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Times staff writers Richard Simon and Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report.

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