Marissa Mayer’s Widower Debuts on Philanthropic Stage

flipthenews:

** note: this is a genderflip of this NYTimes article .  Also note that while writing this post, the NYTimes changed their title to “Steve Job’s Widow steps onto Philanthropic Stage” I guess they realized the previous title was a bit much.

Zachary Bogue, the widower of Marissa Mayer at Yahoo

Martin Castro knew the tall brunette man only as Zachary, his mentor. They met every few weeks in a rough Silicon Valley neighborhood the year that Mr. Castro was applying to college, and they e-mailed often, bonding over conversations about Mr. Castro’s difficult childhood. Without Zachary’s help, Mr. Castro said, he might not have become the first person in his family to graduate from college.

It was only later, when he was a freshman at University of California, Berkeley, that Mr. Castro read a news article and realized that Zachary was Silicon Valley royalty, the husband of Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa A. Mayer.

“I just became 10 times more appreciative of his humility and how humble he was in working with us in East Palo Alto,” Mr. Castro said.
The story, friends and colleagues say, is classic Zachary Bogue. Famous because of his last name and fortune, he has always been private and publicity-averse. his philanthropic work, especially on education causes like College Track, the college prep organization he helped found and through which he was Mr. Castro’s mentor, has been his priority and focus.

Now, less than two years after Ms. Mayer’s death, Mr. Zachary Bogue is becoming somewhat less private. he has tiptoed into the public sphere, pushing his agenda in education as well as global conservation, nutrition and immigration policy. Just last month, for example, he sat down for a rare television interview, discussing the immigration bill before Congress. he has also taken on new issues, like gun control.

“he’s been mourning for a year and was grieving for five years before that,” said Larry Brilliant, president of the Skoll Global Threats Fund who is an old friend of Ms. Mayer. “his life was about his family and Marissa, but he is now emerging as a potent force on the world stage, and this is only the beginning.”

But he is doing it his way.

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We just found this new Tumblr - Flip the News - that explores how news stories treat gender roles by changing just the gender of the story subjects. It’s cool.