Their support for KQED Public Radio is based on their belief that an informed
citizenry is the cornerstone of democracy. As reflected through this gift, the Shrem’s are committed to a life of
education and culture for themselves and for everyone regardless of age, economics, or geography. As Maria noted,
“We cannot live without music. We cannot live without information and education. No matter your age, you never stop learning. We believe KQED directly reflects our priorities and we hope others join us in supporting the impact it has in our
community.”
ABOUT KQED
KQED has served Northern California for more than 50 years and is affiliated with NPR and PBS. KQED owns and operates public television stations KQED 9 (San Francisco/Bay Area), KQED Plus (San Jose/Bay Area) and KQET 25 (Watsonville/Monterey); KQED Public Radio (88.5 FM San Francisco and 89.3 FM Sacramento); the interactive platforms kqed.org and KQEDnews.org; and KQED Education. KQED Public Television is the producer of local and national series such as QUEST; Check,
Please! Bay Area; This Week in Northern California; Truly CA and Essential Pépin. KQED’s digital television stations include KQED 9, KQED Plus, KQED Life, KQED World, KQED Kids and KQED V-me, and are available 24/7 on Comcast. KQED Public Radio, home of Forum and The California Report, is one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the nation with an award-winning news and public affairs program service delivering more than eighteen local weekday newscasts and news features. KQED Interactive provides KQED’s cross-platform news service, KQEDnews.org, as well as several popular local blogs, video and audio podcasts, and a live radio stream at kqed.org. KQED Education brings the impact of KQED to
thousands of teachers, students, parents and the general public through workshops, community screenings and multimedia resources.
ABOUT JAN SHREM
Jan Shrem is the proprietor of Clos Pegase Winery in California's Napa Valley. Born of Jewish-Lebanese heritage in Colombia, Mr. Shrem grew up in Jerusalem from the age of 2 and moved to the United States at age 16 to finish high school and attend college. While studying for his Master's Degree at UCLA, he made a visit to Japan and ended up staying there for 13 years, creating a successful publishing business which he continued in Europe. He eventually sold the business to pursue his passion for wine and art, studying enology at the University of Bordeaux before returning to California to create his 450-acre wine estate, Clos Pegase. His passion for wine and art is reflected in the winery, which features a signature building by Michael Graves, twenty thousand
square feet of aging caves, and an art collection of nearly one thousand works. Mr. Shrem is a member of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Director’s Circle, the board of the Family Winemakers of California and is a founding member of Festival del Sole. He has chaired numerous charity wine and art auctions for a wide range of non-profit organizations and has hosted or contributed to hundreds of fundraisers for museums, universities, and wine societies with his humorous lecture, “Bacchus the Rascal: A Bacchanalian History of Wine Seen Through 4000 Years of Art.”
ABOUT MARIA MANETTI SHREM
Maria Manetti Shrem is an international businesswoman and patron of the arts. She was born in Florence, Italy and then moved to the United States in 1973, making her home in Northern California. She maintains residences in San Francisco, Napa Valley and in Florence, Italy. In the 1980s, Ms. Manetti Shrem revolutionized the high-end designer accessory market by creating and managing United States and Canadian distribution lines for premium leather goods, including legendary producers Gucci, Fendi and Mark Cross. For more than a decade, her business, with a staff of 120 employees, operated at the highest levels throughout the retail world, anticipating and setting trends with remarkable success. Her prescience foresaw an industry downturn which led her to leave the business at a highpoint of her career and return “to the earth” where she owns and personally manages Villa Mille Rose, a 60-acre estate in Napa Valley replete with vineyards, olive and fruit orchards, and flower and vegetable gardens. Ms. Manetti Shrem is a grower and collector of fine wines, and produces upscale Balsamic Vinegar and Tuscan Style Extra Virgin Olive Oil that has won the Gold Medal at the Los Angeles County Fair for the last ten years. Her olive oil is now served at some of the country’s top restaurants, including the French Laundry in Yountville and its sister restaurant, Per Se in New York. Ms. Manetti Shrem is involved in numerous philanthropic, civic and performing arts organizations throughout the cities of San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Florence, London, Paris and St. Petersburg, Russia.
