VP Kamala Harris leaves her mark on Applied Materials building

I haven’t heard if Vice President Kamala Harris got to take home a souvenir from her visit Monday to Applied Materials in Sunnyvale, but she definitely left one for the Silicon Valley company to remember her by.

Harris signed her name to a 150-pound cylinder made of 99.999% pure silicon — the same material sliced into thin wafers during semiconductor manufacturing — surrounded by Applied CEO Gary Dickerson, Semiconductor Group President Prabu Raja, California Go-Biz Director DeeDee Myers and Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. Leaning big time into its Silicon Valley image, Applied officials thought launching the new Epic Center with a “silicon cornerstone” was a lot more cutting edge than turning over some dirt with shovels.

The “cornerstone” won’t actually be hidden in the foundation of the building but will be incorporated into the building’s design in such a way that visitors will be able to see it and Harris’ signature.

By the way, the huge crowd at Monday’s event included more than just business leaders, elected officials and employees from both Applied Materials and the city of Sunnyvale. Siobhan Kenney, director of Global Community Affairs at Applied, invited many leaders of nonprofit groups and foundations that Applied works with and funds.

CENTENARIAN CELEBRATION: The Marines landed at Rustica Winery in Salinas last week for Ed Cavallini’s 100th birthday, which is only fitting since Cavallini is a retired Marine captain who fought at Iwo Jima during World War II. But it wasn’t Cavallini’s wartime experience but his devotion to the Milpitas library that made him beloved locally. He was the librarian in Milpitas for more than two decades until his retirement in 2000, and at his birthday celebration last Tuesday, he received a plaque with the key to the city from the Milpitas City Council.

Library work was a family affair for the Cavallinis. His wife of 74 years, Jeanne — who died in 2019 at age 94 — spent 25 years as a librarian in the San Jose Public Library system. The party guests included San Jose residents Dana and Linda Arbaugh — Cavallini was a mentor to Linda, who succeeded him as Milpitas’ head librarian until her own retirement in 2014.

THE WRITE STUFF: It’s a big week for Bay Area graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang. “American Born Chinese,” his 2006 graphic novel,” has been adapted into an Apple+ series that debuts May 24 and stars Ben Wang and recent Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. And on May 30, he’ll be at Books Inc. in Campbell to celebrate the publication of “The Books of Clash, Vol. 1,” the first of an eight-part series.

Yang will be in conversation with writers James Park and Ben Costa, who are co-authors of “Dungeoneer Adventures.” The free event starts at 7 p.m. at the PruneYard location.

HEROES HONORED: May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and you might have seen all the people dressed in red shirts a couple of weekends ago for the Stroke Awareness Foundation’s annual Fight Stroke Walk.  As part of this month’s activities, the American Heart Association announced this year’s Stroke Hero Award recipients, and two of the six honorees are from the Bay Area.