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| Columbus Avenue. 6:30 PM. Photo: JH. |
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| Friday, May 23, 2014, and the beginning of the holiday weekend that calls out to summertime. All you Geminis can come out now; it’s your time. The Sun’s not out (and the weatherman is predicting more rain). An astrologer once told me that people born under the sign of Gemini love “information” no matter what it is. I’ve got more than a little bit of that in me too. When I was a little one, one of my aunts used to call me “Scoop” because I’d repeat the next morning at the breakfast table what I’d heard the adults talking about in the other room the night before (while I was safely under the covers and presumably asleep). Of course I had no idea what they were talking about, but I could often repeat words and phrases (having no idea what they meant), which always amused the grownups. I only knew the value of the words by their vocal reactions (laughter, etc.) In many ways it’s still like this in my life.
I had a lunch date with a friend who (it turned out) had another date in his calendar. I didn’t know this when I sat down at table at 1:15. I figured he was, like me, very late because the traffic in midtown, which was practically at a standstill above 59th Street, no matter the route you took. Michael’s was abuzz, as usual. At the table on one side of me was Glenn Horowitz with Howell Raines, former Executive Editor of the New York Times. On the other side of them was mediabistro.com’s Diane Clehane lunching with Dr. Philip Romero, the family therapist who is launching a new web site. On the other side of me was Montel Williams and Ghislaine Maxwell; and next to them was Joy Behar with the recently retired (or retiring) Barbara Walters. I’m one of those people who believes Barbara Walters is not retiring. Why should she? Age? What has that got to do with it? Contracts? Who cares? Audience? She’s always got one; that’s her ace. |
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| Meanwhile back at the tables: next to Behar-Walters (and another woman whom I didn’t know) Sigourney Weaver was deep in conversation with a woman whom someone identified as an agent. On the other side of them: Stan Shuman of Allen & Co. Across the aisle was author and distinguished plastic surgeon Dr. Jerry Imber with Jerry Della Femina and Michael Kramer. And in the bay at table one, Bonnie Fuller of hollywoodlife.com and Penske Media’s Gerry Byrne, were hosting their (almost every) Wednesday luncheon for a group of guests. Around the room: Mickey Ateyeh with Julie Browne; Emily Smith of Page Six with Robert Zimmerman; literary agent Luke Janklow; Elizabeth Harrison of Harrison Shriftman, with Kate Betts; Quest’s Chris Meigher with Jim Mitchell; John Sykes of Clear Channel Media; Bob Friedman of Bungalow Media; Jim Abernathy;Paris Vogue’se-i-c Emmanuelle Alt with Joan Juliet Buck; Matt Rich with Eva Roosevelt; Euan Rellie; Jay Fielden, e-i-c of Town & Country; David Poltrack of CBS News; Anthony Shriver; business advisor Lewis Korman; Lynn Nesbit of Janklow and Nesbit; Christine Varney with Kevin Sheekey; Rich Gelfond of IMAX; Fern Mallis with designer Tracy Reese; investment banker Bob Towbin of Stephens, Inc.; Stephen Greenberg of Allen & Co.; Tom Goodman with Peter Costiglio of LexisNexis; Eric Shawn of Fox News; and dozens more whom I didn’t see or didn’t know to recognize. And then about one-thirty, when I realized my lunch date most likely wasn’t going to show, who should come into the restaurant but my friends writer Tracey Jackson (Mrs. Glenn Horowitz) and Paul Williams, who have just completed a book “Gratitude and Trust; Six Affirmations That Will Change Your Life,” which is being published this Fall by Blue Rider Press. They sat down at my table, the talk began, and all was well at the Wednesday Michael’s lunch for this reporter. |
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Thursdays in New York, before holiday weekends (3 days) become the “first” day of the long weekend for a lot of New Yorkers who are getting out of town. The Hamptons crowd is about to settle in for the summer. Within a couple of weeks when the schools let out, a lot of families will be moving out there for the duration. And the city will quieter in certain neighborhoods, and busier in others (for the tourists).
John and I share an ongoing vivid interest in history and families. Every month or two we lunch together and I always manage to learn something about New York and people that is new (and John manages to hear out my copious opinions on life, politics, finance and people, as well as share his experiences and insights). He himself is a scion of one of the great banking families of the New York 20th century, as well as being directly related to several other distinguished New York families who were known in New York mid-century as “Our Crowd” – specifically German-Jewish families whose great fortunes were made in the late 19th and early 20th century in Europe and New York and other parts of the country. These families used their fortunes for great philanthropies building hospitals, neighborhood houses, libraries, schools and universities as well as funding museums (The Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue and 91st Street was originally the home of Felix and Frieda Schiff Warburg).
He and his wife born Frances Lehman, (known as Peter), were major benefactors of Harvard for decades, funding programs, departments, scholarships and finally bequeathing the college $70.4 million. John has also seen a slice of New York and a time that came just before me, so there is great interest to share. Although yesterday we were talking about the current state of affairs in the city and its citizens. Meanwhile, at the table just around the corner, in the bay Lesley Stahl and Norah O’Donnell were hosting a small lunch for the friend Cynthia McFadden to celebrate her move to NBC after 20 years at ABC. Cynthia officially starts on Monday when she’ll be sitting in for Brian Williams on the nightly news. |
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