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| The Statue of Liberty. 9:30 PM. Photo: Jeffrey Hirsch. |
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| Monday, July 8, 2013. Very hot weekend in New York. The kind of heat that just won’t go away. You’d walk outside after dark and it was swarming warm. Back inside. I stayed in town over the weekend, which I am happy to do because the calendar is blank and the time can be spent reading or doing nothing – which is a challenge even when I’m doing it. Nothing. I’m reading a book by George Packer called “The Unwinding; An Inner History of the New America.” I had read a review of it in the Times which wasn’t entirely positive but made me curious as to what the author was going to talk about, and in what way. Would it be statistics and economic theory or political rants? If so, Zzzzzz.
So it wasn’t the kind of book I thought it might be (stats, etc.) and I find myself wanting to do nothing but read it. It’s a documentary, a movie, in some ways like a watching a train wreck and a car wreck you knew was going to happen because you knew the engineer who was always busy elsewhere, and car’s driver was texting on his cell instead of watching the signs on the road. But it’s uniquely American. It’s Steinbeck re-visited with its own rich texture that we all know as citizens of this extraordinary country and culture. A friend of mine referred to this sort of thing as “pessimistic.” I know what he meant because the news isn’t “good news,” mainly. But that’s life: the news often isn’t good. But we’re still here and so maybe there’s a chance that we can do something about it. Something good. That’s what July 4th was always all about; something good, something worth celebrating. |
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| Meanwhile, out in Wainscott, Charlie and Susan Calhoun Moss hosted an annual 4th of July luncheon for their friend Peter Brown who became an American citizen 17 years ago. Peter was born in Britain. At this time in his life, he is an extremely influential public relations executive handling a lot of famous clients, many of whom prefer staying out of the news, so don’t even ask; celebrities, royal personages, etc. I don’t know him well although I often see him at Michael’s where he usually occupies a table next to the table I usually occupy. Back in the days of '60s rock and roll and the Beatles, the Stones and Elton John, and the British invasion, Peter was there. He knows everybody, rockers, royals, bankers, writers, and his neighbors. You can see by the pictures that it was a very “at home” kind of luncheon with a long table occupied by longtime friends. |
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| The Moss' house also has an interesting history, as it was once the local Post Office, built in 1880, way back when the world was different and everybody had a lot less energy available, no cars, no phones, no lights, and hardly any technology, so messages were sent by taking pen in hand. But that was then. Now the house, having been uprooted – in 1978 – like the rest of us, overlooks the sea (and Wainscott Pond), and meadows and trees of green. It had its day as a post office and now is vitally involved in sheltering mirth and joy, and all the other things that go on under domestic shingled roofs. A perfect example of what I meant by “something good.” |
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| Back to the Mosses, the hosts. Each year at this luncheon, Charlie reads from The Declaration of Independence. Always good to remind what our Forefathers had in mind. The luncheon included Paige Peterson, Peter Brown, Imogen Lloyd Webber, Christopher Hewat, Jamison Hewat, Fred Shuman, Stephanie Shuman, Fred Seegal, Robyn Seegal, Bonnie Chajet, Clive Chajet, Annie Gwynne Vaughan, Morgan Silver Greenberg, Carol Ryan, Ed Victor, John Loeffler, Debbie Loeffler, Don Weiss, Allison Weiss, Bob Cochran, Suzanne Cochran and Murray Nossel. |
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Other good news from across the sea: Thursday a week ago at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, UK, our friend Harry Benson was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. Coincidentally, Harry and Peter Brown came into their professional lives on similar turf.
In all those years Harry (who even went with George Harrison on his honeymoon), has photographed every President from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama. He’s marched with (and photographed) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., photographed the riots in Watts, the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Berlin Wall as it was being built and as it was being torn down. He was with Senator Robert F. Kennedy that fateful night at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when he was murdered and in the meantime photographed scores of famous stars and even Michael Jackson in his bedroom. He’s even photographed me for God sakes. |
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| Harry is indefatigable, full of mirth and full of beans. He’s a longtime, good American but also a Scotsman by birth and sensibility (and quite a bit of that accent if you listen carefully – as he’s more a listener than a talker. A few years ago, The Queen awarded him a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). I know he was very touched to have received that honor. Nevertheless, he still lives here in New York on the Upper East Side with Gigi, that Texas girl he met way back when. Gigi is his rock, and the mother of his daughters. |
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