DEBBIE BANCROFT by chronicles
Between the Covers
A season of smart parties for new authors
Ikind of like this limbo period— post-holidaymadness, pre-spring’s dizzying onslaught of pastel parties. It’s gray, snowy, quiet. Almost black-tie free. And what
better to do in hibernation (and on
planes, fleeing for spring break) but read?
And frankly, after a sea of locked-in,
seated dinners, where one is rarely
rewarded with two good dinner partners
(nay, rarely one), how liberating to
mingle, willy-nilly, among smart people
who read . . . and write!
“Charlie’s Angels” Jennifer Maguire
Isham, Kayce Freed Jennings, Priscilla
Rattazzi and the newly-married
Eleanora Kennedy (she and Michael
renewed their vows in a Catholic
ceremony—her deathbed promise to her
mother) hosted a party at Priscilla’s
lovely townhouse for Charles Glass and
his new book, Americans in Paris, the
overlooked story of the 5,000 Americans
who remained in the city during the
Nazi occupation.
It’s called “engrossing” (The Economist)
and a “fascinating and absorbing account”
(The Sunday Times of London) of passion,
adventure, intrigue, deceit and survival.
Pithy, important, critically hailed and, oh,
did I mention that the author is drop-dead
handsome, California-bred, British-accented (raised there—no phony stuff),
currently lives in Paris and . . . single?
There’s more—he’s also a hero. Chris
Isham told me that when Glass was ABC’s
Chief Middle East Correspondent in
Lebanon, he was captured by Shia
militants and held for 62 days. “My
God! How did he escape?” I gushed,
already preening for a Charlie’s Angels
membership. “The guard fell asleep.
He walked out.” Very smooth. Very
Bond—or Charlie.
Other fans include: Vartan Gregorian,
Rick Kaplan, Clara Bingham, Carolina
and Reinaldo Herrera, Nick McDonell,
Goldie Hawn and Charles Glass
William Weld and Leslie Marshall,
Catie Marron, Virginia Coleman
and Peter Duchin, Priscilla’s husband
Chris Whittle, Clifford Ross and my
new, very best friend, Goldie Hawn. Her
partner Kurt Russell’s father (who,
incidentally, was the sheriff in
“Bonanza”) was great friends with
Charlie’s parents, and the friendship
moved down the generations.
Goldie was in New York doing work
on behalf of The Hawn Foundation,
which is pioneering new approaches
to classroom education through
integrating neuroscience and the latest
social and emotional learning
techniques—think calm, quiet, focused,
confident students even in the toughest
schools. Amazing, as is Goldie.
