Morris Katz |
Fast
Draw
 ORRIS
KATZ is the world's fastest painter. He made 103 paintings in 12
consecutive hours. Morris set a marathon record July 15, 1987, at the
Penta Hotel in New York City. He is found in Ripley's Believe or
Not and Guiness World Book of Records.
He is considered
a "realistic impressionistic" modern artist. He paints
with palette knife and crushed pads of paper including toilet paper.
I met him at Ellen
Liebenthal's bat mitzvah party at the Lawrence Club in Lawrence,
Long Island.
He painted
nonstop for hours delighting all the children and the adults on hand.
He also thrilled the staff of the Lawrence Club as well. And I was
lucky to get a painting, too.
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Writing
And Writers
 OUBLES
at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in Manhattan was the place to be as
Marymount Manhattan College celebrated the 15th anniversary of the
Writing Center with a private dinner.
Lewis Burke
Frumkes was master of ceremonies. He’s a fabulous writer,
commentator and director of the Writing Center.
I met Lewis
many years ago from public relations guru Mildred Vigderhouse.
At that time he was asking everyone what his or her favorite
word was. Then he became director of the Writing Center at Marymount.
Since then he has created a powerhouse of courses, special seminars
and a fabulous annual conference. And yes, I was a speaker
at one of the conferences.
So on this
special evening, two incredible writers were honored. They were Susan
Isaacs and Clementina (otherwise known as Tina) Santi
Flaherty. Lewis made us all smile when he said that Susan wasn't
Arnold Scassi (the designer) spelled backwards.
There was a
gorgeous cake celebrating these ladies as well as past honor
recipients. Literary guest names were also listed on this cake. I
hoped that someone could have framed the cake.
The who's who
of writers gracing each table included Tony Hedra, Dan Greenburg,
Erica Jong, Mary and Carol Higgins Clark, Frank and Malachy
McCourt, Tama Janowitz, Dominick Dunne, Barbara Taylor
Bradford, John Simon, Alan Furst, and Grace Chang.
It was also
great to meet Patty Marx, Bel Kaufman, Joan and John Jakobson,
Alana, Roy Amber and Timothy Frumkes, and
countless others. I wonder what the sweet sixteen
writing center anniversary will be?
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Jeff and Liz Peek |
Maria Bartoromo |
Ann Slater |
Cathy Hardwick |
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Roger Berlind |
Supporting
At-Risk Kids
 IZ
and Jeff Peek's fabulous Park Avenue penthouse was the
setting for a fabulous Edwardian party celebrating 100 years of
love and 100 years of Partnership with Children.
The Partnership
with Children, under executive director Michelle Sidrane, has a
unique school-based program called Open Heart-Open Mind. It supports
over 8,000 children whose difficult life circumstances put them at
high risk for academic failure by placing full time social work teams
in under-performing schools to support children.
The evening
called for pink, and pink is my favorite color. So I chose a romantic
pink gown, looking very Edwardian indeed.
Partygoers wore
riding jackets and velvet, long dresses, baubles, sequins, top hats
and white gloves. They were just terrific. I felt right at home. Liz
and Jeff thought of everything. And the food was just yummy.
Among the guests
were Maria Bartoromo, Jonathan Steinberg, Ann Slater, Cathy
Hardwick, Roger Berlind, Carl McCall, Howard Kissel, Roger Berlind,
Lynn White, Jonathan Marder, Richard Turley, Pat Lovejoy, Monty
Blanchard, Susan Cheever, Al Hurley, John Heimann and Dr. Joyce
Brown.
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Cover
