Reviews and Revels

Dark and stormy sunset. 6:15 PM. Photo: JH.

A beautiful sunny Spring day in New York. Not warm, but chipper. We are in the last few days of the pear trees in blossom. In a day or so the white flowers will suddenly morph into tiny fresh green leaves, reminding how nature is startling and always changing, never waiting for us.

However, I’m in love with the pears in their current state. I feel like so many of the tourists who come to the city and just take lotsa pictures of anything – the streets, the buildings, each other. I feel compelled to take pictures of the pears. The two I got yesterday were of an apartment building on 89th and York. Not an architectural beauty by any stretch, however ... with those graceful and delicate trees in bloom everything changes for the best. When people tell me they think I’m a pessimist, I think of the pears: they return every year at this time, providing their sensational beauty and a reminder that is hardly pessimistic.

However. There was the luncheon at Guastavino’s – the First Annual Luncheon and Educational Panel to benefit the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). It’s good news, and it’s not anything most of us want to hear (the bad news). It’s about “organic” and why it is necessary. It is a matter of life and death.

The pear trees in bloom.

There was an “organic” luncheon which everyone raved about. Christie Brinkley told everyone about her organic garden that she’s had for twenty years now, feeding her children with its bounty. She told how she’d learned all about “pest management control,” soil management, weed management.

Then the panel was engaged: Anna Lappe, co-host of PBS’ "The Endless Feast," Dr. Woodsen Merrell, MD, Chairman of Integrative Medicine ate the Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York; Peter Hoffman, chef of Savoy and Back Forty and national chair of the Chefs Collaborative which supports local and organic foods; Scott Chaskey of the Peconic Land Trust who has farmed for 18 years at Quail Hill Farm, one of the original Community Supported Agricultural Farms (CSA – you’ll be hearing more and more about them), and Kathy Lawrence, founder of Just Food.

These matters are on the edge of mainstream although we’re not there yet. But that’s where we’re going. One of interesting things about all the panelists was their knowledge and certainty that we can not only survive but greatly improve the way we feed ourselves. An organization like NOFA is a community effort. It is the beginning of a groundswell. How quickly it will be perceived as a possible life-saving, health-preserving, economically realistic solution, remains to be seen. But it will be.


	Christie Brinkley talking about her organic garden

NOFA-NY is a non-profit whose members are dedicated to establishing economically viable local organic agriculture. It supports farmers, gardeners and consumers who are working to create an accessible, regional food supply that is fresh, healthy and available to everyone.

I grew up right after the Second World War when millions of Americans had gardens for fruits and vegetables. They started during the War, were called Victory Gardens and they were commonplace. Most of the food we ate came from the areas in which we lived. Listening to the panelists today I could only think we are going back there. We are going to have to. Except this time it will also have to be cleaner, pesticide free. First of all, we know more. Because otherwise, we’re finished.

So this was an important lunch. The panel talked about our health, our diets. Dr. Merrell told us that obesity is epidemic and so is diabetes, and especially in children and in the lower-income classes. The two most consumed vegetable items in the American diet are French Fried Potatoes and Tomato Ketchup. He also said that although he wasn’t vegan, the more plants we can eat, the better off we will be because the plants contain all the nutrients we need.

The planet has entered a phase of food and water shortage that is poised on the edge of catastrophe in terms of economics, public health, and social stability. This statement may strike you as pessimistic. You might say, “I prefer to be optimist.” We could all prefer that. It is difficult to comprehend circumstances so threatening but we are going to have that opportunity. Many will become actively involved, like the members of NOFA.

Well, now that I’ve made your day, let me add that Dr. Merrell, who is a general practitioner here in New York, with a very enthusiastic and loyal following of patients, said that if you take nothing else, a fish oil pill a day would be very good for you.

And visit NOFA’s web site: www.NOFANY.org [1]. This is very important. We will all be talking about this more and more.

Sharon Bush, Laura Remington Platt, Christine Schott, and Lauren Bush

Sharon Handler and Dr. Woodsen Merrell

Big crowd listening. Among the guests: Minot and Victoria Amory, Pepe Fanjul, Christie Brinkley, Bobby and Mary Kennedy, Lauren Bush, Sharon Bush, Catherine Cahill and Bill Bernhard, Casrol Higgins Clark, Ann Colley, Maria Cuomo Cole, Nicole Miller, Tracy Snyder, Mary Pop Hutson, Eve Combemale, Judy Gordon Cox, Marisol de la Begassiere Bocly, LuAnn de Lesseps, Christine de Lisle and Ken Klein, Caroline Dean, Teresa Melhado, Gigi Mortimer, Debbie Loeffler, Rex and Connie Farr, John and Olivia Farr, Baerberi Paull Felt, Annabelle Mariaca, Helen Cutting Fitzgerald, Louise Eastman, Nadia Sztendera, Sondra Gilman, Susan Gray, Jamee Gregory, Amanda Hearst, Gilbert and Toby Heller, Henry and Leila Heller, Mary Hilliard, Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels, Fernanda Gilligan, Kick Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy III, Sheila Kotur, Margo Langenberg, April Gow, Jeanne Lawrence, Doug and Anki Leeds, Sandra McConnell and Chris Obetz, Dr. Woodson Merrell, Fernanda Niven, Ann Rapp, Wendy Sarasohn, Stephanie Stokes, Barbara Tober, Mary Van Pelt.

Last night at Cipriani 42nd Street, the Paris Review held its annual “Revel” gala benefit. This used to be a small affair of authors, editors, friends, family, led by the late George Plimpton and his associates (which included Peter Mattheissen).


Frank McCourt presented Peter Mattheissen with the Paris Review Award, the "hadada," named after Gerge Plimpton's favorite bird.

It is basically a party of writers with lotsa talk, and wine and mirth. Now it is also big. There were 594 guests. Felix Rohatyn who had something to do with it, announced that they’d raised $910,000 for the Paris Review – the literary magazine that Plimpton, Mattheissen et al started 55 years ago in Paris. The Paris Review gained status, mystique, helped many writers into publishing, and never made any money. In the past few years, and especially since George Plimpton’s passing, a lot of people have got behind it, like my host last night, James Goodale. They’ve turned the evening into a hot ticket.

There were lots of celebrated writers present. And a few other celebrities, as well as lawyers and bankers and media junkies. They were crowded, almost jammed in with a more-the-merrier attitude. There was no entertainment and very little of the speechifying, just people gabbing away. Writers like to talk (oh, you’ve noticed?)

Frank McCourt introduced the “honoree” Peter Mattheissen. It was an amusing introduction, a kind “roast” en brogue with McCourt’s Irish and his droll attitude about his friend, very inside but outside too. Then Philip Gourevitch, the editor of the Review interviewed Mr. Mattheissen about his life, his books and interests.

The dress was “festive” -- most of the women were quite dressy and most of the men were in suit and tie. The atmosphere wasn’t unlike the luncheon earlier in the day – all of these bright people, curious people, reading people, prominent New Yorkers, ambitious New Yorkers, considering the good life, the better life. Fun.

Among the Revelers: Hilton Als, Victoria Anstead and Tom Guinzberg, Jesse Ball, Russell Banks, Peter and Patricia Birch Becker, Joan Bingham, Wendy and Henry Breck, George and Alison Brokaw, Wendy Carduner, Chris Cerf, Robert Silvers, Boykin Curry and Celerie Kemble, Ruda Dauphin, Don DeLillo, Kiran Desai, Joan Didion, John Dizard, Jill Krementz, Jenny Allen and Jules Pfeiffer, Ed and Helen Doctorow, John and Jodie Eastman, Jason Epstein, Judy Miller, Leslie Feely, Jonathan Safran Foer, Amanda Foreman, Patsy and Bruce Jay Friedman, Caroline Seebohm, Andre and Susan Aciman, Dee and Nelson Aldrich, Sylvia and Carlos Fuentes, Stephen and Minnie Mortimer Gahan, Hannah Pakula, Nicole Miller, Marina Galesi, Nina Garcia, Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzales Falla, Toni and James Goodale, Nan and Gay Talese, Jacqueline and Peter Gourevitch, Gary and Diane Fisketjon, Frances Fitzgerald, Karl and Ann Taylor Flemming, Cathy and Stephen Graham, Tinsley and Topper Mortimer, David and Shelley Wanger Mortimer, Tom Brokaw, Russell and Anne Byers, Abigail and Cass Canfield Jr., Honor Moore, Tom Scheerer, Kati Marton, Louise Grunwald, John Guare, Anne Hearst and Jay McInerney, Rick Hertzberg, Mary and Bill Weld, Felix and Elizabeth Rohatyn, Moira Hodgson, Jim and Kathy Hoge, Veronique Pittman, Medora, Taylor and Sarah Dudley Plimpton, Annie and Ed Pressman, Laura and Richard Price, A.M. Homes, Taki Theodoracopulos, Lynn Nesbit, John Huey, Ala and Ralph Isham, Jean Kennedy Smith, William Kennedy Smith, Donald, Ezra and Virginia Zilkha Ellen and Frank McCourt, Stacey and Terry McDonell, Rory Kennedy, Joan Ganz Cooney and Pete Peterson, Paige Peterson, Tony Kiser, Lewis Lapham, Sasha Lazard and Michael Mailer, Harrison LeFrak, Jonathan Lethem, Wendy Luers, Luke, Maria, Alex and Peter Matthiessen, Michael and Sandy Meehan, Georgina Schaeffer, Peter Melhado, Ann and Philip Miller, Karenna Gore Schiff, Alexandra, Susanna, Paula, Phoebe, Tom and Rose Styron, Mary Wallace, Gail and Kevin Buckley, Vicky Ward and Matt Doule.