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Sunday
in Central Park.
3:00 PM. Photo: JH.
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Sunday
was a beautiful autumn day in New York where the
air was just chilly enough to inspire a sweater – although
most of us were fine without one.
Dwelling in the Place of Possibility. Last
Thursday night at the Waldorf the United Nations Association of
the United
States of America held their annual Global Leadership Awards dinner
celebrating “Initiatives in Education. Honorees were Oprah
Winfrey with the 2004 Global Humanitarian Action Award,
and Joan
Ganz Cooney and Pete Peterson (husband and wife in real
life) were honored with the Global Leadership Award.
This annual dinner is one of my favorites. Their honored guests are
always people of great public achievement who have something valuable
to share with the guests. This year’s got started earlier than
usual – at six p.m. so as to finish in time for people to get
out to hear and see the Presidential Campaign debate between Senator
Kerry and President Bush.
There were a lot of prominent New Yorkers present in the Grand Ballroom
of the Waldorf. The head table consisted of Secretary General of
the UN, Kofi Annan and his wife Nane Annan, Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Joan Ganz Cooney and Pete Peterson, Oprah, Michael Douglas,
Mr. and Mrs. Victor Ganzi, Rajat Kumar Gupta and Mrs. Gupta, Andrea
Joyce, Wendy and William Luers, Carter McClelland, HRH Princess Firyal
of Jordan, Lionel Pincus, David Rockefeller, Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller,
Harry Smith and John C. Whitehead.
Bill Luers, who is President of UNA-USA, opened the evening and introduced
Harry Smith who the world knows as the anchor on the CBS Morning
Show. Smith was followed by Michael Douglas, the movie star, who
is the official UN Messenger of Peace (Mrs. Douglas, the actress
Catherine Zeta-Jones, was not present). After Douglas came Princess
Firyal of Jordan whose title comes from her marriage to the brother
of the late King Hussein of Jordan. She was followed by Carter McClelland
from Bank of America which was an underwriter of the dinner and then
Kofi Annan.
After that list of speakers – although everyone kept it brief – many
were nervous about missing the Debates. About eight o’clock
when the Awards ceremony began. David Rockefeller opened it, introducing
John Whitehead.
Whitehead presented the Awards to Mrs. Cooney and Mr. Peterson. If
you didn’t know, Mrs. Cooney is a co-founder of the Children’s
Television Workshop that has now had a profound effect on two generations
of children all over the world, most famously through their production, “Sesame
Street.”
Mr. Peterson has had a long and distinguished career in finance and
government, serving in Presidential Administrations including the
second Nixon Administration as Secretary of Commerce and in business
as head of a major investment banking house and later as a founder
of the Blackstone Group, a venture capital firm which is hugely successful.
Among the many posts Peterson has held are chairman of the Council
on Foreign Relations, founding chair of the Institute for International
Economics, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and founding
president of the Concord Coalition.
He’s written several books and his latest “Running On
Empty,” is on the New York Times business best-seller list.
The “empty” he refers to is our federal treasury, spending
ourselves into an indebtedness that is not only going to affect the
next generation, but this one right in the room. People are reading
the book, possibly heeding the warnings, but the deaf ears both in
and out of government remain in the overhwhelming majority.
Then came Oprah, introduced by her magazine’s publisher, Victor
Ganzi.
Oprah. I have a friend, whom I first met as an NYSD
reader in California, who is a neighbor of Oprah’s out there.
The whole community was so excited (Montecito) when she’d bought
property. As soon as she moved in, she made a point of getting to
know her
neighbors.
People are usually excited to meet a famous person. A famous neighbor
can be even more titillating. Nothing unusual about that. My friend,
Oprah’s neighbor, is a particularly warm and welcoming individual
as it is. But Oprah made a greater impression. These were my friend’s
words about her, which she wrote to me when I told her I was going
to this dinner:
“
I think I told you she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen
in my life. I mean it ... there is some sort of aura or something
that surrounds her in my mind's eye....and to my vision with my eyes
... I can't describe it ... but it is true. I didn't know 10% of
what she
is and what she does when I first met her "over the fence" ...
and I was struck dumb with her beauty and presence ... literally, could
not speak.”
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The
October issue of O
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At the dinner
last Thursday night, another friend told me about meeting her when
she was first in New York thirty years ago, at the very
beginning of her career (then as an actress). “She had that
aura then,” said my friend. “She wasn’t famous
or anything, but there was just something about her.”
I was anxious to take her picture. There
were dozens of photographers shooting in a reception room outside
the cocktail room. And then
as she was taking her seat, there were more -- mainly guests with
their digitals. She looked radiant. Her beautiful coif was a mass
of shining black curls. She’s fairly tall and although her
manner and her voice are direct, her charisma is not excluding. And
you want to be near her, almost as if you might pick up some of the
vibes.
I asked her if I could take her picture feeling a little self-conscious
about it for the simple reason that she’d been besieged, was
being besieged, and like the rest of us, wanted to sit and get on
with it. I mentioned our mutual friend and she made a smiling remark
about our friend’s property (she has lots of exotic chickens
... no kidding). However, the one and only shot I got was not with
the billion
dollar smile that gives her the movie star looks, for she was in
the middle of talking to me as I snapped. So we decided not to run
it.
If I sound like a besotted fan, I should add that the room – there
were several hundred guests – was full of besotted fans. |
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Cynthia
McFadden
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Gayle
King
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Pete
Peterson
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She
told us about growing up with her grandmother who
was poor but managed to keep her self-respect and to inculcate
her granddaughter with it.
“Oprah Gail,” (her grandmother always called
her by both her names), “If you mind yourself
and act like yourself, the Lord will bless you with good white folks.” Oprah
acknowledged on this night, regretting that her grandmother did not
live to see it, that indeed, the Lord had blessed her with good white
folks, including many who work for her today.
“I am pressed with the work of a high calling – to dwell in the
place of possibility,” she told us. “I help people dwell in the place
of possibility.” I help people dwell in the place of possibility.
She said she was born in the right time, 1954, the time of Brown
Vs. Education. “I felt welcome and validated in school,” she said. “Today,
there are 100 million children in the world denied education – that’s
more than all the children in the United States and Europe combined.
“By keeping children illiterate, enslavement follows. A
girl without an education is a girl who cannot dwell in the place of possibility.”
“Books allowed me to see beyond the porch of my grandmother’s shotgun
house,” she said. “Every child speaks the same language. In every
country when a child is hungry, afraid, hurt, the language of hope is the same.”
Her objective is to spread the language of hope -- universal free education and
social justice. “Education is freedom.”
She showed us a brief film about her work educating children in AIDS ravaged
Africa where so many children are orphaned by the disease. She talked about how
many of us don’t relate to those whose problems we don’t share. The
mother of a well cared for child doesn’t relate to a child living in abject
poverty. After seeing Oprah’s film, however, seeing the faces of these
children, like the faces of all children, everywhere, people begin to get the
message.
The message of the UNA-USA, from my experience
attending these annual dinners, is Oprah’s message – is
the message of Paul and Heather McCartney, who were
honored last year – of the Petersons, of Robert Rubin,
James Wolfensohn, Kofi Annan, Muhammad Ali, and Mayor
Bloomberg, among those who have been honored by this organization – we
must take care of our children and rid the world of poverty, and
it is the responsibility of those of us who HAVE to offer help and
hope to those who HAVE NOT. Robert Rubin, in his talk a few years
ago (pre 9/11) said that more than half the world lives in dire poverty,
on less than a dollar or two a day. We must help lift them out of
that poverty for they have nothing to lose and we have everything
to lose.
Last Thursday night Oprah again gave us a glimpse of the angels.
And everyone was up from their tables by 8:50. |
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Joan
Ganz Cooney
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Dr.
Richard and Ellen Levine
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Carroll
Petrie
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Happy
Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, and Marnie Pillsbury
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Bill
and Melinda vanden Heuvel (standing) with a friend
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I
have a friend, Richard Feldman, a New Yorker who
is an avid horseman. Passionate is maybe a better
word. He is so passionate about riding, that he is up at 4:40 every
morning, walks his dog Brewster by 5:30 (and I mean every morning),
and out and up on his mount in Central Park by 6:30. He is
so passionate about riding that
when he travels (and I’ve been in his traveling party at
times, so I know), he gets up early in the morning and goes riding.
Last summer in Rome, he arranged to have a car take him far out
into the countryside so that he could ride on superb horses, in
superb surroundings. A few summers ago in Barcelona, he did the
same, riding at an ancient riding academy in the mountains outside
the city. Same thing when he goes to London or Los Angeles. In
the summertimes, he also the organizer of the Lake Placid Horse
Show which some say is the greatest family annual Horse Show in
the United States.
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The
Hermes saddle up for silent auction
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Anyway, Richard is also a past director, I think now Director Emeritus
of the New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol Mounted Auxiliary
Unit which he had a hand in founding eight years ago. What began
as a corps of several volunteers (including a lot of those sunrise
riders like Richard) is now more than sixty dedicated volunteers.
The members are private citizens. They give their spare time to
serve the city by working with the Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP)
branch of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. They undergo
extensive training before going on patrol. They must prove their
riding skills and learn about PEP policies and procedures, use
of radios and Parks rules and regulations before they’re
accepted.
The Mounted patrols ensure the preservation of
the natural and living resources in the city’s parks, as
well as the safety of those of us who use the parks. They do this
by maintaining a clearly visible presence. They monitor areas that
are not accessible by vehicle. They deter, identify and report
illegal or unsafe activities that require PEP or police attention.
They’re very effective up their on those horses because everybody
knows to get out of the way of a horse. And if they don’t,
they soon get the picture.
Last year, they assisted dozens of injured park users, providing comfort as well
as a physical barrier from oncoming cyclists and rollerbladers, while securing
medical assistance in a timely fashion. They also reunited scores of lost (and
upset and frightened) children with distraught parents. Mounted Auxiliary officers
also control large crowds at special events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade
and the New York City Marathon – a real challenge, as anyone attending
these events know. |
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Petina
Cole, Irene Lu, Hillary Nayman, Jay Entwistle, Florence Gordon,
Philomena Donnelly, Nancy Hodin, and Susan Cowie
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The Mounted Auxiliary Unit's annual budget is
approximately $50,000. A large portion of that is the cost of renting
horses and ongoing professional
training. So far, most of that money has come directly from the Auxiliary officers
themselves and from a small, but growing, group of supporters. Because the Unit
generates no earned income, and because Auxiliary officers cannot underwrite
100% of the costs associated with operating the Unit, new funding sources are
continually being sought.
So last Wednesday night, they had their fundraising gala in the Boathouse restaurant
in the Park. JH and the Digital and I went over to have a look.
They had a pretty good crowd. There was a silent auction and raffle, and dancing.
A lot of the people there just wanted the opportunity to be in the Park, like
being in the country, in the city, at night. Pfizer pitched in and helped too.
You can help too – send your donation to:
NYC Parks Mounted Auxiliary Unit, Inc.
C/o Claremont Riding Academy
175 West 89 Street
New York City, New York, 10024 |
Dinner
inside and outside the Boathouse
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Ann
Michel
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Shanette
Barth and Jennifer Forte
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Weekends
in the City. Saturday was a beautiful overcast day. Late in the
afternoon, from my apartment,
with the terrace door open, I could hear sporadic cheering going
on down the block. Every few minutes or so, I’d hear cheering
and applauding. Finally I went out with the dogs and discovered
that there was an Avon Walk for Breast Cancer going on – twenty-six
miles and the 24 mile pit stop (not really) was on the Promenade.
There they had people cheering on the arriving walkers. And in
the spirit of the oncoming season, they’d set up some Halloween
symbols and a table full of candies and refreshment for the walkers.
(I felt like a kid at Halloween at the sight of it, and wanted
to grab a couple of chocolate bars for myself, but of course was
not eligible.
The Avon Walks, which I’d never heard of until this moment
are held all over. On this weekend in New York, they had 2700 participating
and they raised more than $7.2 million for medical research, clinical
care, screening and diagnosis, support services and education.
In its first two years, this phenomenon, the Avon Walks, has raised
more than $60 million. Each participant in this walk commits to
raising at least $1800.
I could see everyone was having a good time too.
Every three minutes there is a new diagnosis of breast cancer.
A life is lost to the disease every fourteen minutes. There are
so many reasons to join the Avon Walk reasons as varied as the
walkers themselves. Many celebrate being survivors. Some walk in
memory of friends and loved ones. Husbands walk for wives, brothers
for sisters, daughters for mothers and fathers. And friends walk
for friends. They all come together with compassion and commitment
for a great weekend to make a difference. |
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