D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A L I G H T H O U S E G U I L D ’ S 2 0 1 6 L I G H T YE A R S G A L A AT T H E M A N D A R I N O R I E N TA L
Barbara Kelly and Lucas Matthiessen
of transformation and providing it for the children. Admission is based on character, not a lottery or test. When high school graduation draws near, they are all prepared to take their SATs and succeed. All of their graduates—100%—go on to college. All families must pay to attend this private school, which is neither a charter school nor a public school. Ten dollars a week, if that is all you can afford. I’ve been told that some have paid in change because it was about scraping together those 10 bucks. Self-respect is promised. Others pay more when they can afford it. But the main source of running the 34 QUEST
Mark and June Ackerman with Charlie
Bernie and Marianne Holland
school is through fundraising. As the world now knows, Fidel Castro died the day after Thanksgiving. His death came as no real surprise. He was 90, and had been out of the public eye for sometime with rumors that he had cancer. Much can be said about the man, and will be. In the early the days of Castro’s reign he had become a kind of international celebrity, a kind of anti-hero; politically controversial but nevertheless a kind of “hero.” He had ended another long political dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, where the rich got rich and the poor stayed poor. His departure was a reason to celebrate.
Lawrence Yannuzzi
In the meantime, Castro’s “look”—his dress—was popular with a lot of the military-minded, at least in public appearances. Our friend out in Montecito, Penny Bianchi sent us a reminder of a story (of hers) that she told us long ago. Penny’s mother-in-law lived in Portland, Maine, where she served on the board of the symphony in the 1960s. Once, when the symphony was having a fund-raising auction, mother-in-law had the bright idea of writing Fidel Castro and asking him if he’d give up his hat, which he wore with his military garb for the auction. She did, and
Doreen and Gilbert Bassin
Tom and Lesley Gimbel
he sent her the hat! When the auction occurred nobody bid on the hat except Bette Davis who was then living in Portland with her husband, Gary Merrill, who had been her co-star in All About Eve. Years later, Penny’s motherin-law was visiting her in Los Angeles and one day invited Penny to tea with a “dear old friend from Maine.” When they got to the friend’s apartment in Los Angeles, Bette Davis answered the door. This came as a great surprise to Penny of course, who had no idea that her mother-in-law was a friend of the great star. During the teatime conversation, the
A N N I E WAT T
Tom Barry and Susan Waltman