D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A T H E I C A A A R T H U R R O S S A W A R D S AT T H E U N I V E R S I T Y C L U B
Peter Lyden and Suzanne Tucker
Cary Koplin, Barbara Israel, Sharon Koplin and Gail Lloyd
“emcee” because he looks the part (award winning poet) and possesses the Irish wit. I had never seen or heard Jorie Graham before, or Robert Pinsky and Kevin Young. Nor had I ever read any of their works. They were all mesmerizing. They all stopped us, and gave us a good look at ourselves and our world. On a Monday night, The International Center of Photography (ICP) hosted their annual Infinity Awards at Pier Sixty of the Chelsea Piers, honoring “Outstanding Achievements in Photography.” The 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Harry Benson (Lifetime Achievement). 26 QUEST
Christopher Whelan and Molly Visk
This was also a fund-raiser although I attended specifically because Harry and his wife Gigi are friends. On a Tuesday in early May, The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering hosted its 10th annual Spring Ball at the Plaza. The event was sponsored by Carolina Herrera and the chairs were Shoshanna Gruss, Patricia Herrera Lansing, Alexi Ashe Meyers, and Kathy Thomas. This is always a festive dinner dance, black tie, beautiful tables, many good friends, many of whom are actively involved in the Society of MSK. They raised more than $1 million. On a Wednesday night at
Vince Taylor with Sofia, Lila and Jim Remez
Elizabeth Graziolo, Peter Pennoyer and Katie Ridder
Sotheby’s the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) hosted its 11th Annual Connoisseurs Dinner. The ADDF was created by the brothers Ronald and Leonard Lauder. They and the rest of the Lauder Family underwrite all of the expenses for the running of the foundation so that all moneys donated go directly into funding development for the drug that eventually cure the disease who numbers are growing. Paula Zahn opened the evening once everyone was at table. They honored Tad Smith, the President and CEO of Sotheby’s. The dinner was held in one of their galleries that
Robert Stern and Gilbert Schafer
are full of beautiful Modern, Impressionist, and Contemporary art that was going up for auction, including the Basquiat which sold the following week for a record breaking $110 million. The Lauders have provided a sense of hope. Ronald Lauder reminded the audience of the polio epidemic of the 1940s and 1950s and how it was believed they’d never find a cure because everything tried failed. Until Dr. Salk came along. And a miracle has joined the ordinary; no one even thinks of polio today. That is the attitude that the ADDF promotes. Meanwhile, I also had a
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
John Saladino and Charlotte Moss