The 14th annual record of notably social individuals from politics, diplomacy, business, philanthropy, and the arts.
Enrico and Andrea Cecchi (Photo by Joseph Allen)
A
Mr. and Mrs. JAMES ABDO (Mai)
Mr. and Mrs. WILLIAM ABEL-SMITH (Mimi)
The Honorable and Mrs. TYLER ABELL (Bess)
The Honorable DAVID C. ACHESON
Mr. GLEN ACKERMAN and Mr. ERNESTO SANTALLA
Mr. THEO ADAMSTEIN and Ms. OLVIA DEMETRIOU
Adrienne Arsht is back in Washington and making her mark on the arts and philanthropy scene.
By Ann Geracimos
Adrienne Arsht poses near a collection of porcelain figurines in her new home. (Photo by Joseph Allen)
“Many people are bicoastal. I’m north and south and bipolar.” That’s philanthropist arts patron Adrienne way of introducing herself with a laugh – and wellpracticed charm. She is actually something of a triple threat – a tri-city habitué (Washington, D.C., New York and, officially, Florida) – and a go-go woman when it comes to supporting arts-related, social and health care causes.
Her business instincts are apparently good as well. practicing lawyer in Washington, she started her own title company before moving to Miami 13 years ago where she got into banking. After chairing TotalBank for a decade, she sold it to Banco Popular Espanol two years ago.
Jazz rocker Eric Lewis performs for stalwart supporters of Washington’s Sasha Bruce Youthwork.
By Ann Geracimos
Guests crowding Vernon and Ann Jordans’ living room for the concert included Vanessa Reed, Eric Lewis, Deborah Shore, Christopher Addison, Jasmine Williams, Jane Rosenthal Cafritz, and Constance Bruce. Photo by James Beck.
The intimate Dec. 1 gathering of friends and acquaintances on behalf of Sasha Bruce Youthwork at the home of Ann and Vernon Jordan seemed like a family affair. So many of the guests had personal connections to the founder, the late Evangeline Bruce.
The National Endowment for the Arts Pays Tribute with Speeches and Song.
By Ann Geracimos
Brian Stokes Mitchell and Denyce Graves. Photo by Henry Grossman.
No shy guy, that Rocco Landesman, the top Broadway producer who has come to Washington to head up the National Endowment for the Arts. Asked at the second annual NEA Opera Honors at the Harman Center on Nov. 14 how he was adjusting to the local scene, he conceded the move was “a culture shock” since he found the capital to be all about cultivating “the power of access” in a town focused on politics.
Author Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s latest novel is the talk of the town, whether you’re in it or not.
By Kevin Chaffee
Author Jane Stanton Hitchcock at home
What do Jim Kimsey, Ben Bradlee, Sally Quinn, Carolyn Peachey, Liz Stevens, Amanda Downes, Jim Johnson, Deborah Gore Dean, Rima Al-Sabah, Ann Jordan, Carol Joynt, Leo and Grega Daly, and Rep. Jane Harmon have in common? – apart from living in Washington, that is.
Yes, all were spotted at the party celebrating Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s recent novel, “Mortal Friends,” at Café Milano on Thursday night, but there is a far deeper connection. It turns out that each is a character in her book – but under a totally different name, of course.
Anyone who really knows the Washington scene won’t have too much trouble deciphering that “Nouria Salaha,” described as the ultra-fashionable spouse of a Middle Eastern ambassador, is based on top diplomatic hostess Rima Al-Sabah, wife of Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Sabah. Or that “Bob Poll,” an “ageless rake with military bearing” sure seems a lot like AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey, who, if he minded any of the comparisons, was shrugging them off that night (as he did during Joynt’s sold-out “Q&A” lunch with Hitchcock at Nathan’s earlier that day).
“Mortal Friends” is sure to be this summer’s essential plane or beach read. It’s a delicious thriller filled with social climbing, back-stabbing, deceit, betrayal, and the hunt for a serial killer who carries out his terrible deeds in such familiar haunts as Georgetown’s Montrose Park. No wonder Politics and Prose sold out every copy – the first time that has ever happened at a book party, according to a member of the sales staff.
Guests sipped wine and Champagne while waiting patiently in line for author inscriptions. It wasn’t long before the crowd spilled out into the reception area, and from there to patio where Jill Biden, the wife of the vice president, had quietly entered to dine with a friend (even she ended up getting a book.)
Jane Stanton Hitchcock's latest novel "Mortal Friends" explore dangerous liaisons in Washington social life.
Here’s who else was there:
From the diplomatic corps: German Ambassador Klaus Sharioth, Yemeni Ambassador Abdulwahab Al-Hajjri, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and Yoriko Fujisaki, and Lady (Julia) Sheinwald, wife of British Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald.
From the media: Jim Hoagland (Hitchcock’s spouse), Bob Schieffer, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Tammy Haddad, Andrea Mitchell, Margaret Carlson, Edie Emery, Jim Lehrer, David Corn, Ann Geracimos, Roxanne Roberts, Fred Hiatt, Patrick Gavin, Steve Smith and Sally Bedell Smith.
From the social scene: Andy Athy, Michael and Afsaneh Beschloss, Dr. Susan Blumenthal, Conrad and Ludmila Cafritz, Buffy Cafritz, Marcia Carter, John Cecchi, Walter and Didi Cutler, Count Renaud de Viel Castel, Susan Eisenhower, Nini Ferguson, Bitsey Folger, Jim and Ann Free, Ina Ginsburg, Lloyd and Ann Hand, June Hechinger, Chris and Jennifer Isham, Winston Bao Lord, Capricia Marshall, Mac and Donna McLarty, Bill and Dorothy McSweeny, John and Diana Negroponte, Mike Peabody, Gerald and Eden Rafshoon, Lucky Roosevelt, Jackie Rush, Aniko Gaal Schott, Prince Ermias Selassie, Jamal Simmons, and Judith Terra.
The 13th annual record of notably social personalities from the worlds of politics, diplomacy, business, philanthropy, and the arts.
By Kevin Chaffee
John Pyles and Barbara Harrison
This roster is neither the first, nor will it (inevitably) be the last to single out certain individuals, who, by virtue of birth, rank, wealth or accomplishment, take part in the social life of the nation’s capital. Estimable precursors – drumroll here – include The Green Book,” so-called for its faux green suede cover, which has appeared continuously since 1930; and the Blue Book of Washington, D.C., which ceased publication around 1990 after a century in print. The Social Register, sometimes called the “Black Book,” also contains the names of numerous prominent local figures, many hailing from so-called “blue blood” families, although it merged its thin Washington volume into a much larger 12-city national version back in the 1980s.
A major difference separating Washington Life’s list from the others – apart from having no discernible color – is that we do not publish a “phone book” containing addresses and contact information, much less schools attended, club memberships and yacht listings. Ours is merely an alphabetical nomenclature of people who make a difference by adding immeasurably to their city, and by extension, their country and the world. Another point of contrast is size. Compared to the many thousands of entries contained in other directories past and present, WL’s Social List, currently about 700 names and counting, is relatively small. We do not see the need to include every member of the Congress, Cabinet or Court (i.e., Supreme), much less all those with top jobs listed in the “Plum Book” of political appointments.
The 16th Annual Record of the Washington Social Scene.
Deborah and Curtin Winsor III, Kathy Kemper and Jim Valentine, and Francis Colt de Wolf III and his wife Nathalie de Wolf, stroll the iconic Peacock Alley in the Willard InterContinental Washington while enjoying a few fine flutes of bubbly off the champagne cart. Photo by Clay Blackmore
“A beautiful summer week-end with a few dear friends at our farm in Middleburg.” – Roger and Vicki Sant
“I enjoyed listening to my friend Rima at her baby shower talk about how much fun it was being pregnant, she was enjoying all the attention her husband was giving her and would miss that after she gives birth.” – Irene Pollin
“My favorite social event of 2007 was Marvin Hamlish’s birthday party – lots of laughter and music provided by Marvin and good conversation – a very fun, totally wonderful dinner in Marvin’s honor. It was great to hear him play his own birthday song!” - Ann Hand
“One of our favorite memories of 2007 was the Harman Center for the Arts opening event. The evening was all about enlightenment and enchantment.” – Huda and Samia Farouki
Peter Barris, Ted Leonsis, Joe Robert, Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., Walter Isaacson, Tom Friedman David Rubenstein Bob Woodward, Placido Domnigo, Katherine Bradley,
By Ann Geracimos
Some men, and some women, are born with power, to paraphrase the old adage, while others have it thrust upon them. This seldom is the case these days. The majority of people on Washington Life’s selective list of the most powerful have earned their status the hard way. They would be first to admit that a sense of power is in the eyes of the beholder—that projection often is the key to how power is best applied.
Such a concept was part of the infamous list entrepreneur Bill Regardie contrived someyears ago to define the term and its relevance to the Washington scene. His “rules” perversely eliminated anyone drawing a government paycheck, which at canceling theidea that titles automatically confer prestige. (They often do so, but empty suits are all too common a sight among posturing strutters in our public office.) Another Regardierule stated that wealth doesn’t necessarily beget power, which means that many hoping to claim advantages based on inheritance or a talent for acquisitiveness have to prove otherwise. Money is easy; it’s power that is hard — hard to get and relatively easy to lose.
Heads turn when they enter the room.
By Ann Geracimos
Photograph by Fred J. Maroon. M. Maroon's son, Marc, has recently launched an initiative to offer digital prints from his father's Washington, D.C. Collection, entitled "Poetic Washington" to local charity events. For more informatino, go to fredmaroon.com.
Power is as power does. It’s a flexible force in this town. No wonder we denizens often take refuge in lists, a comfort zone of sorts in a world where the reality is constantly shifting.
Lists turn up everywhere. The form suits a place that thrives on hierarchy – on knowing just who owns a predetermined political status. The government’s plum list of political jobs is the apotheosis of this. Keeping everyone happy: giving them a title, an objective count of who’s in and who’s out. And why not? That is small comfort in the face of the conditions of daily life that threaten to overwhelm one’s sense of identity.
There is comfort in knowing about rank because it makes it easier to navigate the terrain. After all, who is responsible for the saying that rules (rank and reputation) are made to be broken? It gives a lift to the spirit to know the Calvinist ideal of predestination is not entirely dominant.
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