Main Dish

Hostess Jacobson Convenes Council of Dads

April 29, 2010

Photo By: Judith Beermann

Sam Racoosin, Bruce Feiler, Laura Feiler, and Rabbi Bruce Lustig celebrate The Council of Dads

Georgetowner Nancy Jacobson hosted a packed book party for friend and author Bruce Feiler celebrating his new book The Council of Dads. When Feiler was diagnosed with cancer in July 2008, he asked six friends to "be there" for his then-3-year-old twin daughters, Eden

and Tybee, if his seven-inch tumor turned fatal. Some of the Council of Dads were there for the celebration of the book, which by the way, amounts to a celebration of the author's continued life.

"This book is going to mean a lot to a lot of people," said Max Stier, himself a famous Dad in Washington. He leads the high-profile Partnership for Public Service. Stier, a Yale classmate of Feiler's, was shocked when his old friend approached him. "But I realized, he turned this situation into a chance to strengthen his relationships, and help others," Stier said.

Feiler broke the solemnity of the evening by describing in detail the perpetual "tank tops" and "flip flops" that the sometimes serious Stier wore during two trips the two took through Southeast Asia. "He got us kicked out of the best hotels in the world, and I realized that at age 50, he would do the same," Feiler said.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Washington Hebrew Congregation Rabbi Bruce Lustig, along with friends Michael Abramowitz of the Holocaust Museum and Jeb Boasberg, D.C. Superior Court judge and former Assistant U.S. Attorney in District, also joined the celebration and sparkling offerings in Jacobsen's lovely garden, her home with uber pollster husband Mark Penn. Politics Daily's Annie Groer, a Georgetown stalwart, was also in attendance.

The Council of Dads: My Daughers, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me (William Morrow; $22.99). Feiler is also author of Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses (P.S.) and America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story.

Nancy Jacobson, Jonathan B. Kessler, Ellen Kessler, Rabbi Bruce Lustig

Ellen Kessler, Jonathan B. Kessler, Laura Blumenfeld

Deb Harris, David Reiser

Michael Abramowitz, Jeb Boasberg, and Anne Collier

Liza Gilbert, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

Max Stier and the author, Bruce Feiler

Photos by Judith Beermann

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Kitty Kelley Raises Funds to put Library in the Pink with New Book

April 27, 2010

Photo By: RJSmith

Kitty Kelley lends her name and books to a fundraiser for the Georgetown Library

Kitty Kelley may be under fire for her controversial new book Oprah, A Biography, but you would never know it from the adoring reception she received from friends, neighbors and longtime fans in a packed St. John's Church book signing to benefit the Georgetown Library.

Kelley was as stylish and sparkling as ever, wearing a bright pink pantsuit. "You can ask any question except my weight," she teased the audience of about 150, including the Library's Jerry McCoy and supporter Frida Burling (pictured below left). Kelley filled her remarks with jokes and asides before taking a number of questions, including those of a Danish TV network, which brought a camera crew.

"People say, 'how dare you write about Oprah??'" Kelley said. "Well, this is the first biography in 20 years of the most powerful woman on the planet. I started out with a great deal of care and respect for her in taking on this project, and I finished with a great deal of care and respect."

The book was a tough sell to publishers, she said, and it's been challenging to market to the mainstream media due to Oprah's enormous influence on the industry.

Kelley's books inevitably cause controversy. "For many years I've thought that writing something 'unauthorized' sounded a bit like 'breaking and entering,' and that you might not get to the same corner of heaven as [authors like] Michael Beschloss or Doris Kearns Goodwin. But I don't want to live in a world where all the information I get is 'authorized,' and I don't want you to live in that kind of a world either."

The audience cheered. Savvy business woman and strong supporter of Georgetown and its beloved library that she is, Kelley moved the conversation into the fundraising. "Let me take your questions, let's hoist a glass, and then let's sell!"

Pictured above right, Deb Johns and Patrice Miller.

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House Tour Dazzles with Traditional and New

April 26, 2010

Photo By: RJSmith

Yolande Fox's former summer house, now a sumptuous year-round playground

Georgetown resembled something between an anthropoligical study site and a festive house hop by old friends and neighbors Saturday afternoon. It was the annual Georgetown House Tour, a popular tradition and a labor of love. Curious lovers of houses, history and culture from near and far ambled along the study path, not with binoculars, but booties -- blue covers for shoes, obediently worn in each house to protect the highlighted homes.

For generations, Georgetown families have opened their houses to neighbors and others to raise funds to support the charitable programs of St. John's Church, including the Georgetown Ministry Center, Bright Beginnings, the Georgetown Seniors Center, Episcopal Seniors Ministries, Spritual Formation, and the list goes on.

Frida Burling, contributor to The Georgetown Dish, is a major force behind the tour, now joined by Washington Fine Properties, its major corporate sponsor.

Each year, the tour gets more interesting and diverse. Earlier we caught up with the eclectic artist's abode of Charles DeSantis.

The tour went on to feature a summer house turned year-round playground, examples of exquisite classic and modern interior design, and luscious gardens.

Cyd Miller Everett feels at home in the kitchen of House #1, formerly the summer house of Yolande Fox, where notable visitors to Washington such as Diane Keaton, Warren Beatty and White House officials sought refuge from the capital's sobriety. Carter Administration Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan occupied a small room. Eventually the boisterous entertaining in and out of the pool attracted a gentle presidential reprimand. Modern touches to this unusual playhouse were designed by Hugh Newell Jacobsen.

Bob Barron and Betty Pegues welcome visitors to the "summer house."

Entrance to the sumptuous compound of House #1.

House #2 is one of the few examples in Georgetown of a "late Victorian cottage," according to the Historic American Buildings Survey of 1968. It was built between 1878 and 1880 by Albert B. Jackson for $4000. Hugh Newell Jacobsen led an extensive renovation in the 1960s.

Erin Zurflu, a Georgetown medical student, takes time away from her studies to volunteer for the tour. She was recruited by super Georgetown volunteer Leslie Kamrad.

Greg Doherty of Coldwell Banker watches over the Fairbanks family house during the House Tour.

Victorian grandeur in a staircase at the Fairbanks home.

Tom Anderson and Marc Schappell of Washington Fine Properties are major sponsors of the Georgetown House Tour. "We believe in the community," said Anderson. "We live here and we're committed to it."

Alexandra Small and Sharon Alexander help a visitor (right) while Citizens Association of Georgetown president Jennifer Altemus looks on.

Allyson Bolen and Leslie Maysak take in House #3, a fabulous renovation evoking the 1940s of France, 1960s art, and Asian inspiration, owned by a Manhattan couple.