Peg Wallis

Last night, with balmy spring temperatures soaring to nearly 80 degrees, I had to take advantage of the sunset on the Hudson, pictured below, by having dinner outdoors.

And I happily took in the water views (and grilled salmon) with my close friend and confidante, Peg Wallis, the brilliant life coach who travels around the country giving workshops to large corporate audiences, skillfully teaching how we can become better team players, think “bigger” and out of the box, and push beyond perceived limitations to the boundless possibilities within.

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Owen Laster

Yesterday,on one of the first sunny and warm days of spring, I had lunch with one of my all-time favorite people, the incomparable Owen Laster, a great friend and my former literary agent at the William Morris Agency. Owen, who retired in 2006 after an illustrious 45-year career, came down to Battery Park City to enjoy the 70 degree temperatures and an afternoon lunch at Southwest, a Mexican restaurant located on the Marina.

With cherry blossoms in bloom and sailboats passing us by, Owen and I caught up on any and everything. I used to always joke to him (and it wasn’t really a joke!) that I was his most unimportant client. Indeed, Owen, who was head of international literary operations at William Morris and a key player in numerous Hollywood deals, has worked with countless legends, including such heavy hitters as James Michener, Gore Vidal, Dominick Dunne, Susan Isaacs, Judy Blume, William Diehl, Robert Penn Warren, and the estate of Margaret Mitchell – to name just a few.

Most recently, Owen was kind enough to read the finished manuscript of my upcoming book, Katie Up and Down the Hall, and I was touched by his kind words and positive reaction to it and by his kindly introducing me to Lynn Goldberg, the premier book publicist in New York, fantastic in her strategic devotion to KATIE.

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Wendy Diamond and her canine pal

At lunch yesterday at Manhattan’s Bricco on West 56th Street, I was lucky enough to meet the ebullient Wendy Diamond, the founder and editorial director of Animal Fair, the lifestyle magazine passionately devoted to saving animal lives by focusing on animal rescue. Wendy is also the author of many fantastic books, currently the indispensable It’s a Dog’s World: The Savvy Guide to Four-Legged Living, which will head up the bestseller list during Wendy’s upcoming 15-city book tour.

The latest issue of Animal Fair has Charlize Theron on its cover, pictured on the beach with her soulful rescue dog, Tucker. Previous cover interviews at Animal Fair include everyone from Beyonce and Halle Berry to Serena Williams and Kim Cattrall, all of whom support Wendy’s lifelong mission to save the lives of animals.

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Wayne Dyer

My great friend Wayne Dyer is a wise and generous spirit, residing peacefully in Hawaii listening to the rhythm of the waves as he writes his brilliant New York Times bestsellers, the latest being “The Shift,” also a movie starring Portia de Rossi.

It’s an illuminating expose on moving “from ambition to meaning,” away from ego, he says, and into “the afternoon of life where everything is influenced by purpose.”

Instead of constantly pursuing “more stuff–more accomplishments, status, and money,” we shift in the opposite direction toward feeling more meaning and purpose in our lives.

When I asked Wayne to read my upcoming book, Katie Up and Down The Hall, I couldn’t imagine what this charismatic sage might say about it.

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