Ivana Trump

The effervescent high-energy Ivana Trump, who makes a guest appearance in my upcoming book, Katie Up and Down the Hall, is known for her sparkling charm, athletic prowess, and bubbly sense of humor. In the chapter of the book titled Prancing With The Stars, Ivana, a passionate dog lover, befriends my dog Katie and marches her right into a board meeting at the Plaza Hotel!

Super-disciplined and always on the move, Ivana, a former Olympic skier and model, remains timelessly glamorous whether seen racing down a ski slope in Switzerland or hosting a charity benefit at her pristine town house in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Comment on this story »

Katharine Hepburn

People often ask me: ‘Who was your all-time favorite interview subject?’

Over a period of thirty years, having met or interviewed hundreds of celebrities–legends including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Jacqueline Onassis, Calvin Klein, Nancy Reagan, Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters–all of them unforgettable–one radiant personality stands out in my mind as most magnificent–and intimidating!

And that would be the great Katharine Hepburn, who as a child, I first saw in the movie “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?”

Growing up in Buffalo, New York, I never could have guessed that, decades later, I’d be the one invited to dinner at the Miss Hepburn’s East 49th Street Turtle Bay townhouse, discussing, as we did, my biography of the legendary Vladimir Horowitz, which she kindly read, the catalyst for our first meeting.

Comment on this story »

How many 88-year-old actresses experience a resounding renaissance in their careers decades after they’ve mastered the entertainment business from A to Z?

Betty White

There’s only one.

It’s the supersonic bubbly-spirited Betty White, defying all odds with her spectacular run of recent triumphs.

Let’s see, there was her brilliantly funny turn as Ryan Reynolds’ kooky grandmother in The Proposal, the 2009 film also starring Oscar winner Sandra Bullock; the hilarious Super Bowl Snickers commerical that had her tackled and thrown into the mud, watched by the largest television audience ever; not to mention the Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement award, which she accepted with the grace and wit that have become her trademark. Bullock joked that she finds White annoying, to which White shot back: “Isn’t it heartening to see how far a girl as plain as she can go?”

Comment on this story »

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.

Comment on this story »