Author spotlight: Richard Mineards

Richard covered the Royal Family for Britain’s Daily Mirror and Daily Mail, and was an editor on New York Magazine. He was also a national anchor on CBS, a commentator on ABC Network News, gossip on The Joan Rivers Show and Geraldo Rivera, host on E! TV, a correspondent on the syndicated show Extra, a commentator on the KTLA Morning News and Entertainment Tonight. He moved to Montecito 13 years ago.

O Letting Go
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

Former TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey is leaving the board of WeightWatchers and will donate her stake in the company “to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications,” according to the company, also known as WW International. Shares in WW International fell by 27% in extended trading following the […]

Plane Fun and Fundraising
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

Rain certainly didn’t stop play, nor pulling, when the Alpha Resource Center hosted its third annual Plane Pull at Santa Barbara Airport, raising more than $72,000 for the popular 70-year-old nonprofit, which empowers individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Teams of ten in four divisions, including schools and public safety – military, EMTs and firefighters […]

Strong Foundations
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

Santa Barbara’s Turner Foundation, which since its founding 65 years ago has provided 3.3 million nights of accommodation for low-income individuals and families, has opened its latest outpost, Dunamis House – Greek for strength – at De La Guerra Street and Marilla Avenue. It’s the fifth property the organization has purchased with the first in […]

A ‘Seraglio’ Show
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

To the Arlington Theatre for the one-night only revival of the folkloric ballet Seraglio, an Eastern version of Romeo and Juliet, written, choreographed and produced by Santa Barbara’s Alexandra King. The colorful three-act, two-hour production was first presented in 1989 in our Eden by the Beach, Ojai, Culver City, and Salt Lake City, featuring Greek […]

On Tour with Ivor
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

How fitting that on the 60th anniversary of The Beatles “invasion” of America, an old friend, Ivor Davis – who toured with the Fab Four as an “embedded” correspondent for the London Daily Express, one of the world’s largest newspapers at the time with five million readers – should give a fascinating talk at the […]

Meet the Neighbor
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2024

Montecito animal rights activist Gretchen Lieff didn’t have to look far when she moved into a new estate. The property, built in 1964 and designed by architect Carl Hillmann, was right next door to her former Arcady home! To mark the occasion Gretchen, owner of the La Lieff vineyard and Funk Zone tasting room, hosted […]

Lotusland’s Lemony Scent
By Richard Mineards   |   March 5, 2024

Lotusland, Montecito’s 37-acre botanical paradise, is now even more fragrant than usual! In collaboration with Heretic Perfume, the estate has launched its second limited-edition organic scent inspired by Ganna Walska, the avant-garde Polish opera singer and designer, and her colorful creation. More than 90 years ago the opera singer created a line of perfumes in […]

TMZ at Maison Mineards
By Richard Mineards   |   March 5, 2024

Yours truly was front and center on TMZ Investigates on Fox regarding Carpinteria actor Kevin Costner’s divorce war with his wife Christine Baumgartner. A crew of seven visited Maison Mineards Montecito two weeks back to shoot a half hour interview with TMZ founder Harvey Levin, who was on Zoom from Los Angeles. The hour-long show […]

That’s a Lot of Litter
By Richard Mineards   |   March 5, 2024

It’s undoubtedly one of our Eden by the Beach’s most expensive properties. An 11-acre Hope Ranch oceanside estate, consisting of three parcels, is up for grabs for $88 million. It was formerly owned by an old friend, Betty Stephens, whose husband founded Jonny Cat litter, and has a 7,265 square foot main house built in […]

Just A-Paws
By Richard Mineards   |   March 5, 2024

Meghan Markle gave paws for thought when she made a surprise appearance via video link to open the new wing of an animal charity named in honor of her late friend Oli Juste. The Riven Rock resident emotionally told how the dog trainer suddenly died in January 2022, leaving her heartbroken as his family and […]

An Ace on the Courts
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

Racketeers were out in force when the 50-year-old Las Positas Tennis Center at Elings Park reopened after 16 months of major improvements and renovations costing $3.2 million. The tennis center project is part of a larger $10 million Elings Park infrastructure campaign of improvements for the 230-acre park, the largest privately funded public recreation area […]

Lovin’ Lunch
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

Storyteller Children’s Center, founded 36 years ago, hosted its 10th annual Lunch with Love at the Rockwood Woman’s Club with 177 guests raising around $100,00 for the organization – a therapeutic preschool providing tuition-free early childhood education for youngsters with adverse challenges. The boffo bash, co-chaired by Erinn Lynch and Dr. Peggy Dodds, featured Ashleigh […]

A Romantic Serenade
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

It was the musical version of pouring a gallon into a pint pot when Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti performed “Serenade for Romance” at the 604-seat Lobero, having moved the show from the 1,553-seat Granada after a sprinkler mishap soaked the capacious stage. The decidedly cozy concert featured violinist Sirena Huang, artist-in-residence for […]

Lotusland Love
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

Romance was definitely in the air when Lotusland, the 37-acre Montecito botanical paradise, hosted a Valentine’s Day event for 25 couples, one of whom was enjoying their 51st big day together. The tony twosomes quaffed flutes of champagne and enjoyed the self-guided tour of the exquisite gardens accompanied by flamenco-Latino music from Santa Barbara guitarist […]

The Universal Language
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

It wasn’t exactly Dr. Dolittle, but Montecito oceanographer resident Dove Joans, who writes under the pseudonym Dolphingirl, claims to be able to communicate with animals, particularly whales and dolphins. In 2019, she wrote We Are the Ocean: 50 Waves to Wonder! and has just published the second edition of Dolphin Talk, which she wrote in […]

Harpsichord in the Hall
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

Camerata Pacifica debuted its latest import-flutist Sébastian Jacot in a most impressive concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, with a program including music by Bach, Haydn, and Jolivet. Geneva-born Jacot, who began studying music at the age of six, also holds the position as principal flute at the prestigious Berliner Philharmoniker. He plays a […]

A Purrfect Project
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Montecito filmmaker Daniel DeVorzon, son of Oscar nominee Barry DeVorzon and his wife Jelinda, has found the purrfect project. Daniel, who is also the producer and composer, has made Nine Lives about the connection between one free spirited cat and the humans who love her. Despite a perilous start in life as a feral feline […]

Super Bowl Party Pile Up
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Sports fans galore descended on the George Washington Smith Montecito estate of technology executive Howard Cannon, just a tiara’s toss from the home of singer Katy Perry and her British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom, for Cannon’s popular seventh annual Super Bowl party. With commercial time during the CBS broadcast of the matchup between the Kansas […]

A Verdi Good Show
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Opera Santa Barbara’s newest production – Verdi’s historical melodrama Il Trovatore, a story of superstition, revenge, and ill-fated love in medieval Spain, including the famous “Anvil Chorus” – was an absolute delight. Featuring a powerhouse cast at the Lobero with tenor Harold Meers, soprano Karin Wolverton, baritone Timothy Mix, bass Andrew Potter, with mezzo soprano […]

A Heartfelt Lunch
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

The three-year-old charity Hearts Aligned, which supports critically ill children, had a record sold-out turnout for its second annual Hearts to Hearts Valentine’s lunch at the oceanside Cabrillo Pavilion. More than 180 guests raised around $150,000 for the organization founded by Vivian Solodkin who, along with David Edelman and Brigitte Welty, co-chaired the boffo bash. […]

Jambalaya Jamboree
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Baubles, bangles, and beads reigned supreme at the third colorful energized Mardi Gras bash produced by La Boheme dance group founder Teresa Kuskey and social gadabout Rick Oshay at Casa de la Guerra. The fun fête, with Spencer the Gardener and the pulsating Mariano Drums was emceed by ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri, making the […]

Thousands of Celebrities Sighted in Local Woods
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Santa Barbara is front and center in a new National Geographic feature declaring “Whales and butterflies are the real celebrities” in our Eden by the Beach. Writer Norie Quintos says the likes of Harry and Meghan, Oprah, and Gwyneth “aren’t the ones followed and fawned over,” but a rich diversity of wildlife like whales and […]

Costa Rican Escapades
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Maria McCall, founder of Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub, chose the perfect time to leave town and fly to Costa Rica to see the natural wonders. During the torrential downpours in our Eden by the Beach the tony troupe went whitewater rafting, zip lining and hiking through a private primary forest reserve in the canton […]

New Chief Artistic Officer Appointed
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Montecito’s Music Academy has appointed Nate Bachhuber as Chief Artistic Officer. He is recognized for his collaborative and strategic approach to artistic planning with prestigious performing arts organizations, including the L.A. Philharmonic, and St. Louis and Cincinnati symphony orchestras. Bachhuber has wide experience in public relations and digital strategy at New York’s Carnegie Hall and […]

A Seaside Silver Jubilee
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

Montecito’s Friendship Center, founded in 1976 and now with a satellite location in Goleta, marked the Silver Jubilee of its annual Festival of Hearts with a seaside elegance-themed lunch at the Rosewood Miramar for 230 guests. The lunch raised around $75,000 for the nonprofit, which offers supervised and engaging activities for adults living with dementia […]

Around the World with Renée
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

Singer Renée Fleming, who has performed at the world’s greatest opera houses and concert halls, was at the top of her game when she made her second appearance as part of UCSB’s Arts & Lectures series at the Arlington, after the performance was switched from the Granada following the sprinkler disaster. Fleming, who became the […]

Far Fung Fun
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

The week kicked off with another UCSB Arts & Lectures concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall with cellist Zlatomir Fung and pianist Benjamin Hochman with a mixed program featuring works by Britten, Schumann, Tsintsadze, and Marshall Estrin, a longtime collaborator of Fung’s. Estrin’s composition “Cinematheque” was based on the creative pair’s mutual love of […]

The Moving ‘Willesden Lane’
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

Ensemble Theatre Company’s latest New Vic production The Pianist of Willesden Lane, a true story about a young Jewish musician navigating the Nazi regime in Vienna and London during the Blitzkrieg, is a truly thought-provoking show. Told by Mona Golabek, a world-renowned Grammy nominated pianist and the daughter of Lisa Jura – a pianist who, […]

Heading Home
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

Prince Harry is flying home to London to be with his father King Charles III, 75, in the wake of His Majesty’s cancer diagnosis. The Duke of Sussex, 35, left for Windsor Castle on Monday and has already spoken to the monarch following his diagnosis, according to the New York Post’s Page Six. Harry’s wife, […]

Farewell Block
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2024

Long serving Santa Barbara Zoo President and CEO Rich Block is retiring in January after 27 years leading the 30-acre menagerie through the most transformative period in its history. Rich is the zoo’s second director succeeding the late Ted McToldridge, who retired in 1997. The zoo’s board of directors has formed a transition committee, and […]

Entertaining ‘Evenings’ of Ballet
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Balletomanes packed the Gail Towbes Center for Dance when State Street Ballet celebrated the 20th anniversary of its annual show Evenings, which gives the talented dancers the opportunity to create their own dance works and experiment with new movement, music, and themes. Nine works were performed in all, including “Luna Luna to Clair de Lune, […]

Sweet Limón
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Given a disaster with its sprinkler system 72 hours earlier, the Granada was out of action when the Limón Dance Company under artistic director Dante Puleio celebrated more than 75 years with an innovative program of new and reconstructed works highlighting choreographer José Limón’s unique contributions to dance at a new venue, Campbell Hall, part […]

‘Love Letters’ through Time
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, who played husband and wife on the hit ‘80s TV sitcom Family Ties, were back together at the Ensemble Theatre Company’s New Vic for a special one-time benefit performance of Love Letters. A timeless play written by A. R.Gurney, the production unfolds through a series of letters exchanged over a […]

‘Pretty Woman’ Performs
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Pretty Woman: The Musical, which the American Theatre Guild staged at the Granada, certainly had excellent credentials. The romantic comedy featured an original score by Grammy-winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by legendary director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J. F. Lawton. Add to the heady mix the choreography of two-time Tony Award […]

Kudos to these Student Artists
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Twenty student artists were honored by the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara during a presentation and reception at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Chosen as winners of the organization’s 2024 Art Scholarship Competition, each received a scholarship and their selected art submissions are exhibited in the museum’s Family Resource Center through February 12. A […]

Remembering Susan Rosas
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

On a personal note, I mark the move to more heavenly pastures of Susan, wife of pianist and entertainer Gil Rosas, at the age 86 after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. Gil, 88, and Susan, a former model and artist-illustrator, were married for 49 years, spending the final chapter of her colorful life at […]

In the Thirty Mile Zone
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2024

Harvey Levin, who founded the celebrity news program TMZ in 2005, interviewed yours truly from his L.A. outpost via Zoom with a seven-man crew. Harvey is doing a documentary on Oscar winner Kevin Costner and his acrimonious divorce from wife Christine Baumgartner. Having written for this illustrious organ for 16 years, I was asked for […]

Symphonic Triplets
By Richard Mineards   |   January 30, 2024

Magnificent classical music reigned supreme with three impressive concerts in our Eden by the Beach, two at the venerable Granada and one at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. Kicking off the week was the Community Arts Music Association’s first concert of the new year with London’s 79-year-old Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko, […]

Surf’s Up at Rosewood
By Richard Mineards   |   January 30, 2024

Get out the Gucci surfboard! Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar is launching a new surf club with the Gold Coast Adventure Company, owned and operated by local surf legend Adam Lambert. “Surfing is a storied tradition in Santa Barbara, and it was time for the resort to celebrate the iconic sport by offering guests a way […]

Dick Meyn Passes
By Richard Mineards   |   January 30, 2024

I also remember Richard “Dick” Meyn, who left us last month at the age of 94. A New Yorker, Dick studied at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan and moved to Santa Barbara in 1954 after studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. He and two colleagues established Byars, Alexander and Meyn – a successful interior […]