Tag archives: Oprah
The flagship Ranger, which is familiar to many for leading the annual Parade of Lights at Yuletide, has rejoined the Classic Yacht Association’s Southern California fleet. Originally the vessel was readmitted to the association in 2020, in time for the 20th anniversary of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, but the pandemic delayed her rededication ceremony. […]
Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn celebrated the 37th anniversary of his half-century with a cocktail bash at the opulent Birnam Wood home he shares with his longtime companion Peter Kavoian, who marked his 65th birthday last month. The tony twosome, who have developed and operate more than 1 million square feet of […]
Everybody was in the right aria when Opera Santa Barbara’s Marylove Thralls hosted a sunset soirée to launch an entertaining new book, La Mia Pazza Famiglia by Kay Lemke. The dynamic duo met when Lemke, who hails from a small community, San Fior di Sopra, north of Venice, volunteered to help the opera and the […]
Fiesta fever was palpable at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when Tablao Museo, an energized flamenco show for 230 guests, took place under the stars. The pulsating event on a sultry summer night was organized by museum director Dacia Harwood and featured musicians and dancers from our Eden by the Beach to Spain who shared […]
It was Pucci, Gucci, and a dash of Fiorucci when YouTube influencer Rebecca Brand celebrated the 10th anniversary of her half-century with a ‘60s-themed bash at the historic University Club. Tie-dye reigned, along with Mary Quant miniskirts and white plastic go-go boots, as hits from that swinging decade that spawned The Beatles and The Rolling […]
It was a super sunset birthday soirée by degrees when yours truly marked the 18th anniversary of his half-century with a boffo bash at the University Club hosted by Gretchen Lieff and her beau, Miles Hartfeld. Having been scheduled to wing to an old friend Cat Pollon’s home outside Marrakech for the past two years, […]
It was all Greek to many when Kostis Protopapas, general director of Opera Santa Barbara, celebrated his half-century with a delightful evening of music and song at the University Club. Kostis, who was born in Athens and moved to the U.S. in 1993 on an Onassis scholarship to study piano at The Boston Conservatory and […]
Forbes’ 35th annual “World’s Billionaire List” includes a record-breaking 2,755 billionaires, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos topping it for the fourth consecutive year. This year’s billionaires are worth a combined $13.1 trillion, up $8 trillion from last year. “The very, very rich got very, very richer,” says Forbes chief content officer Randall Lane. Needless to […]
It is every parent’s nightmare. Their child goes missing. It is 1993 and young girls are disappearing in Northern California. The New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain (The Paris Wife) makes an abrupt departure from her popular historical novels to delve into the world of suspense and crime mystery in When the Stars Go […]
A little-known American tradition was evident in the backstory of Meghan Markle’s remarkable interview with Oprah Winfrey last Sunday that few recognize today. Unbeknownst to most, there exists a tradition of Black Victorians in America, the sophisticated middle-class African Americans who assimilated the tastes and manners of upper-class life in Britain, especially its aesthetic codes, […]
Former TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey hosted a two-hour, hotly anticipated interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and it was worthy of a royal soap opera! It was certainly an astonishing and incendiary show, with Oprah’s Harpo Productions raking in between $7 and $9 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, and CBS […]
To the Rosewood Miramar for breakfast at the Malibu Farm with London Sunday Times travel writer Jonathan Thompson. The meeting was organized by my former News-Press colleague Karna Hughes, now an executive with Visit Santa Barbara, who thought my 13 years of experience living in our rarefied enclave might be of some use to the […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is hosting an extensive collection of 53 paintings that chronicle the accomplishments of the U.S. Navy, from the USS Constitution to atomic bomb tests, and expeditions to the North and South Poles. The colorful show, Arthur Beaumont: Art of the Sea, who was known as the Artist of the Fleet, […]
Afternoon tea and champagne was on the menu when John and Marti Daly and the Key Class, a nine-year-old organization that teaches students the manners and etiquette they need to succeed, threw a fundraiser at the Ennisbrook Club House. Seasons Catering of Ventura donated their services for the 60 guests at the fun fete which […]
Social gridlock reigned when 620 guests packed the Hilton’s ballroom for the 25th annual South Coast Business and Technology Awards which raised around $300,000 for the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, its most successful event to date. The fun fête, co-chaired by Arnold Brier, general counsel of Yardi Systems and uber realtor Renee Grubb, featured […]
The 23-year-old Gaviota Coast Conservancy went paddling at the El Encanto with its third annual premier benefactors’ reception for 60 supporters of the organization dedicated to preserving the 76 miles of pristine coastline, the longest stretch of undeveloped coastal land remaining in Southern California. The sunset soirée, co-chaired by Joyce Macias and Donna Senaur, also […]
Everyone was having a ball at the Rosewood Miramar when the tony beachside hostelry launched its bocce club and summer league organized by Jimmy Dunne, which is being held every Thursday through the end of July. Bocce, which is similar to British bowls and French pétanque, derives from games played in the early days of […]
Social gridlock reigned at restaurateur Ali Ahlstrand‘s new State Street eatery, Alito’s, when John Thyne and Kevin Goodwin celebrated the 15th anniversary of their real estate company, Goodwin & Thyne Properties. More than 270 guests turned out for the boffo bash, with 1,138 properties sold in the last decade and a half. “It is amazing […]
It was clearly a mane event when Santa Barbara Zoo hosted its fifth annual Roar & Pour, a sell-out attracting 1,500 oenophiles and gourmands, raising around $100,000 for the popular menagerie. Some 300 of the party animals splashed out for VIP tickets, allowing them early entrance to the fun fête, avoiding the crowds and giving […]
Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso nearly came a cropper at the final hurdle when developing the Rosewood Miramar, he has revealed. Rick was at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the oh-so tony five star resort and recounted he was in our Eden by the Beach for the final hearing on his $200 million development, […]
