Tag archives: Oprah

A Hippie Throwback
By Richard Mineards   |   August 12, 2021

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 […]

‘Nothing Could be Finer’ Than This Birthday Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   July 29, 2021

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, […]

Toasting a Visionary: Dozens Celebrate Kostis Protopapas’ 50th Birthday
By Richard Mineards   |   May 20, 2021

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 […]

Does Money Grow on Trees? Asking for a Friend.
By Richard Mineards   |   April 22, 2021

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 […]

Dark, But Optimistic: Paula McLain’s ‘When the Stars Go Dark’ Addresses Reality of Child Abduction
By Leslie Zemeckis   |   April 1, 2021

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 […]

The Other Empire Strikes Back
By Jeffrey Stewart   |   April 1, 2021

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, […]

From Riven Rock to Windsor
By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2021

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 […]

Old Friends Over Eggs Benedict
By Richard Mineards   |   December 17, 2020

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 […]

Saluting Navy Art
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

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, […]

Ps and Qs
By Richard Mineards   |   October 31, 2019

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 […]

Scholarship Foundation Fête
By Richard Mineards   |   June 13, 2019

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 […]

Gala for Gaviota
By Richard Mineards   |   June 6, 2019

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 […]

Bocce Ball
By Richard Mineards   |   May 30, 2019

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 […]

Anniversary at Alito’s
By Richard Mineards   |   May 30, 2019

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 […]

A Wild Night
By Richard Mineards   |   May 16, 2019

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 […]

Rosewood Ribbon Cutting
By Richard Mineards   |   April 18, 2019

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, […]

Welcome to the Neighborhood
By Richard Mineards   |   March 28, 2019

Social gridlock reigned when developer John Price and wife, Janna, and business partners Tod and Audrey Berlinger, opened The Villas at Olive Mill, nearly 15 years after first submitting their building application and going through 28 hearings between 2004 and 2017. The Spanish colonial-style, three-story mixed-use property on the corner of Coast Village Road and […]

New MAW Directors
By Richard Mineards   |   February 7, 2019

Terry Valeski and Pamela Strobel are new board directors at the Music Academy of the West. Terry will also serve as co-chair of the academy’s marketing committee, with Pamela serving on the education and outreach committee. He served as president and managing director of Pacific Bell, while she is the director of Domtar Corporation, Illinois […]

A Royal Flush
By Richard Mineards   |   February 7, 2019

Montecito residents Eric and Nina Phillips, longtime Dream Foundation supporters, hosted 33-year-old Trezevant, Tennessee, resident Zachary Butler in Las Vegas. Zach, who has suffered from Friedrich’s Ataxia from an early age and was completely disabled by his teens, had always dreamed of meeting Canadian professional poker player Daniel Negreanu, winner of six World Series of […]

Walk to Remember
By Richard Mineards   |   January 17, 2019

Montecito TV titan Oprah Winfrey, Kenny Loggins, and actor Rob Lowe paid tribute to the 23 people who lost their lives and many who lost everything a year ago, as our tony enclave was ravaged by catastrophic mudslides. Oprah, 64, was among hundreds of local residents taking part in the first anniversary vigil, walking from […]