Saturday, April 17, 2004

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Tuesday, December 14, 1976

In the Afternoon I got a letter from our editor, Steve Aronson, that said he's leaving Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, and that he'd asked Mr. Jovanovich himself to take over on Popism.

Walter Stait from Philadelphia took me to La Grenouille for lunch, he told Maxime and Loulou de la Falaise to meet us there. On the other side fo the room was the new skinny Truman Capote. He looks now almost like he did when I first knew him. Truman didn't answer my hello but then halfway through lunch he put on his glasses and waved, and later he gave me his personal phone number. All of the chic girls were in YSL fur hats.

Worked at 860 all afternoon, then Francois de Menil arrived to take me out to Norman Mailer's in Brooklyn Heights. He used to live in a whole house but now he lives on just the top and rents the bottom out and he's had the front part made all glass looking out over Manhattan and it's beautiful.

Wall to wall, it was an intellectual party like from the sixties. Arthur Schlesinger, Mica and Ahmet, the girl who wrote the book on LBJ. Norman looks good now, white hair, looks irish. His little mother was there. And Jean Kennedy Smith and her husband. Sandra Hochman told me I'm a chapter in her upcoming book, she talked to me about the women's movement and junk like that. She said, "I have your picture on my mantel," but I just know she doesn't.

Isabella Rossellini was at Norman's, she's working for Italian television, she's doing a thing on boxers, that's probably why she was there, because Jose Torres was there. She said she ran over to see me when she saw her mother, Ingrid Bergman, talking to me at the Pierre a couple of weeks ago but that I'd gone. She couldn't find her coat when she was leaving Norman's and just left without it. Norman was sweet and he and Francois must be really friends because they hugged and kissed and punched a lot. Francois drove us back in his grey Mercedes, he's a good driver.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Monday, December 13, 1976

Victor Hugo picked me up and we went to the U.N. Plaza for Mrs. Kaiser's Dinner for Halston (cab $3). But then we realized we'd forgotten Bianca so we had to go back to pick her up at the Pierre. Victor gave her some coke but she didn't want it.

The first person we saw at Mrs. Kaiser's was Martha Graham, and C.Z. Guest was there. Paul Rudolph had done the apartment, and he was there. White on white. She has a bedroom as big as 860 with one bed in it, and a floor-to-ceiling glass window with a view, just what terrifies me, but it was beautiful. Marisol and Larry Rivers and Elsa Peretti and Jane Holzer and Bob Denison were there. Polly Bergen and I talked about the topic on her TV show that morning--androgyny.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Sunday, December 12, 1976

I read the Ruth Kligman book Love Affair about her "love affair" with Jackson Pollock--and that's in quotes. It's so bad--how could you ever make a movie of it without making it a whole new story? Ruth told me she wants me to produce it and Jack Nicholson to star.

In the book she says something like, "I had to get away from Jackson and I ran as fas as possible." So do yo know where she went? (laughs) Sag Harbor. He lived in Springs. So that's--what? Six miles? And she was making it like she went to the other side of the world. And then she said, "The phone rang--how oh how did he ever find me?" I'm sure she called hundreds of people to give them the number in case he asked them.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Friday, December 10, 1976

Sam Bronfman's kidnappers were found innocent of the kidnapping charge today.

Brigid came to the Factory for the first time since she started her diet in August--she's down to 190, was last seen at 260. She really looked good and everyone fussed over her, I took pictures. Barbara Allen found herself a new apartment on 77th off Fifth.