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Joanie
Schnitzer Levy and Candy Hamm
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Joanie
Schnitzer Levy. Texas socialite who is
also one of the most peripatetic, ubiqutious individuals of the
jet age. Mrs. Levy, who is still generally referred to by her previous
married name, Joanie Schnitzer, out of habit, is a lady of fashion
who rarely misses a great party, no matter what capitol city it
might be held in — New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Monte Carlo, Rome, Houston, Dallas, you name it
and she’s been there and just might pop up again next week.
An outgoing, friendly woman with a mane of blonde hair (and mileage
that probably would qualify her for a free trip to the moon), she
seems to know everybody everywhere and not only that but they’ve
(most of them anyway) been to visit at both of her dual addresses,
Houston and Fort Worth. Or the South of France. Or the Central
Park Conservancy Lunch.
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Bobby and
Barbara Liberman
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Bobby
Liberman. Member of a
prominent New York real estate family which owns, or at one time
owned, some
of the most important business addresses on Seventh Avenue. Aside
from his family legacy, the quiet-spoken but always resolute Mr.
Liberman is said to have increased his inheritance many times over.
Owner of a waterside residence in Southampton, a farm in western New England,
and a duplex penthouse in Manhattan, his main interest these days is forestry
and he’s completed his studies in the field at Yale University. A born
and bred New Yorker, his sister is the socially prominent Louise (Mrs.
Henry) Grunwald and he has been married for a long
time now to his second wife, Barbara, a practicing psychotherapist
with whom he enjoys a wide range of friends in the New York social orbit.
William
Ivey Long. One of Broadway’s most
prolific costume designers with a list of credits too long to list
here (click here for
the complete rundown), William is a graduate of Yale School of
Theatre and had his first major Broadway hit with the show Mass
Appeal in 1984. Since that time his successes are so numerous
that he has rarely had a day in his life where a show he’s
worked on is not being performed somewhere or in several places
across the world. He also commands what may be the largest royalty
per show in the history of costume design.
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William
Ivey Long
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Southern by birth, he has the natural curiosity about society and celebrity along
with the natural wit and grace to appeal to the rich and famous. A school chum
of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, he participated in the planning
of her wedding as well as that of her brother. He was possibly the only non-family
member to accompany her mother’s coffin to Arlington National Cemetery.
Until the very last days of her life, CZ Guest called him every
morning to pass on or catch up on the latest.
Curly-headed, bespectacled, his face in the repose of a constant smile, he has
the persona of a kid (he’s in his late fifties) and steely-eyed focus of
a hardnosed tycoon when it comes to work and progress. He currently resides in
a recenty completely restored 19th-century townhouse in Chelsea (where he also
works), a country house in New England and several houses in his native North
Carolina, all of which he is in the process of restoring to their original splendor,
modest though it may have been.
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Cynthia
and Dan Lufkin. One of the most attractive and sought
after couples on the New York social scene, and for a number of reasons: both
warm and friendly, empathic and philanthropically inclined, they like people
and they are participators. Recently married, maybe four or five years; the second
for her and maybe the third for him, they are both gregarious, courteous, gracious,
serious about their interests and easy to laugh.
Dan Lufkin made his reputation as one of the wunderkinds of Wall Street
in the Go-Go 60s. As a young man he founded along with partners William
Donaldson and Richard Jenrette one of the first “boutique” investment
banking firms in their three names that grew to become known worldwide to this
day as DLJ. The firm eventually became part of the Equitable and Dan Lufkin eventually
became one of that company’s presiding guides as well as an important figure
on the international business scene.
Cynthia in her pre-Lufkin days was one of the very dynamic public relations star
team of Fernanda Kellogg at Tiffany. As a young married woman,
she and her first husband were part of the young set that is identified with
social impresario Mark Gilbertson. Shortly after the birth of
her child, the marriage ended, however. From the outside looking in, it seemed
abrupt and difficult for the young mother.
It was about that same time that she met Mr. Lufkin at a social gathering. He
was instantly interested but she, now a single working mother (who loved her
job), was not. It was a moment when she felt unprepared emotionally or even interested
in any kind of relationship with anyone. And so she turned him down the first
couple of times he called for a date. The third time she relented, thinking that
would at least get him to stop calling. On the second or third date he proposed
marriage. Although she has an effervescent charm that could be mistaken for impulsive,
she’s quite the opposite: levelheaded, responsible and grounded. But those
magic powers of persuasion that made Mr. Lufkin a wunderkind in his
youth prevailed and not long after she agreed to marriage.
She made the transition to newlywed, wife of a wealthy and influential man, patiently
and prudently, naturally committed to holding on to her own identity. She stayed
on at Tiffany and thereafter wrestled for some time about a decision to leave
and follow new pursuits. When she did make the break, her new pursuits took a
philanthropic form. Using her skills and know how developed in her professional
life, she joined Safe Horizon, the organization that assists people in domestic
abuse in New York. Using those professional skills, she’s helped raise
millions for the cause and has become an important force in helping the organization
to grow.
Away from their “social life,” the Lufkins are a family of children,
dogs (they had three at last count), and friends. As comfortable as they are
at fundraisers and black tie benefits and opening night galas, they are just
as comfy at home in their jeans and tweeds. Cynthia wears her new role with a
natural grace and together they mix easily with a variety of individuals and
ages. |
Albemarle,
Rufus
Aston, Muffie Potter
Basso, Dennis
Benedict, Daniel
Capehart, Jonathan
Cominotto, Michael
Curry, Boykin
Dahl, Tessa
DeWoody, Beth Rudin
Duchin, Peter and Brooke
Duff, Patricia
Eaton, Phoebe
Fales-HIll, Susan
Fekkai, Frederic
THE FULL LIST
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