In 1973, I was invited to lunch at the "21" Club restaurant by Georgiana and Edgar Bronfman Sr.. Edgar was a liguor magnate he owned Seagram's. I knew Georgiana as Rita Webb in Marbella, Spain, he didn't care for his third wife's name and changed it to Georgiana. She, as the story goes was an au pair from Essex, England and then became a waitress at the "Bar Menchu" in Marbella the best place and she met Carlos, who was really a wonderful man but very much the Spanish - passion type guy.. So, she was his girl friend he was the 1st cousin of the King of Spain. Carlos was a Marquis and very rich he bought her a house but they had a fight and he gave her a black eye. I, remember that night well. I had a table at Menchus and she came in alone, with her sunglasses on at night, and came over to my table and sat down. It was the safest place for her to sit because Carlos was at the other end of the bar with all the Spanish crowd and I was the English/American group and was friends with them both. So, anyway, an American Jewish couple - The Amsterdams were with me and invited her to stay with them at there apartment in New York, they owned a large penthouse. So, she split for New York and they introduced her to Edgar Bronfman Sr. who was a Jewish friend of there's and the rest is history. She was a beautiful women, my age! So, Edgar and his family was a criminally rich booze running group from Canada. So, anyway that is the back story. On this day . I was living at the Sherry Netherland Hotel and they were at 960 Fifth Avenue in the penthouse, with a roof top garden up the street. They had a table of eight on the first floor of the '21' Club - Edgar at the head of the table with a view of the front door.... Georgiana, to his right, me next to her. On his left, was the publisher of Time Inc., also there was advertising man Mitchell J. Epstein. In walks David J. Mahoney who was Chairman of the board of Norton Simon Inc. from 1970-1983, with a friend. Mahoney took the table of four next to ours. All of a sudden out of the blue ... there was this name NORTON SIMON! You would of thought an eight hundred pound gorilla had landed from the sky on our table!! Every person at our table - stopped eating, drinking, and talking. The publisher of Time Inc. took out a note pad he wrote, Norton Simon Inc. is buying the designer couture house of " Halston" from Ben Shaw Inc... Mr. Epstein took out a note pad also and Mitchell wrote , "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen" .......... that slogan made Epstein/Rayboy advertising a lot of money.
