Parker LA Chapter Hosts Party

The Dorothy Parker Society chapter in the City of Angels hosted its first holiday event. As chapter prez Adrienne Crew reports: "Here's a picture of the gang at the Beverly Wilshire as we celebrated the end of the year with a few drinks. Kenneth Branagh stalked us through the night--he followed us into both of the hotel's bars. who knew he was such a fan of Mrs. Parker!"

There are more Los Angeles events coming up:

1/21/09 around 7:30 pm for drinks at Lucy's El Adobe on Melrose to play word games

2/18/09 possible jaunt to the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax for movie and dinner at Canters

Contact Adrienne for details or reservations or ideas for future outings:
adrienne (AT) dorothyparker (DOT) com

Labels: Dorothy Parker Society, events, Los Angeles

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Carrie Fisher Channels Dorothy Parker

Carrie Fisher told the Los Angeles Times this week that she is a major Dorothy Parker fan. The actress and writer has a new autobiography out that details everything from Princess Leia to battling addictions. Wishful Drinking has gotten great reviews, Parker connection or not. Fisher told the LAT:

Carrie Fisher: I started reading really early. I wanted to impress my father, who is unimpressable. For whatever reason, he may have given me the "Drunken Boat" by Rimbaud ... reading was my first drug. I would just go into these books and never surface until it was over. My family called me "the bookworm," and they didn’t say it in a nice way. I fell in love with words.

I never had the hutzpah to think that I would be able to do write. I would underline words that I didn’t know and sentences that I loved. By about 16 I wanted to be Dorothy Parker.

JC: You're about the closest thing we have.

Carrie Fisher: Aw. I figured out the ways I am like her. Do you want to hear?

JC: Yes.

Carrie Fisher: She’s short. She was half Jewish. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She was an alcoholic or addict. And she married a gay guy!

But she married the gay guy again, then died in a small apartment in New York, with a bunch of cats. ... These things I don’t want.

Fisher is on a book tour now, and seems to be enjoying it.

Labels: books, Parker References

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

Los Angeles Chapter Holiday Event Dec. 17

The Dorothy Parker Society Los Angeles Chapter will meet Wednesday, December 17 at 7:30 pm, for a drink at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Boulevard, in Beverly Hills. Mere minutes from Dorothy's many houses off Canon Drive, where John O'Hara would often entertain her with his buddies who met there weekly for drinks and mayhem. His regular group included James Cagney, Sidney Skolsky, Robert Benchley, Clifford Odets, Gilbert Roland, Cedric Hardwicke, and Peter Lorre.

After a quick drink, we will walk down Wilshire Blvd to admire the holiday windows of Saks and Barneys. The closest LA gets to Manhattan at holiday time, especially if the weather is cold enough for coats.

Contact Adrienne Crew for details or reservations: adrienne (AT) dorothyparker (DOT) com

Labels: Dorothy Parker Society, events, Los Angeles

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Monday, December 08, 2008 at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tickets are $12 on Dec. 4

The Dorothy Parker Society holiday party on Thursday, Dec. 4 (see below) is FREE. No admission. Yay. Tickets are $12; but all DPS guests get a free drink. Tell them at the door you are with the DPS. Galapagos Art Space is the best. And the show starts at 7, not 8.

Now there is NO reason to miss it. Let's see how many Brooklyn residents we can get... and if your office party was canceled this year because of the recession, here is a place to bring your co-workers for what promises to be a fantastic night.

Labels: Dorothy Parker Society, events, music

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

Holiday party in New York on Dec. 4

The Dorothy Parker Society is having its annual New York City holiday party, and for the first time ever, we are holding it in Brooklyn! So for all Brooklyn residents, you have no reason to skip this one. This Thursday, Dec. 4, 7-11 p.m., join us at the Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main Street in DUMBO, with Michael Arenella and his 11-piece Dreamland Orchestra for a festive evening of music and dancing. Come out in Twenties attire too, if you can manage it.

Tickets are $12 each; cash bar. This is the orchestra that performed on Governors Island last summer; they are the best Roaring Twenties orchestra in the city. In addition, Friday is the 75th anniversary of Repeal, when Prohibition ended, so this is an extra reason to make it to the party.

Note: This is the new location of Galapagos, no longer located in Williamsburg.

Directions:

By Subway: "F" train to York St. (First Stop in Brooklyn)
-Walk downhill on Jay St. one block to Front Street
-Go left on Front St. four blocks to Main Street
-Go right on Main St, walk two blocks to Water Street
-Galapagos is on the far corner of Main and Water

Labels: Dorothy Parker Society, events

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Monday, December 01, 2008 at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments