Mark countered with genial memories of a friend who valued loyalty above everything. Was the satchel that Sinatra carried home from Havana, for example, stuffed with cash (Kaplan's conclusion) or toiletries (Mark's belief)?
Kaplan declined to name some names, pleading, "People are still alive." Mark tried to assure him, "You don't have to worry." The crowd laughed.
Kaplan's bio stops at 1954. He is planning to cover the rest in a volume due out in 2014.
In an interview before the program, Mark said he had thought of telling his story, and even titled it with a Sinatra saying: If Anybody Hurtcha, Call Me. Sinatra had proudly said frequently that Mark would never write a book. Nearly 13 years after Sinatra's death, "I can't do it," Mark told me. "I owe it to him."
Video clips from the event will be available later this week on Philly.com.
Talula's 'urban sister'
Aimee Olexy and
Stephen Starr have decided on Talula's Garden as the name of their restaurant, coming together at 210 W. Washington Square. Olexy says she needed to "feel" the vibe of the former home of Starr's Washington Square restaurant, where she and the restaurateur operated a "pop-up" eatery last summer.
Olexy, a darling of the city's BYOB movement (she and her now-ex, Bryan Sikora, founded Django in Queen Village in May 2001), describes Talula's Garden as the "urban sister" of her Talula's Table in Kennett Square - an "elegant, classy farm-to-table" restaurant. She has hired Michael Santoro, previously chef de cuisine at Blue Duck Tavern in Washington. Opening is targeted for April 1.
Briefly noted
CBS3 weekend anchor
Anne-Marie Green and her husband,
Algernong Allen, are first-time parents. Daughter
Ailey Lynn Allen was born Friday morning. They were married in September 2009.
Cafe, a Philly-produced, low-budget indie film by Main Liner Marc Erlbaum, will open the 16th International Family Film Festival in Hollywood on March 16. The ensemble piece about life in a coffee shop, shot in spring 2009, features Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy, then a couple. Erlbaum wrote the screenplay at West Philly's Green Line Cafe. Also in the cast are Daniel Eric Gold (Matt in Ugly Betty) and Alexa Vega (Carmen Cortez in Spy Kids). Coproducer J. Andrew Greenblatt, a friend of the Upper Darby-bred Kennedy, said at the time that he simply sent him the script and he liked it. Hewitt came along as part of the deal. The film premiered last fall at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
Tickets, tickets
Deborah Norville of
Inside Edition and
Heidi Hamels, cofounder of the Hamels Foundation and wife of Phillies pitcher
Cole Hamels, are keynote speakers at the invitation-only Woman of the Week luncheon sponsored by WBEN (95.7) on March 31 at Villanova Conference Center. The station's
Marilyn Russell will host. Tickets are being awarded on Russell's program (6 to 9 a.m.) and at ilikebenfm.com.
Director Duncan Jones, son of rock legend David Bowie, will be in Philly on March 23 to talk up his action-suspenser Source Code, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, and Vera Farmiga and opens April 1. Summit Entertainment will host a sneak preview at 7:30 that evening, with Jones in the house, at the Rave University City, 40th and Walnut Streets. To download a pass to the March 23 screening, while they last, go to www.gofobo.com/rsvp and enter the code 4VIP2VS8.
Contact columnist Michael Klein at mklein@phillynews.com. Follow his blog at http://go.philly.com/insider and on Twitter @phillyinsider.
