Brilliant Exiles
Writer May Sarton, one of the ‘Brilliant Exiles’ featured in The National Portrait Gallery’s current exhibit.
DIRECTOR OF
May Sarton, found herself alone in Paris at age 19. It was there she found herself and her love of poetry. She realized her same-sex attraction sparked her creativity, writing with an intense understanding of women’s experiences in love and aging. Sarton is part of the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibit “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris” which runs through February 23. Painting was by Polly Thayer Starr (1904–2006), oil on canvas, 1936.
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FIRST SNOW OF 2025 MUFFLES NATION’S CAPITAL BY
ROBERT DEVANEY
About five to nine inches of snow fell on Washington, D.C. early on January 6, leaving neighborhoods like Georgetown to walk to coffee spots and restaurants while dogs and children played in the snow.
NEW FOLGER DIRECTOR: THEATER IS POLITICAL
BY RICHARD SELDEN
At The Georgetowner’s December Cultural Leadership Breakfast, Folger Shakespeare Library Director Farah Karim-Cooper—remarking, at the start of her talk, “I’ve been here for about six weeks now”—read a little Shakespeare.
PHILLY IN JANUARY BY RICHARD SELDEN
Every other day in January, Center City’s historic street grid is far quieter and less congested. It is a good month for D.C.-area fans of art, theater and classical music to spend a night or two in the City of Brotherly Love.
ALL THAT JAZZ, GEORGETOWN: JANUARY 2025 BY MARK EDELMAN
It’s a brand new year and clubs and concerts are keeping the lights on and seats warm for the best music the DMV has to offer (like Freda Payne at Blues Alley). Check out these night spots as we swing our way into the new year.
HYDE-ADDISON’S HOOKS NAMED PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR BY PEGGY SANDS
The principal of Georgetown’s only public elementary school – Calvin Hooks at Hyde-Addison School on 3219 O St. NW – received “the Principal of the Year” award from K-12 Dive, a leading publication operated by Industry Dive, focused on education.
THE 82ND ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES: A RECAP BY KATE OCZYPOK
The 82nd Annual Golden Globes kicked off the 2025 awards season with lots of fashion, fun with a new host and lots of red carpet moments.
YEAR
2024 Year in Review
BY PEGGY SANDS CRIME
At the December meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, the Metropolitan Police Department reported that crime was down in Georgetown and across the District — especially homicide, with no reported cases in recent months. Burglaries from homes and thefts from autos were also down in Georgetown and the District.
The Secure DC public safety omnibus bill, largely proposed and pushed by Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, passed the District Council and was signed into law in March. Per Pinto’s office: “Violent crime is down 35 percent from last year, property crime dropped 11 percent and 911 call service speed and accuracy has significantly improved,” the latter thanks to the Office of Unified Communications oversight hearings led by Pinto. Also, the number of OUC call-taker vacancies has dropped from 36 in June to six. Still, some Georgetowners don’t feel safe. Shoppers were traumatized by having to witness flash mobs that swiped shelves in CVS and Safeway clean of products as store salespeople and managers watched silently, in accordance with policy. To buy laundry soap, one still needs a staffer to open a cabinet.
SCHOOLS
Public schools in Georgetown are full of students, faculty have stayed on and reading and math scores have advanced. This is not the pattern in many D.C. public schools where, according to Washington Teachers’ Union
President Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons: “The biggest challenge is the retention of teachers, due to working conditions.” Late in September, Pogue-Lyons told The Georgetowner she was especially proud that Georgetown’s one public elementary school, Hyde-Addison — where she taught and which her son attended — has a solid staff base and students from every ward in the city. That was verified when HydeAddison Principal Calvin Hooks received the Principal of the Year award from education publication K-12 Dive.
Hardy Middle School is also facing full capacity and bulging seams with planned renovations — especially expanded playing fields, an auditorium/cafeteria and possibly new classrooms — proposals that go in and out of the city budget. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Kishan Putta, whose jurisdiction includes the school, advised the commission in December to expect a big push for these improvements in 2025. This year will also be the first when all June graduates at Hardy Middle School will be admitted to MacArthur High School.
The new high school is also doing well in its second year, according to Putta. The school’s population is growing as planned and new classrooms and facilities on the campus are being constructed on schedule, in preparation for a full high school program in the next two years.
The big news at Georgetown University: John DeGioia, GU’s longest-serving president, announced on Nov. 21 that he would be
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
DUMBARTON CONCERTS: FRY STREET QUARTET
Saturday, Jan. 25
The Fry Street Quartet will perform works by Haydn, Debussy and Clarice Assad as part of the Dumbarton Concerts series at Dumbarton United Methodist Church, 3133 Dumbarton St. NW, at 7:30 p.m. Visit dumbartonconcerts.org.
GEORGETOWN VILLAGE TOWN HALL
Saturday, Jan. 26
Georgetown Village, 1802 35th St. NW, will hold its annual town hall meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. The event will include a slideshow of 2024 highlights, a speech by President Judith Bunnell, a chance for community members to share feedback and a social hour with refreshments. To join via Zoom, use meeting ID 897 2041 1621 and passcode 028 667.
stepping down from his role and transitioning to the status of president emeritus. “After 23 years of service to the university — longer than most members of the graduating class of 2025 have been alive — DeGioia ultimately arrived at this difficult decision as a means of prioritizing his health following a stroke on June 5,” the university announced.
On another note, Georgetown University has been named in a class action lawsuit directed at a group of 17 universities that allegedly colluded to reduce the competition for prospective students and drive down the
amount of financial aid offered — all while giving special preference to the children of wealthy donors. The case, involving antitrust issues, made the news in December, though the congressional provision allowing the collaboration expired a few years ago.
BUSINESS
As almost everyone knows, Mayor Muriel Bowser has claimed for months now that “Georgetown is hot!” Some of the credit could go to two very active business development organizations in Georgetown:
ANC 2E MEETING
Monday, Feb. 3
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, representing Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale, will hold its February meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation School, 1524 35th St. NW, and via Zoom. The agenda will be available seven days prior. Visit anc.dc.gov.
DUMBARTON CONCERTS: STEVE HONIGBERG TANGO ENSEMBLE
Friday, Feb. 14
On Valentine’s Day at 7:30 p.m., Dumbarton Concerts, 3133 Dumbarton St. NW, will welcome back the Steve Honigberg Tango Ensemble for a “decadent” set featuring strings and piano played in the passionate tango style. Visit dumbartonconcerts.org.
Georgetown Main Street Executive Director Rachel Shank is flanked by retired GMS Board President Melanie Hayes and GMS Board Chair Iesha Holy. Photo by Bill Starrels.
the Georgetown Business Improvement District and Georgetown Main Street. The BID is intimately involved with the debates about the future of Georgetown’s streateries and widened sidewalks (see below).
Longtime CEO and President Joe Sternlieb will be stepping down in the first quarter of 2025 to become an executive fellow at the Federal City Council. A search for his replacement has begun. “This is an exciting opportunity for a forward-thinking leader to help shape the next chapter of one of the country’s most renowned and vibrant commercial districts,” said Terese Wilson, who chairs the BID’s board of directors.
Meanwhile Georgetown Main Street, a nonprofit that represents retailers and small business entrepreneurs, has been an increasingly festive presence in Georgetown under Executive Director Rachel Shank. During the holidays, GMS sponsored several events that may become town traditions, such as a Christmas tree lighting and carol singing at Book Hill Park and a cookie tour with more than a dozen participating retailers over two holiday weekends. Events are being planned for almost every month in 2025.
STREATERIES
As reported in The Georgetowner’s December ANC Report, the guidelines for permanent streateries — the expanded outdoor dining spaces fashioned out of the sidewalk and parking areas in front of many eateries — are being finalized. The approved standards are meant to make the streateries, which became popular during the pandemic, safer and more convenient for customers, while allowing access to the utilities under the sidewalks and former parking spots.
But the guidelines also touch on the aesthetics of the streatery barriers. It seems that the ugly concrete Jersey barriers are definitely out. So are the standard planking and steps. The new look will probably have diners on the sidewalk portion nearest the buildings, with pedestrians maneuvering the brick sidewalk area closer to the traffic. The Citizens Association of Georgetown is also involved in the town meetings and planning for the streateries, which will obviously be a major subject of The Georgetowner’s Town Topics in 2025.
An example of a messy, uninviting streatery. Courtesy Georgetown Coalition for Public Spaces.
ANC: Looking into Bags and Bottles
BY PEGGY SANDS
Due to a storm that coated Washington, D.C., with a blanket of snow and ice, ANC 2E’s first meeting of 2025 on Jan. 6 was entirely virtual. All eight Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners — including the two new Georgetown University representatives — were on hand most of the evening to discuss, in their usual highly civil way, the latest issues in Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale. They also elected 2025 officers: Gwendolyn Lohse as chairperson and Topher Mathews as vice chair.
Apart from this month’s major events — the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9 and the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 — the meeting’s main topics were bags and bottles, referring to the leaf bags that the city was supposed to have picked up in November and the empty bottles that a proposed bill would require stores to accept.
City leaf pickup has turned into a contentious issue, dominating the January meeting as it did the December one. The confusion about whether the city would only pick up loose leaves dumped in tree boxes in front of residences, or whether leaves in large brown bags would also be taken away, resulted in the passing of a resolution.
The resolution clearly stated that many, if not the majority of, Georgetown residents live in attached townhouses and single-family homes without a back entrance to the street. In those cases, raking up backyard leaves means filling up to a dozen large bags with leaves, dragging the bags through one’s home and dumping them out again in the front tree boxes, where, uncollected, they became masses of rain- and snow-soaked vegetation.
Commissioners reported getting angry calls from residents who, as instructed, had called 311 repeatedly to have the debris removed; the immediate pickup that was promised never occurred, however.
“We will be insisting on a personal meeting with the Department of Public Works next week about this and will let you know what action to take,” said Lohse after a long on-camera discussion of the issue with DPW Public Affairs Specialist Robert Butler.
A bottle-return bill that was being proposed by the city also begat many pointed questions. If enacted, whoever places bottles in receivers in or near participating stores will receive an immediate refund of 10 cents per bottle. “The mandated bottle return project has become very popular in states such as California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York and
Minnesota,” according to a presentation at the meeting. “They provide funds for schools and nonprofits, promote environmental justice, are good for the climate and will create green jobs for D.C. residents.”
Small businesses without room for the refund dispensers would be exempt from the mandatory bottle program, and many bottles will still be deposited in trash cans. That brought up the concern that some cities with the program have seen an increase in people combing through neighborhood garbage bins looking for bottles. The ANC commissioners passed a resolution stating that more information was needed.
Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy of the Metropolitan Police Department reported that most crime in Georgetown is down except for property crime. She distinguishes between residential property crime — such as smashand-grab from cars and package thefts from front porches — and commercial property crime — mainly open theft from store shelves. Savoy repeated the often-heard advice that cars should always be locked, with nothing left visible on the seats.
MPD Lt. Danielle Vitatoe, new to Georgetown, was introduced to the commission. Also, a report on police community relations was made.
One of the biggest changes in Georgetown transit history is happening this month, according to Ward 2 Council liaison Brian Romanowski. The last week of 2024 saw the end of the Circulator buses and the 31 Metrobus route that went along M Street to and
from Union Station. Other buses are taking up the routes, including the 33 Metrobus, which will run regularly to Union Station.
The ANC also reviewed two Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board applications that require the commission’s advice. One, for Baku Caviar at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. NW to serve wine samples with caviar offerings, was supported unanimously. The other concerned a proposed temporary license for medical cannabis at Georgetown Wellness dispensary. “I look forward to working towards a settlement with you,” Lohse told the owner, who agreed to go through the full application process.
The next meeting of ANC 2E is scheduled for Feb. 3.
A bottle-return bill is being proposed for D.C. Courtesy Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative.
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Meta Pulls the Plug on Fact-Checking
Last week, Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced that it would end its eight-year fact-checking partnership with independent American journalists to identify misinformation on its platforms.
Calling the election of Donald Trump “a cultural tipping point,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would move to “a Community Notes model” to avoid mistakes and censorship and promote free expression.
The Poynter Institute, which owns PolitiFact (which assisted with Meta factchecking), called Zuckerberg’s statement “disappointing.” In an article on poynter.com, President Neil Brown said, “Facts are not censorship. Fact-checkers never censored anything,” adding that “it’s time to quit invoking inflammatory and false language in describing the role of journalists and fact-checking.”
a term popularized during the 2016 election, are increasingly used to suppress accurate information on issues such as climate change, vaccine safety, international conflicts and the behavior of government officials and other public figures.
Most journalists, including the fact-checkers Meta is doing away with, take very seriously the role of helping readers wade through the murky waters of digital journalism (not to mention social media, which is now embracing AI).
It is incumbent on all of us, as consumers of information, to “fact-check” for ourselves.
Over its 71-year history, The Georgetowner has sought to be an unbiased source of local news, while also taking stands on issues and sharing the opinions of others, always indicated as such.
Jimmy Carter: Definition of a Good Life
BY ROBERT DEVANEY
On Jan. 7, President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29, returned to Washington, D.C. After his coffin was transferred from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson in front of the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue, the 39th president, a Navy veteran, arrived at the U.S. Capitol to lie in state.
The moving ceremonies — the procession, the honor guard, the eulogies in the Capitol Rotunda — are an American tradition, as is the funeral service at the National Cathedral, held on Jan. 9.
and have a beer, they avoided cocktail parties in Georgetown. And while Carter always pledged to tell the truth, his relations with Congress stalled. When all was said and done, his high hopes and ambitions smashed into hard-edged realities: the oil crisis, national malaise, the Iran hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Meta’s decision is yet another blow to ethical journalism, with significant consequences for the fact-based understanding on which democracy relies. Coordinated attacks on “fake news,”
Today, as major legacy media and social media owners step back — for political as well as financial reasons — from a commitment to accuracy, transparency and the calling-out of misinformation, it is incumbent on all of us, as consumers of information, to “fact-check” for ourselves.
Health Care: Change Yes, Murder No
On Dec. 4, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot to death in cold blood outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. Even before the arrest of his self-confessed assassin, five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the horrifying act was being publicly celebrated.
That 26-year-old Luigi Mangione is being feted by some is disgusting. However, as he no doubt intended, this high-profile killing raised an important question: Just how bad is our country’s health care system that people are saluting a murderer?
America spends more per person on health care than any comparably wealthy country — nearly twice as much as the average expenditure. According to the Associated Press, insurance premiums, pharmaceutical prices and out-of-
pocket costs in the U.S. have all risen over the last five years. While these are a few of the reasons to demand change, they do not justify the brutal killing of anyone, CEO or not.
There are far more productive — and legal — means of expressing one’s dissatisfaction with the health care industry. Write your member of Congress. Write an opinion piece and send it to your local paper. (The Georgetowner always welcomes submissions.) Consider supporting organizations such as the National Coalition on Health Care.
As for one’s own health care expenses, there is no substitute for being well informed. Do your research and talk to health professionals about your options. A good place to start is the District Department of Health website at dchealth.dc.gov
The memorial service in the Rotunda was attended by Carter’s family, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, members of Congress and other officials. Hundreds of citizens stood in line in the cold to pay their respects later that night, on Wednesday and early on Thursday.
“Jimmy Carter was that all-too-rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace,” said Harris.
A few of us at this newspaper recall first learning of Carter back in 1976, when our editor worked on the student newspaper at Georgetown University, the Georgetown Voice. One of the Voice’s columnists, who wrote presciently about then-Gov. Carter’s good chances of winning the election, was quite proud of himself.
After Vietnam, Watergate and Nixon, we students were taken with Carter’s down-to-earth and optimistic approach. At his inauguration in January of 1977, we were astonished when he and Rosalynn took that famous walk along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House: “They’re walking!”
We felt these years would be special, as the new president — still an outsider — seemed at home in Washington, D.C., teaching Sunday school for his Baptist church and sending his daughter Amy to public school, including Georgetown’s Hardy Middle School.
While he and his advisors Jody Powell and Hamilton Jordan might hang like to hang out
Carter’s accomplishments, notably the Camp David Accords, seemed to melt away, and he lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980. We students moved on, grew up and seemed to forget the 39th president.
In his many years as an ex-president, Carter remained the same good man, powered by his Christian values and love for America. His diplomatic and human rights initiatives — for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 — and his work for Habitat for Humanity are widely known.
House Speaker Johnson recalled on Dec. 7: “When Jimmy Carter walked out on the East Front of the Capitol and took his oath of office, I was just 4 years old. He’s the first president that I remember. Looking back, it’s obvious now to me as an adult why he captured everyone’s attention. … Our republic, we honor President Carter, his family and his enduring legacy that he leaves. Not only upon this nation, but upon the world.”
“Character, character, character,” stated President Joe Biden at the National Cathedral. “Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flow to others. At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment. Not for reward, but in reverence, to the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted. To make every minute of our time here on Earth count. That’s the definition of a good life, the life Jimmy Carter lived: [the] greatest 100 years.”
As we begin a new year, Jimmy Carter is on our minds. We suspect — with renewed appreciation — that he will be remembered for many years to come.
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter walk along the inaugural route to the White House.
Outlook 2025
BY THE GEORGETOWNER
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
We are looking towards a 2025 filled with continued improvement and community across our Washington, D.C., campuses. We continue to work to modernize our Hilltop Campus through the construction of a new residential facility on the site of the former
GEORGETOWN BID
Georgetown’s pandemic recovery has come full circle, with the commercial district ending 2024 with 13.2 million visitors — the largest crowds since 2019. More visitors mean a market for more hotel rooms, many of which will be delivered in the first quarter thanks to the new Canal House on 31st Street. The hotel also offers two attached townhomes, a library lounge, specialty suites and a private courtyard. On the restaurant and retail front, momentum has yet to slow. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to eat more ice cream (no, just us?), you’re in luck. Amorino Gelato is expected to open soon, known for its rose-shaped Italian treats that are sold everywhere from Paris to London. Additional restaurant openings in 2025 include Alara, Jinya, Florería Atlántico and My Little Chamomile, with 15 new Georgetown businesses on the horizon. Multiple office conversions and development projects are also underway, leading to 500-plus residential units in the pipeline. The Flour Mill at 1000 Potomac St. NW sold in September 2024 to Related Fund
Henle Village complex. We look forward to opening this new residence in fall of 2025. We also launched a multi-year utilities project on Healy and Copley Lawns to replace aging underground utilities with more energyefficient infrastructure.
We will also continue to develop our Capitol Campus in downtown D.C., growing Georgetown’s impact just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. A home for discovery and interdisciplinary and civic engagement, the Capitol Campus builds on our historic strengths and brings together new opportunities for collaboration in a vibrant new living and learning community in the heart of D.C.
You can find out more information about current projects and their impacts to Georgetown’s campus and the local community at facilities.georgetown.edu.
— Cory Peterson, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement and Local Government Affairs, Georgetown University
Georgetown’s Community Leaders Share What’s Ahead
GEORGETOWN VILLAGE
Georgetown Village is very excited to continue our membership and volunteer expansion into 2025. In addition to our twiceweekly exercise class, which is open to the community, we are also now offering a weekly meditation session and continuing our monthly movie nights, social hours and excursions, in addition to our online programming. We have our annual Town Hall meeting scheduled for Jan. 26, and we look forward to hearing from our members and volunteers with their ideas for future Village programs and projects.
Georgetown Village continues to offer a Durable Medical Equipment Lending closet to the community and appreciates the many equipment donations we have received. We also appreciate the amount of financial contributions we received from the community in 2024 and hope we can count on your continued support, as we are very concerned about how the new administration will affect the government grants that we receive.
Our concerns for 2025 include funding
GEORGETOWN MAIN STREET
Management and Network Realty Partners. 1000 and 1050 Thomas Jefferson St. NW went through design review and permitting to convert both buildings into mixed-used residential.
As we welcome new businesses and development projects to Georgetown, we will continue to prioritize safety and security initiatives, led by our Community Safety Coordinator, as well as operations and streetscape efforts to ensure Georgetown is a well-managed, safe and beautiful place for all residents, visitors and businesses.
We look forward to an eventful 2025 in the most literal sense, from the Georgetown BID’s 22nd annual French Market in April, to our second Fête de la Musique – World Music Day in June, joining the celebrations for WorldPride in D.C., the return of Dancing on the Waterfront and more arts and culture events.
— The Georgetown BID
Georgetown Main Street has a full calendar and initiative docket for 2025. We continue to prioritize the stability and visibility of our small businesses along the Wisconsin Avenue Corridor and hope you will too. Neighbors should expect the same major events and programs we’ve brought to the community in the past: Art All Night, Fall Market and our “tour events” like the Flower Tour in April and the Cookie Tour in December. We have a new big event up our sleeve and hope to unveil it soon.
We are looking forward to progress on the major construction projects in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Wisconsin Avenue and the continued opening of new restaurants. The “creep” of national chains up Wisconsin Avenue is something we’re watching. We ask neighbors and friends of Main Street to be intentional in 2025 to dine at new local spots, get your gifts from independent shops down the street and leave positive reviews when you have good experiences. It will take all of us supporting local to retain the charm and individuality in this place we all love.
— Rachel Shank, Executive Director,
GMS
our ongoing programs and the rising need for driving volunteers in the community. Volunteer drivers continue to serve a vital role in our community by ensuring everyone in our community has access to vital medical care, groceries, pharmaceuticals and the other essentials of daily life. As our founding members are aging, we are seeing a greater need for volunteers to provide transportation to medical appointments as well as to grocery stores.
We welcome members 55 and older and are very pleased to see a cohort of younger members joining the Village. This is resulting in an increased level of social programming for our younger members as we provide more volunteer assistance for our older members.
— Lynn Golub-Rofrano, MSW, Executive Director, Georgetown Village
CITIZENS ASSOCIATION OF GEORGETOWN
The Citizens Association of Georgetown continues to build upon our 147-year legacy of preserving Georgetown’s historic heritage, advocating for residents, providing information about public safety and bringing our neighborhood together. This year, CAG will host the popular Concerts in the Park and Architectural Tour, along with new programs focused on historic preservation and safety.
CAG has the most active block captain network in the District, covering 90 percent of Georgetown. Studies have shown that neighborhoods with high “collective efficacy” have less crime. We are asking the community to join the block captain network to safeguard against crime.
A key challenge is that D.C. is facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, which will impact city services. Under these circumstances, cities are shifting towards hyperlocal “place governance” of government and nongovernment collaboration. Community involvement in CAG’s efforts creates a safer and connected community.
— Brittany Sawyer, Executive Director, Citizens Association of Georgetown
Cory Peterson. Courtesy Georgetown University
45 INS & 15 OUTS IN 2024
BY ROBERT DEVANEY
IN:
TESLA ELECTRIFIES M ST.
Last month, the nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer opened a 4,500-squarefoot showroom at 3307 M St. NW, having relocated from CityCenterDC. Tesla moved — curiously enough — to the same M Street block that boasted a car dealership for decades.
IN: OSTERIA MOZZA
The highly anticipated Osteria Mozza DC opened on Nov. 10. Restaurateur Stephen Starr partnered with Michelin-star chef Nancy Silverton of Los Angeles to bring the East Coast version of her famed Italian restaurant to the former Dean & DeLuca space at 3276 M St. NW.
IN: BARNES & NOBLE
Gone from Georgetown since 2011, Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookstore chain, returned on Nov. 6 to its original location at 3040 M St. NW.
IN: BILLY HICKS
The restaurant Billy Hicks made its debut in October at the lively corner of M and Potomac Streets. Some may recall the 1985 Georgetowncentric film “St. Elmo’s Fire,” in which Rob Lowe played the character Billy Hicks.
IN: LA BONNE VACHE
La Bonne Vache, “The Good Cow,” opened on Jan. 31 at the 3265 Prospect St. NW corner that held the beloved Booeymonger for 50 years. A full-fledged French bistro now occupies the renovated interior.
IN: M.M.LAFLEUR
Also last May, M.M.LaFleur, home of the “Power Casual” look, opened at 1344 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: GENERATION TUX
Generation Tux opened at 1517 Wisconsin Ave. NW in November.
IN: CATBIRD
Catbird, a 20-year-old jewelry business in New York, opened on Feb. 8 in Lush’s former space at 3066 M St. NW.
IN: FRAMEBRIDGE
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Framebridge opened a brand-new Georgetown shop at 1506 Wisconsin Ave. NW on Nov. 2 — its 29th store — just steps away from the company’s original offices.
IN: SMOOTHIE KING
Smoothie King opened its first location in Georgetown on Jan. 25.
IN: GRECO
D.C.’s first Greco, a Greek eatery, opened in Georgetown on Jan. 15 at 1335 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: ORNARE
Ornare, a high-end Brazilian furniture brand, opened at 3340 Cady’s Alley NW.
IN: ICE CREAM JUBILEE
Ice Cream Jubilee opened on March 21 in the old Sweetgreen location at 3333 M St. NW.
IN: OUTERKNOWN
Outerknown, a cool, sustainable clothing store, opened at 1240 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: OLFACTORY NYC
Olfactory NYC opened at 3242 M St. NW, in the space that once held Marine Layer (which moved across the street) and, earlier, Godiva Chocolates.
IN: THE RIVER CLUB
The River Club opened on July 6 at Washington Harbour, replacing Bangkok Joe’s at 3000 K St. NW.
IN: WINGO’S
Wingo’s reopened in its original location at 3207 O St. NW. The popular chicken carry-out was shuttered for years after a fire in June of 2018.
IN: SKIMS
IN: AFGHANIA
Afghania, at 2811 M St. NW, is a new restaurant by Omar Masroor.
IN: HUNTER & HUNTRESS
An interior decorating company opened at 1665 Wisconsin Ave. NW, where the Bean Counter coffee and sandwich shop used to be.
IN: PURE SWEAT + FLOAT STUDIO
Pure Sweat + Float Studio opened in May at 3345 Prospect St. NW, next to Down Dog Yoga, with infrared saunas and float therapy.
IN: REVERIE
Chef Johnny Spero’s Reverie returned on March 26 after a major reconstruction. A fire in August of 2022 shut down the restaurant at 3201 Cherry Hill Lane NW.
IN: GOLD’S GYM
Gold’s Gym opened in September in Georgetown Park at 3270 M St. NW.
IN: TILLEY’S PET SUPPLIES
Tilley’s Pet Supplies, owned by Drew and Megan Robitaille, opened a second location in Georgetown at 3216 O St. NW on Nov. 26.
IN: RM WELLNESS
RM Wellness, a mini-spa specializing in massage therapy services and manual lymphatic drainage, opened on Oct. 19 at 1228 1/2 31st St. NW.
IN: MALBON GOLF
Another hip brand chose Georgetown. Malbon golf apparel opened on Nov. 9 in the former Hobo Bags shop at 1265 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: FARM RIO
A Mexican restaurant has given way to a colorful Brazilian clothing store for women at 3057 M St. NW: Farm Rio.
IN: SWEATY BETTY
Sweat Betty — “a global activewear and lifestyle brand for women” — opened on Nov. 15 at 3251 M St. NW, where Nisolo shoes used to be.
IN: CLUB PILATES
Club Pilates opened at 1065 Wisconsin Ave. NW, above South Moon Under and Baker’s Daughter.
IN: SPOT OF TEA
A tea shop made its debut inside the Grace Street Collective at 3210 Grace St. NW.
IN: BROMPTON BIKES
On April 1, Brompton Bikes opened its Georgetown shop at 1214 Wisconsin Ave. NW, the former Scotch & Soda clothing store.
IN: HOUSEBAR
Founded in 1934, Georgetown Wine & Spirits at 2701 P St. NW has been renamed Housebar.
IN: GLOWBAR
Glowbar, the facial membership studio, opened its first D.C. location at 1533 Wisconsin Ave. NW on Aug. 2.
IN: MONSTERA
Monstera, a West Coast-inspired burrito joint, now operates inside Grace Street Coffee at 3299 K St. NW.
IN: ARGENT
Yes, another women’s clothing store arrived on the avenue. This one is Argent at 1250 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: POLIFORM
Poliform — a leading Italian seller of contemporary and modern furniture — opened its doors at 3304 M St. NW on June 5.
IN: TATTE BAKERY & CAFÉ
Last July, Tatte Bakery & Café opened at 1545 Wisconsin Ave. NW, the former Capital One Bank building at Wisconsin Avenue and Q Street.
IN: CLARE V.
Clare V., an L.A.-based handbag, clothing and accessories brand, opened last February at 1238 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
Co-founded by Kim Kardashian, Skims opened its first permanent location at 3300 M St. NW on June 13.
IN: 7TH STREET BURGER
Last June, New York City-based 7th Street Burger opened in the former Mono Diner location at 1424 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: SÉZANE
The 10-year-old French fashion brand Sézane opened last May at 1211 Wisconsin Ave. NW, the former Tory Burch store.
IN: MOLTENI&C
Molteni&C, a luxury furniture and kitchen group, opened a 7,149-square-foot showroom at 3306 M St. NW.
IN: NEW BALANCE
New Balance, the sports footwear and apparel manufacturer, opened at 3139 M St. NW.
IN: RAILS
Another West Coast retailer of apparel for women and men, Rails, has set up shop in Georgetown at 3239 M St. NW.
IN:
CHRISTOPHER BOUTLIER INTERIORS
Interior designer and art consultant Christopher Boutlier moved his residence and business to Georgetown. The business address: 3214 O St. NW.
IN: RIMTANG
Thai street-food eatery Rimtang opened at 1039 33rd St. NW.
OUT: FAREWELL TO…
Alkova, Big Wheel Bikes, City Sliders, District Doughnut, Dixie Liquor, Foxtrot, High Road Cycling, Hobo Bags, Jaco Juice & Taco Bar, Marcel’s, Mono by All About Burger, Nisolo, Oakberry, Outdoor Voices, Showfields, Smoke Island, Storie Collective, Tory Burch, Wawa
Billy Hicks restaurant made its October debut at the lively corner of M and Potomac Streets — and plans to be a youthful place to meet as well as dine. Photo by Bill Starrels.
Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905 Brian MacMahon (703)
Brilliant
Happy New Year to everyone! As we kick off 2025, The Georgetowner wishes its readers a year of success and creativity. Here is some inspiration to jump-start your year on the right foot.
First, we wanted to pay tribute to Pierre Salinger, in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth and because he wrote for The Georgetowner from 1998 to 2002.
The Odyssey of Pierre Salinger
BY ROBERT DEVANEY
“I don’t want any more Bush presidents,” Pierre Salinger wrote in The Georgetowner in 2000. “If Bush wins, I’m going to leave the country and spend the rest of my life in France.”
And so, he did.
Salinger’s main claim to fame was being President John Kennedy’s press secretary. But he was much more than that. He was a child prodigy pianist who became a journalist. He was on Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968 and a few feet from him when he was fatally shot. RFK’s assassination broke Salinger’s heart again — and he left for Europe.
Of course, the brilliant and charming San Francisco-born Salinger was no mere expat. He was already an American patriot,
Salinger, President Kennedy’s press secretary, was more than an expat.
The Georgetowner currently has its own expat on staff: Jody Kurash. Jody, who has been living in Bali for years, spoke to us about her experiences overseas.
Finally, we wanted to highlight the exhibition “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939,” now at the National
Portrait Gallery. In those decades, Paris was the place to be for talented American women determined to escape restrictions placed on their lives at home.
With the world changing daily — partly from the onset of post-pandemic technology like Zoom, giving more and more of us the freedom to work from anywhere — in this issue, The Georgetowner celebrates “brilliant
As expatriate American poet T.
decorated in World War II. And he was an internationalist who talked easily with everyone, including Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Communist Party and premier of the Soviet Union.
By the 1980s, Salinger was ABC News’ chief European correspondent, covering top stories like the Iran hostage crisis and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He ended his career awkwardly by claiming that TWA Flight 800 was downed in 1996 by an errant missile off Long Island.
Shortly thereafter, Salinger was living in Georgetown and then Hillandale and writing a regular column for The Georgetowner. He focused on international affairs and seemed to call all world leaders “my good friend.” One of his most prescient columns, 25 years ago, was an urgent warning about Vladimir Putin’s coming to power in Russia.
Again, it came time for Salinger to go back to France — what with George W. Bush as president and the old press secretary hitting 75. He had some fun with his supposed exile, to the point where his wife Poppy, on the phone from France, told him to take off “that dirty shirt” with the image of the 43rd president.
Salinger soon left his apartment in the Colonial on 30th Street for the sunny beauty of Provence. Poppy Nicole Salinger had La Bastide Rose waiting — first as a bed-andbreakfast and, upon his death in 2004, also the Pierre Salinger Museum. The landscape, the cuisine and the pink bastion in Le Thor, near Avignon, serve as a perfect tribute to the bon vivant of the New Frontier.
Indeed, as Newsweek’s Robert Korengold pointed out, Salinger was considered by the French not as “an American, or the American, but their American in France.”
A 2014 review of La Bastide Rose in The Georgetowner declared: “This is a place that exudes serenity. I could easily have stayed for a week with a few books, dips in the pool, leisurely walks and conversation with the assortment of international guests in search of the same. So, come for a few days, taste wines in nearby Châteauneuf du Pape, shop
Eliot wrote:
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. exiles” both old and new.
for antiques in Isle sur la Sorgue and most of all bathe in the warm hospitality of Poppy and her family.”
In death, Salinger — briefly a U.S. senator from California — returned home and rests in Arlington National Cemetery.
In this year, the centennial of his birth on June 14, let’s lift a bottle of Heineken to “Lucky Pierre,” preferably in one of his favorite Georgetown spots, Martin’s Tavern. Stepping outside to light up a cigar in his honor, we’ll know it’s time to plan that trip to La Bastide Rose.
S.
Pierre and Poppy Salinger in France.
Bastide Rose and the Pierre Salinger Museum in Le Thor, France.
The January 24, 2001, cover of The Georgetowner.
Exiles
The ‘Brilliant Exiles’ Await ...
BY RICHARD SELDEN
Josephine Baker. Isadora Duncan. Peggy Guggenheim. Helena Rubinstein. Gertrude Stein (and, of course, Alice B. Toklas).
These six women are among the most famous of the American expatriates who found the freedom to pursue their creative careers — and their personal lives — in Paris in the first decades of the 20th century. They and several dozen others are featured in “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939,” on view at the National Portrait Gallery through Feb. 23.
Our cover image, May Sarton is also part of the exhibit. May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton, a Belgian-American novelist, poet and memoirist. Although her best work is strongly personalized with erotic female imagery, she resisted the label of “lesbian writer,” preferring to convey the universality of human love.
The exhibition recreates the excitement of those years in the French capital, thematically intermingling paintings — notably Picasso’s
portrait of Stein from the Metropolitan Museum of Art — with drawings, sculptures and photographs, including works by Berenice Abbott (one of the “brilliant exiles”), Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz.
The show’s two centerpieces: a triptych of murals painted by Steichen for the New York residence of newlyweds Agnes Ernst (another “brilliant exile”) and Eugene Meyer, who owned the Washington Post; and a huge lithograph by Michel Gyarmathy of Baker, “brilliant exile” extraordinaire, in feathered costume.
Nicknamed the “Nefertiti of Paris,” Baker appears in the exhibition’s Harlem’s Renaissance in Paris section with singer, dancer and vaudevillian Ada Smith, who performed in and ran Paris nightclubs, including her own Chez Bricktop, starting in the 1920s.
Paris, it seems, had a Jazz Age as lively as New York’s.
Q&A with Jody Kurash
Jody Kurash is a longtime journalist, formerly with AP. We met her while she was co-owner of Dixie Liquor more than 10 years ago. The idea for her column, “Cocktail of the Month” was developed then.
What’s the most important step to take when you finally decided to move abroad?
I think you need to have the tright mindset. Moving abroad is an adventure. Almost every aspect of your life will change in some slight way or other. You need to stay positive and be able to see things from a different perspective. I chose to live abroad because I wanted a change. So, you must embrace the differences in order to adjust to your new way of life.
What’s the best way to find a place to live?
I’ve always relied on friends or work connections to find places to live. There are a lot of housing groups on social media but the prices tend to be higher. In a place like Bali there is double pricing, one for tourists and one for locals. Like the US, you can rely on rental agents and realtors. If you live someone for a long time and decide you want to purchase property, you need to carefully look at the rules for foreigners. In some countries, you need to have a local person be part-owner and in others foreigner are only allowed to “lease” land and/or a home for a long period of time.
What about continually changing your locale. Is that easier or more difficult?
I’ve lived in four countries. (Peru, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam) Staying in location longer gives you time to put down
roots and deepen friendships. But then you lose the wanderlust factor of seeing many new places. I like to keep a homebase then work for a set amount of time then travel for a few months at a time. I find that after a few months of wandering, I’m happy to sleep in my own cozy bed.
A lot of people like the nomadic lifestyle where they move every few months. If you choose this route, remember that you’ll have to learn to live with just the basics or you’ll find yourself buying a lot of the same things every time you move.
Why did you choose Bali?
I first fell in love with Bali as a tourist. I visited Bali three times in the course two years between 2005-2007. Bali has a very strong spiritual energy and I had a strong feeling that I was going to live there on my first visit. At that point in my life, it was highly unlikely, but things change. In 2013, I was living in Peru and I saw a job opportunity in Bali and jumped on it. I do caution people that living someplace is completely different than visiting it on vacation, so just because you had a wonderful holiday somewhere, doesn’t mean you’ll be happy living there. When you’re on a vacation you’re not thinking about your budget or having to worry about mundane tasks such as getting a driver’s license or shopping for and cooking dinner. Sometimes shopping can be challenge if you’re looking for something common in your old life that’s not typical in your new home, for example, Ranch dressing, size 10 women’s shoes or sheet sets with a top sheet. You have to learn to be patient and adjust.
The “Brilliant Exiles” of Paris (clockwise from top left): Caresse Crosby, Peggy Guggenheim and Eyre de Lanux.
Jody Kurash in Bali.
ARTSWATCH
BY KATE OCZYPOK
NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT CAPITAL JEWISH MUSEUM
Dr. Beatrice Gurwitz, former deputy director of the National Humanities Alliance, joined the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum as executive director on Sept. 23, succeeding interim executive director Ivy Barsky. Board President Esther Safran Foer said that Gurwitz, whose Ph.D. is from the University of California, Berkeley, “brings a deep understanding of the opportunities facing a 21st-century cultural property combined with a vast network of academic and humanities-based organizations for potential collaboration.”
LEADERSHIP TRANSITION AT CATHEDRAL CHORAL SOCIETY
Cathedral Choral Society Executive Director Dr. Christopher Eanes left the organization on Nov. 1 to become president and CEO of Chorus America, which advances the choral field through advocacy, research and leadership development. Board President Sarah Holmes said that Eanes led CCS “with a keen strategic vision, dedication to excellence
and a deep passion for collaboration across the arts.” Organizational consultant Catherine Ort-Mabry, a chorus member for more than 25 years, took over as interim executive director on Oct. 28.
IMAGINATION STAGE GETS NEW CHIEF MANAGING OFFICER
Layne Holley became chief managing office of Bethesda’s Imagination Stage on Oct. 15.
Holder of B.A. and MBA degrees from Auburn University, Holley most recently served as director of marketing and communication at the Montgomery-based Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Working closely with Chief Artistic Programming Officer Joanne Lamparter, Holley will oversee all managerial aspects of the organization, founded in 1979, which offers theater classes and summer camps for children and mounts professional productions.
TUDOR PLACE WINS AWARD FOR ‘ANCESTRAL SPACES’ TOUR
Georgetown’s Tudor Place Historic House & Garden was presented with a 2024 Making an Impact Award by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums. The museum earned the accolade for “Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent in Tudor Place,” a guided tour program created in conjunction with an installation of that name. This reimagining of
the traditional house tour allows visitors to see the site through the eyes of the enslaved and free people for whom the Federal-period estate was both a workplace and a home.
THE WASHINGTON BALLET HIRES INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Washington Ballet has hired Jason Palmquist, a consultant with Management Consultants for the Arts since 2015, as interim executive director, succeeding Karen Shepherd. A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Palmquist became TWB’s executive director in 2004 after serving as the Kennedy Center’s vice president of dance administration. He left the Washington Ballet in 2007 for a 10-year stint as executive director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he helped launch partnerships with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Second City.
WOOLLY MAMMOTH APPOINTS MORITA AS RESIDENT DIRECTOR
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has appointed Mina Morita, artistic director of San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater Company from 2015 to 2022, to a two-year position as resident director and creative producer, supported by a grant from the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle. A graduate of
New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Morita will direct at least one production per year during the season and work directly with Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Kimberly Douglas.
MOUNT VERNON LADIES’ ASSOCIATION ELECTS 24TH REGENT
On Oct. 22, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, which owns and operates Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, elected its 24th regent: Anne “Dede” Neal Petri of Wisconsin. President and CEO of the Olmsted Network and former NEH general counsel and president of the Garden Club of America, Petri earned a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard. Under her leadership, the organization will be preparing for two big celebrations: the 250th anniversary of the nation in 2026 and, six years later, George Washington’s 300th birthday.
Mina Morita. Courtesy Woolly Mammoth.
THE LATEST DISH
BY LINDA ROTH
Whitlow’s owner Jon Williams is working with Eric and Ian Hilton of H2 Collective to take over H2’s leased space at The Wharf at 949 Wharf St. SW, where the brothers operated The Brighton SW1. After renovations — and a Whitlow’s on Water barge that docks at The Wharf — they are targeting an opening late in the first quarter. It’s not their first collaboration, as Whitlow’s took over their restaurant The Brixton, at 9th and U Streets NW. Fun fact: Whitlow’s originated in D.C. in the 1940s, then relocated to Arlington from 1995 to 2021.
Just Opened: Aaron and Harley Magden
and 700 blocks of Howard Road SE … Shake Shack plans to open a 36-seat restaurant at 621 King St. in Old Town Alexandria LongHorn Steakhouse is slated to open a 200-seat restaurant, its eighth in the region, at 13237 Worth Ave. in Woodbridge’s Smoketown Station development, where a TGI Fridays used to be ... Also in Virginia, Jason’s Crab House will open in Springfield Commons in another former TGI Fridays space. It’s affiliated with 54 Restaurant at nearby Springfield Town Center and 54 Restaurant Bar & Lounge at Fair City Mall in Fairfax.
Ch-Ch-Changes: Firehook Bakery at 1909
Q St. NW is now Dupont Coffee Collective, an employee-owned store.
Call Your Mother owners Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira plan to open a stall where Cracked Eggery used to be in National Landing’s outdoor Water Park food hall at 1601 Crystal Drive in Arlington — across from Amazon’s HQ2 — in the first quarter. The deli has Virginia locations in Old Town Alexandria, McLean and Vienna.
Drug opened Ugly Duckling at 1550 7th St. NW. Cameron Cummings is beverage director and Rob Csonka is director of operations.
Ethiopian-Eritrean siblings Siem, Izzy and Mariam Abebe decided to enter the restaurant industry with a café/wine bar, restaurant and vinyl lounge called Sost — which translates to “three” in Amharic — at 1901 9th St. NW. D’Angelo Mobley, formerly of La Jambe, is their chef.
Chef Update: Marjorie Meek-Bradley was named executive chef at New York-based Union Square Hospitality Group, founded by Danny Meyer. The group’s restaurants include Gramercy Tavern, The Modern at the Museum of Modern Art, Maialino and Blue Smoke
Linda Roth is the founder and CEO of Linda Roth Associates, a D.C.-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the food service and hospitality industries. Follow her at: @LindaRothPR, #LindaRothPR or lindarothpr.com
STARTS FEBRUARY 28
opened Mikey & Mel’s Famous Deli at the corner of L and 19th Streets NW. Known for their Window Nation ads, the brothers also have two restaurants in their hometown of Cleveland and one in Fulton, Maryland … The folks who brought you King’s Ransom and The People’s
A sample of the towering sandwiches at Mikey and Mel’s.
Quick Hits: In the fourth quarter of 2025, Elias Taddesse plans to open an upscale brasserie version of Mélange, his burgersand-French-Ethiopian restaurant in Mount Vernon Triangle, in Bridge District, in the 600
Melange’s Beyaynetu burger and the mixed greens with lemon vinaigrette on the side.
Every dish at Sost is inspired by the African diaspora.
Sarah Silverman’s A New Musical
BY EDITH WHARTON
Karen Zacarías adapted for the stage by directed by hana s. Sharif
‘Dorothy Parker in Hollywood’
BY KITTY KELLEY
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) is probably best known for her bon mots: “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” and “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.” During a party game called Give Me a Sentence, she drew the word “horticulture” and seconds later quipped, “You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”
Such sparkling wit from the only woman to sit at the Algonquin Round Table suggests a gleeful romp through Gail Crowther’s new book, “Dorothy Parker in Hollywood.” But buyer beware. Before the first chapter, the author introduces her subject as “irreverent, witty, mocking, uncontrollable, derisive, drunk, world-weary, deadpan and wry.” Parker attempted suicide four times and wrote wistfully about ending her life in a book of poems she entitled “Enough Rope.”
After one overdose, she wrote the poem “Résumé”: “Razors pain you;/Rivers are damp;/ Acids stain you;/And drugs cause cramp./Guns aren’t lawful;/Nooses give;/Gas smells awful;/ You might as well live.”
“Dorothy Parker in Hollywood” is not “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” One wonders why a British writer like Crowther, with limited familiarity with Hollywood, decided to tackle a subject so well documented previously by
Marion Meade’s “Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?,” “Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties” and “The Last Days of Dorothy Parker: The Extraordinary Lives of Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman and How Death Can Be Hell on Friendship.”
Meade also edited the 2006 revised edition of “The Portable Dorothy Parker,” still in print after 60 years. “Even Marilyn Monroe had a copy on her shelves,” Crowther reports.
Crowther’s earlier book, “ThreeMartini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton,” suggests she knows the territory of self-destructive female poets. Perhaps she felt equipped to address the sad screenwriting years of Parker, who claimed to “hate Hollywood like holy water.” Parker died in 1967 in a Manhattan hotel with only her brown poodle, Troy, at her side. Crowther seems to identify somewhat; she dedicates this book to her own dog: “In memory of my best boy, my life and writing companion. My George.”
Curiously, Crowther begins “Dorothy Parker in Hollywood” by citing “the unpleasant side of Parker, her meanness … cruelty … malice … brutality.” Yes, she celebrates her subject for being clever, but add an “a” to clever and you get cleaver, which illustrates the effect of
Parker’s humor. She once critiqued an actress as someone “who looked like a two-dollar whore who once commanded five.”
When told that Clare Boothe Luce made a habit of being kind to her inferiors, Parker asked, “Where does she find them?”
Understandably, most of Parker’s contemporaries wanted to be the last to leave the room. Meeting her sounds like encountering a boa constrictor: You can freeze in place or you can bolt. Either way, you’re still a goner. She seemed to fit Murray Kempton’s definition of a critic as “someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.”
With “a string of spectacularly unsuitable younger lovers,” writes Crowther, Parker’s private life was a bit of a mess. Her first husband, who divorced her, was an alcoholic, and her second husband, whom she married, divorced and years later remarried, was bisexual, although she dismissed him in public as “queer as a billy goat.”
Parker claimed her screenwriting years were not happy, despite her 1934 salary of $1,000 a week (the equivalent of $20,000 a week in 2024). She loved the money but hated Hollywood — “as dull a domain as dots the globe.” Yet she cherished her left-wing political circle of friends, including Ernest Hemingway, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Donald Ogden Stewart, Orson Welles and Fredric March. Arrested and fined for picketing the death sentences of Sacco and Vanzetti in the 1920s, she was later put on the FBI watchlist and, in 1950, blacklisted as a communist. She never worked on another film, but lived comfortably on royalties from four volumes of short stories, eight poetry collections and three plays for the stage.
Still, Crowther is stymied by a lack of information. “Between 1951 and 1961 it is hard to imagine what life was like for Dorothy Parker,” she writes, forced to acknowledge that “little is known about these years.” Phrases such as “It is difficult to know what Parker was
up to” and “The lack of surviving Parker material is lamentable” indicate a biographer thrashing in the deep end without a life preserver, swept into waters over her head.
Parker’s alcoholism soaks every chapter of this book, along with the trauma of her abortions, depression and suicide attempts. Yet by fictionalizing herself in the 1929 short story “Big Blonde” as a drunken divorcée who survives suicide, she earned the O. Henry Award that catapulted her to fame.
But there was no happily-ever-after to her life. Leaving Hollywood in 1964, Parker, widowed at 70, lived her last three years at the Volney, a dignified Upper East Side residence for little old ladies and their dogs. “Still drinking, still hopeless with money and still unable to write,” according to Crowther, “she spent her days smoking, reading gossip magazines and watching soap operas.”
The New York Times, which once dismissed her poetry as “flapper verse,” ran Parker’s obituary on the front page, followed days later by coverage of her star-studded memorial service, which attracted 150 friends and admirers.
Eulogized by Hellman, she was buried in the gold, pearl-encrusted caftan she had received from Gloria Vanderbilt, recalling the last stanza of Parker’s poem “The Satin Dress”: “Satin glows in candle-light —/Satin’s for the proud!/ They will say who watch at night,/‘What a fine shroud!’”
Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley has written several number-one New York Times best-sellers, including “The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty.” Her most recent books include “Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys” and “Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.” She serves on the board of BIO (Biographers International Organization) and Washington Independent Review of Books, where this review originally appeared.
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