WAG Magazine August 2013

august 2013

Novak Djokovic leads an ‘Open’ field Mending lives

Ron Israelski takes on Haiti’s forgotten souls

Almost here

US Open and American Gold Cup

Shock jock

Dr. Oz’s trainer mixes it up

Crossing swords

Fun and fence-y free

Punked up

Neiman’s and The Met

Fit as a horse

S’wellness Back to school

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The zigzag pursuit of fitness • 13 Shock and awe • 34 Wonder woman • 16 Needling the medical establishment • 36 one singular sensation... • 18 Serving aces • 38 The little hospital that could • 20 Chelsea Piers’ home court Fit to Ride • 23 advantage: Gigi Fernández • 42 one with the horse • 25 A one-of-a-kind jumpstart your outlook on life • 44 immune system • 28 Blithe spirit • 47 Curses, foiled again! • 30 In focus • 64 point man on pressure • 32 going up... • 65

For some doctors, healing has no borders. Inside, we profile a pair of physicians who take their skills to Haiti to mend broken children like the one pictured above.

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August 2013

40 wear

Features

Game, set, style

51 way

Stunning viewpoints

55 wear Suit up!

58 wear Punk’d

62 wear

Rebel with a cause (fine jewelry)

70 wonderful dining Harvest renaissance

71 wanders

The real fountain of youth

74 wagging

Who’s walked the lizard?

76 w’reel deal

Four years in the (movie) trenches

78 where are they now?

Back in the swim

80 well

HealthCorps

81 well

Physician, move thyself

82 wit

We wonder: What do you do to stay fit?

84 when&where Upcoming events

85 worthy

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Healthy drinks and eats

86 watch

We’re out and about

96 class&sass

With Martha Handler and Jennifer Pappas

8 Waggers 12 Editor’s letter Cover photo illustration.

Photograph courtesy of Uniqlo.

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What is WAG? In “Henry IV, part 1,” Falstaff calls Prince Hal – the future Henry V – a “sweet wag,” that is, a scamp. Well, we can be, er, scampish, too.

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certainly cover both. And some of us are even WAGs (wives and girlfriends, usually said of Euro sports stars’ companions.)

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One thing more: Some readers think WAG stands for “women are great.”

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WAG A division of Westfair Communications Inc. 3 Gannett Drive, White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: (914) 358-0746 • Facsimile: (914) 694-3699 Website: wagmag.com • Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff. No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call (914) 694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Michael Berger at (914) 6943600, ext. 3035 or email mberger@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 19316364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

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When I was a child, my idea of fitness was lifting a pair of binoculars to ogle the attractive players at Yankee Stadium. I had been so put out by classmates – and I’m sorry to add, teachers – who told me I was fat that the scarlet “C” I got in gym was to me a red badge of courage. (Sorry, Stephen Crane.)

The only time I earned an “A” in gym was in my high school interpretive modern dance class, in which I literally threw myself into demonstrating Humphrey-Weidman falls and approximating Martha Graham’s neurotic ancient-Greek heroines. I paid a price for art, however: I was left permanently with Rafael Nadal knees. (If only the rest of Rafael Nadal came with them.)

Anyhoo, it took me a long time to figure out that if I developed a fitness regimen (walking, weight lifting and yoga), then I could actually eat the Mediterranean diet that was plentifully provided at home by Aunt Mary and have all the energy I needed for my real passion – writing. A lover of the ancient Greeks since childhood, I had failed to absorb one of their great legacies – “Sound in mind, sound in body.”

This month, WAG salutes a group of extraordinary individuals who got the memo early on and have lived it. And we’ve done so with – for the first time, I think – three dedicated sub-themes.

First, there’s our tribute to the United States Tennis Association, which not only stages the US Open, a jewel in the crown of the sport that gets under way at the end of this month, but has done so much to bring tennis to people of every age, ability and walk of life. Next we consider the American Gold Cup, the prestigious World Cup qualifier that takes place at Old Salem Farm in Sep-

tember and exemplifies the refinement and rigor of show jumping.

Last but not least, we explore the world of the health-care hero, people like Dr. Ron Israelski, who has devoted himself to rebuilding bodies and lives from the rubble of the earthquake in Haiti.

As you read through this issue, which includes talks with fencer Slava Grigoriev and personal trainer Donovan Green, keep in mind two things. One, the days when Babe Ruth got his extracurricular activity by lifting a pitcher of beer, a platter of hot dogs and a flapper or two are long gone. Today you cross-train in order to do your sport.

And two, being fit is only one component of wellness – or what we call “s’wellness.” It’s about the integrity of mind, body and spirit – cultivating an interior life, going inward to reach out to others.

And to that end, I’d like to say a few words about our cover guy, Novak Djokovic, beginning with my thanks to Uniqlo, the day and active-wear company he reps for some of the lovely photos you see here.

I must confess that it took me, a devout Nadal-ista, a long time to warm to Nole.

But we selected him for our cover for his commitment to mind (always learning new languages) body (a fitness regimen that has enabled him to become No. 1) and spirit (his charitable work with Uniqlo and the Novak Djokovic Foundation).

That spirit was on display last month as he lost to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final but still stopped to sign autographs and went on to host his foundation’s second fundraising gala. Couldn’t have been easy when your heart is breaking. But like historical figures ranging from St. Paul to Henry V, Nole has learned “to put aside childish things.”

That’s what wellness is – or ought to be.

The zigzag pursuit of fitness

By Georgette Gouveia n an article on the history of physical fitness that appears on the University of New Mexico’s website, Lance C. Dalleck and Len Kravitz write that “one of the greatest accomplishments to be celebrated is the continuous pursuit of fitness since the beginning of man’s existence.”

Really? Then why does every day seemingly bring a new tale of woe about obesity and related diseases? Why are there so many stories with this alarming statement: For the first time in history, this generation of children can expect a shorter life expectancy than their parents? (Perhaps that’s not so bad, since the accompanying doom-and-gloom news usually revolves around the crushing debt they’ll inherit.)

Clearly, if there is a “continuous pursuit of fitness,” some of us must be doing it from a recliner. Or put it another way: If, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, the arc of civilization is ever upward, the pursuit of fitness is more of a zigzag than a smooth curve.

The prehistoric peoples, of course, didn’t have to worry about scheduling time on the bike at SoulCycle or meeting their gym buddies for Zumba. They had a form of exercise that we might call “h and g” – hunting and gathering. Oddly enough, it was also their one career path, too. With survival always on the line, there was little time for recreation, although dancing by men – as both a celebration of the hunt and a form of spiritual expression – took place at periodic gatherings.

The invention of the plow some 10,000 years before Christ not only contributed to organized agriculture but also introduced a recurring theme in fitness history – new tool, less physical work. Still, fitness made

strides with virtually every ancient civilization contributing something – China, its kung fu; India, its yoga; and Persia, its polo as a form of cavalry exercise.

But the culture that set the gold standard for fitness was Greece, whose motto was “sound in mind, sound in body.” The Greeks created the concept of the gymnasium – where you, as a free-born male, could exercise the body as a prelude to rigorous discussion for the mind. They also developed the Olympics, among other organized games, with the first contests taking place in 776 B.C. in Olympia to honor Zeus, the king of the gods. The earliest Olympiads featured running (the first Olympic contest), discus, long jump, javelin, boxing and wrestling. Horse racing and pankration, a kind of extreme fighting, soon followed.

Among the Greeks, no one was fitter than the martial Spartans – hence our word for a disciplined, vigorous existence.

Even Spartan females had to be in tip-top shape to bear children worthy of the state.

(Makes you want to reach for a doughnut right about now, doesn’t it?)

Not coincidentally, the Greeks created sculpted tributes to the male and female body – especially the male – many of which survive today only in their Roman copies. These remain among the most rarefied, refined examples of the body in art, be they the Apollo Belvedere or the Venus de Milo. Even a work like the Hellenistic bronze “Boxer at Rest,” recently exhibited at The

Roman bronze reduction of Myron’s Discobolos, second century.

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Thomas Eakins’ “The Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull)” (1871), oil. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, has a kind of brutal beauty, depicting as it does a heroic Herculean type – nude save for the wrappings on his hands and the ancient equivalent of a jockstrap – his searching face puffy with bruises, his body dotted with a bloody patina.

The Romans, who vampirized Greek culture, loved this kind of stunning savagery. And they followed the Greek passion for physical fitness – to a point. The success of their conquests was their undoing. Sure, the gladiators stayed fit. But the people in the stands, lapping up the “bread and circuses” brand, eh, not so much. This leads to our second theme in fitness history – more leisure, more loafing.

There was no time for loafing in the Middle Ages. With those fit barbarians at the gate, it was back to “h and g” – hunting and gathering. Score it Physical Fitness 1, Civilization 0.

With the revival of Greco-Roman culture in the Renaissance, came the revival of “sound in mind, sound in body,” paving the way for gymnastics to take off on the Continent, particularly in Germany, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Our own country has proved a microcosm of world fitness. The colonial period was our prehistory: Life was so rough that there was no need for specific exercises 14

to keep fit. Still, the Founding Fathers were proponents of regular exercise, with Thomas Jefferson, who favored at least two hours a day, echoing the ancient Greeks: “If the body is feeble, the mind will not be strong.”

Among those who took up the challenge, Dalleck and Kravitz write, were Dr.

dent Theodore Roosevelt at the dawn of the 20th century, fitness in America in the 1900s was a mixed bag, with draftees unprepared for various wars and our countrymen and women in general lagging behind the Europeans in standardized fitness tests.

But the second half of the century saw a rededication to physical fitness. Jack LaL-

Clearly, if there is a “continuous pursuit of fitness,” some of us must be doing it from a recliner. Or put it another way: If, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, the arc of civilization is ever upward, the pursuit of fitness is more of a zigzag than a smooth curve.

J.C. Warren, a Harvard University medical professor, and educator/kindergarten advocate Catharine Beecher – sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” fame and clergyman Henry Ward Beecher.

Both created exercise programs for women, with Catharine Beecher – a kind of antebellum Jane Fonda – setting hers to music in a foretaste of today’s aerobics.

Despite the vigorous presence of Presi-

anne – who had started what was in effect the first health club in Oakland, Calif., in 1936 began “The Jack LaLanne Show” in 1953 as a 15-minute exercise program. It would run for 34 years. In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower established the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, an organization that would become integral to the administration of his successor, John F. Kennedy, who called physical fitness the

basis of excellence. Under Barack Obama’s administration, the expanded President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition has explored the crucial relationship between eating and exercise.

Just as the president’s council on fitness has enlarged its mission, the variety and combinations of diets and exercises have exploded. From the aerobics craze of the 1980s (thanks, Jane Fonda) we moved on to stepping, spinning, cross-training, mixed-martial arts and extreme sports.

Even athletes – once celebrated for doing one thing superbly – aren’t exempt, using the latest nutritional information, biofeedback technology and related athletic disciplines in the quest to gain even an infinitesimal advantage over an opponent.

And yet despite this and all the clubs, gyms, programs, books and magazines devoted to fitness, we remain a decidedly unfit nation. Some experts blame the tube and the Internet.

But maybe the problem is a just-get-itover-with attitude. Given our gotta-haveit-now, pill-for-every-problem culture, is it any wonder that the hottest form of exercise today, according to The New York Times, is the short burst of high-intensity training?

Do as much as you can in as little time.

Is that economy of motion? Or just another stumbling block on the road to fitness? n

Dr. Andrew Grose

Doctors Damon DelBello and Ron Israelski

Our “S’wellness” issue wouldn’t be complete without our salute to a selection of extraordinary doctors. These orthopedists are not only top of their field in rebuilding bone structures, fixing joints and healing tendons and ligaments, they’re also exceptional in an entirely different discipline.

Meet a world-class athlete, an artist from the bright lights of Broadway and humanitarians set on healing Haiti.

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Wonder woman World-class athlete, doctor and researcher powers through glass ceiling with grace

By Andrea Kennedy

T

o anyone who claims you can’t do it all, meet Jo Hannafin.

“I think you can do it all,” she says, “just not at the same time.”

In Hannafin’s case, you can be a worldclass athlete, you can practice sports medicine at the nation’s No. 1 orthopedics hospital, you can be voted repeatedly one of the best doctors in America, you can conduct award-winning research, you can be a pioneer for women in your field and you can be a mother of three.

It’s a dizzying archive of achievements, especially when each one can consume an entire lifetime.

“It’s all wrapped around sports and around health,” Hannafin says, “so it’s easy to do these different things, because they all kind of feed back on each other.”

What she calls “easy” looks a lot more like years of tireless effort, often in the face of adversity – not that she ever paid attention to that. When facing the option of sink or swim, Hannafin didn’t only swim, she propelled herself through the water with the same grace and power that won her three golds at the U.S. National Rowing Championships.

“I never really thought of myself as a pioneer, but now that I look back over the last 30 years …,” she trails off. “I just pursued the things that I pursued, because I had a passion for it.”

For decades, she’s been the first woman to hold multiple positions in the veritable boy’s club of orthopedics. At Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) – the top ranked orthopedics hospital in the nation – Hannafin was the first clinician-scientist (female or male), first female sports medicine fellow and first female sports medicine attending. Most recently, she burst the glass ceiling in July as the first female president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM).

“I was thrilled to be the first female president of AOSSM, because I wasn’t sure that was going to happen. They’re a traditional group, so I joke that maybe they forgot that Jo was a woman, not a man,” she laughs.

The notion isn’t too far-flung considering her history of breaking into male-

16

dominated arenas – and dominating.

Hannafin was a freshman at Brown when Title IX passed and was plucked from the JV swim team to join the university’s first female rowing team. After rowing through college and moving to New York for medical school (hers was the third class to admit women at Albert Einstein), she fine-tuned her skills rowing with the guys at the New York Athletic Club’s boathouse in Pelham. Hannafin shared a coach with one gent in particular, John Brisson from Pleasantville, whom she would later marry and settle with in Greenwich.

“When I began rowing at the New York Athletic Club, there was myself and one other woman rowing there,” she says. “We didn’t really think about (being the only women), because it was what we wanted to do and as long as they let us train there, we were happy to do it.”

As if training and competing on a national and global scale weren’t enough, her peak rowing years also coincided with earning her medical degree and doctorate.

By the time she began residency, she had an MD, PhD, three gold medals from the U.S. National Rowing Championships and a silver in the 1984 World Rowing Championships.

“Our life outside of school and job was to be at the boathouse,” she says. “Those were our friends and that was our community, so to continue to train through those years was not hard at all. That was just what we did.”

Leave it to Hannafin’s heart, attitude and drive to make it sound easy – especially in light of a blown-out knee she sustained while training. The silver lining manifested as an introduction to her mentor, orthopedist Martin Levy, who helped her heal in time to qualify for the world championships in 1984 and also turned her on to the world of sports medicine.

“That was the first time where the athlete in me and the intellectual, scientific, physician side of me got to work in the same place at the same time – the first time that those two parts of my brain were

Dr. Jo Hannafin, inset and above, teaching in the OR.

working simultaneously,” she says. “It was fantastic.”

Since her aha moment, Hannafin has kept her surgical and clinical practice and award-winning tendon and ligament research dedicated to world-class athletes and the sport so close to her heart. She traveled to Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games as a U.S. Olympic Committee physician and is head team physician for the WNBA New York Liberty and team physician for the U.S. Rowing Team. The latter, she explains, may have given her the most stressful case of her career when she helped treat a vital member of the team who dislocated his shoulder the night before it was favored to win world gold.

“I was never more relieved when that boat crossed the finish line having won the world championships,” she says.

“That was probably the longest five-anda-half minutes of my life.”

Beyond her work with pro teams and Olympians – which she hopes is “boring” considering the alternative spells bad news for the athlete – she’s also occupied with healing sports-minded patients from high school kids to folks in their golden years who still train multiple times a week. In addition to her practice at HSS, Hannafin also keeps an office in Greenwich.

Through her work with AOSSM,

she’s particularly fervent about the Sports Trauma and Overuse Protection (STOP) program to prevent young athletes from debilitating injury. It’s just one of her philanthropic endeavors, including launching a $250,000 grant through AOSSM to strengthen sports medicine research and fundraising for the national rowing team as vice president of the board of trustees of the National Rowing Foundation.

“It’s really about giving back in the way that people supported us 10, 20, 30, even 40 years ago as rowers,” she says. “Once you’ve gotten to this point and you have success in your life then your goal is to support the next generation of athletes and hope that you keep passing it forward.”

And like the mentors who recognized her talent regardless of gender, Hannafin also supports the next generation of female sports medicine doctors through mentorship by imparting her wisdom as a forerunner in the field.

“Maybe part of what got me through this is I’m just sort of blind to (gender bias) intentionally,” she says. “Maybe there were times of my life where I worked even harder to prove that I was as good as the guys I trained with, but I don’t think that stood in my way. If I’m good at what I do, I’m going to work really hard. That’s the message I want to send.” n

Jo Hannafin, far left, took silver at the 1984 World Rowing Championships.

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one singular sensation...

From thespian to trauma surgeon

By Andrea Kennedy

urgery is medicine’s great production, a scrupulous dance in stainless steel where players are sterile and scrubbed.

And when a character arrives after a tragic turn, Andrew Grose takes the stage.

An orthopedic trauma surgeon at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, Grose’s script consists of reconstructing the body, fixing shattered femurs and repairing complex pelvis fractures. But before his days in medicine, Grose performed less in the OR and more on The Great White Way. “I was 20 when I was in ‘A Chorus Line,’” he says. “That was my first Broadway show.”

As physicians go, Grose still radiates that particular poise and posture uncharacteristic for the typical slouching surgeon – the kind not lost after years of stage training. In nearly military form, he’s tidy and trim, as if every hair were tailored to his head. It’s what you hope to see in a surgeon or someone on the stage.

Coming of age

What began as a drama stint as a young teen – his mother was a music teacher – escalated into performing the most famed pieces of American musical theater on the most famous stage in the world in less than a decade. Grose first pursued ballet, his raw dedication to daily dance class playing out like a montage from “Billy Elliot.” While most doctors learn how to stitch in medical school, Grose learned by sewing his ballet shoes at age 15. By 17, he was studying at the prestigious School of American Ballet in Manhattan, where the speed, amplitude and rigor of Balanchine technique prepped him more for the surgical world than he realized.

“In ballet class, you go, you don’t speak, you don’t ask questions, you’re expected to see something once physically and understand what it is and mimic it as perfectly as possible,” he says. “You only ever get negative feedback on what you didn’t do well, and at the end you applaud. That’s great training for surgery.”

After studying for a summer in the footsteps of famed dancers (and proving to himself he could do it), Grose departed 18

Grose, second from left, in a handbill from Broadway’s “A Chorus Line.” Courtesy Dr. Andrew Grose.

Manhattan for Syracuse University where he overloaded on courses to complete his drama degree a year early. He got a ‘D’ in dialects for never making it to class, though you’d never know that by his way with a brogue. BFA degree in hand and dance craft sharpened, Grose set the stage for an auspicious career in his true passion in the arts – American musical theater.

Stage presence

“I was fortunate to work very quickly,” he says, and with one of the most legendary names in the business, Jerome Robbins. “Most major advances in American musical theater came either from him or because of him.”

After Michael Bennett’s “A Chorus Line,” in which Grose played the naive Mark, he landed on the stage for Robbins’ first show after a more than 20-year hiatus. “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” an anthology of his top works, saw Grose as a gang member in “West Side Story,” a Siamese dancer in “The King and I,” a dancer in “Fiddler on the Roof ” and more. It was a “crash course in all great musical theater of the 20th century,” he says, that came with a singularly rigor-

ous rehearsal schedule. Working with Robbins meant learning from a master honing artistic perfection, Grose calls him a “genius” and “malicious madman” in the same breath. But it also meant Robbins’ showbiz buddies joined rehearsal to offer notes – Leonard Bernstein, Steven Sondheim, Twyla Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov to name a few.

“Yeah,” he says, grinning. “It was awesome.”

He came, he saw, he conquered. First ballet, then Broadway. After the highly lauded Robbins show wrapped, Grose set his sights on his next pursuit – to direct.

After all, he claims – surprisingly – he’s not a performer by nature. His wife, the lovely and talented Gina Lamparella, is and performs on Broadway still.

“I was only an actor and dancer, because I like being there watching theater,” says Grose, who these days just prefers to share the stage at home with his two daughters. “I was happy to be in the chorus, a small cog in the wheel of a great piece of theater.”

Back at Syracuse, Grose taught in his alma mater’s theater department at the ripe age of 24. When he wasn’t mold-

ing talent for university productions, he was directing and choreographing for professional stages, including Ithaca’s renowned Hangar Theatre. His work earned acclaim for shows such as “Carousel” and “Chicago,” and people still talk about his revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” (in a good way). The latter, one of Sondheim’s fantastic flops, lured Grose to take a risk when no one else would. “It was really very good,” he says, a tall compliment for someone averse to self-flattery.

But wrapped up in his shows, Grose found himself among the troupe of tormented artists and sought more than the stage could offer.

“When I was directing and choreographing, I never left,” he says. “I slept and dreamt what I was working on. I woke up and it was in my mind. I didn’t have a personal life.” Grose pauses, then gives a quizzical look directed toward himself. “So I thought I’d be an orthopedic trauma surgeon?”

While teaching theater, Grose found his Tuesday nights consumed by watching physics classes that aired on local TV for the city college kids. The affair

escalated into taking biology classes and working with patients in a medical office – which he aced and loved, respectively – and soon landed Grose at New York Medical College, where he originally intended to pursue pediatrics. (He

“(Robbins’) was a beautiful lesson to learn, because you realize that if you get outside your comfort zone, you can be better than you ever, ever thought you could be,” Grose says.

“If you stay in your comfort zone, you’re probably going to be OK, but if you really want to be great at something, you have to let comfort go.” once adapted a production of “The Adventures of Narnia” for a children’s rehab hospital.) But destiny had another plan, exposing a reluctant Grose to the trauma service for a month during medical school. The rest, they say…

The show must go on Cut to present day in Grose’s OR, the place to which people are taken when they’re hit by a bus – or worse.

“As a trauma specialist, by definition, the day you see me in the hospital you’ll never be the same,” says Grose, who also follows patients through their essentially lifelong rehabilitation. “We define ourselves to some degree by our bodies, and culturally we take that for granted.

To ask your body to learn how to do something that’s unnatural for you, that part of my training serves me very well.”

Not to mention grace under pressure. That same calm and confidence he brings daily to life-and-death situations (yoga helps, he says), Grose must now impart to his own residents at Westchester Medical Center. As an attending – he can’t seem to get away from directing, whatever the stage – he’s their Robbins, rehearsing them seemingly ad infinitum until the practice is perfect. “(Robbins’) was a beautiful lesson to learn, because you realize that if you get outside your comfort zone, you can be better than you ever, ever thought you could be,” Grose says. “If you stay in your comfort zone, you’re probably going to be OK, but if you really want to be great at something, you have to let comfort go.” n

Dr. Andrew Grose

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20

Dr. Ron Israelski amid the ruins that remain in Haiti after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. “The rest of the world has essentially blown off the Port-au-Prince state hospital because it’s such a difficult place to work – one of the most difficult in the world,” says Israelski, who has given up two to three days per week of his private orthopedic surgery practice to mend the broken bones of quake survivors. Inset, Haitians continue to live their lives while enduring the harsh conditions that have persisted since the earthquake struck more than three years ago.

The little hospital that could How one doctor powers a movement to rebuild Haiti’s bones

By Andrea Kennedy

T

he days and months following Haiti’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake summoned an epic and immediate international relief effort. But when most good stewards departed Port-au-Prince once they deemed their jobs done, orthopedist Ron Israelski knew his work was just beginning. Like the buildings still in rubble throughout the region, one of the most vital structures of the human body also remained widely untreated – bones.

“Nobody supports orthopedic musculoskeletal services on a regular basis other than me,” he says. “I’m it.”

Israelski has visited every two to three months since the devastation of Jan. 12, 2010, deploying millions of dollars worth of orthopedic equipment and clinical care to Portau-Prince through his nonprofit Orthopaedic Relief Services International (ORSI). Born of Holocaust survivors, he likens the tragedy to the terror his parents endured, calling the earthquake “arguably the worst event to affect the human condition in our hemisphere in our lifetime.”

“When I saw the bodies being propped like limp rag dolls on the front steps of the morgue, I realized this may be the closest to the sights, the smells and the sounds that my parents saw in the death camps,” he says. “That might have been the lead motivation, seeing those limp bodies drop off the trucks. … How could you not respond?”

Working directly with Haitian medical leaders and

Dr. Damon DelBello (right) operates with residents at HUEH. Courtesy Damon DelBello.

the Ministry of Health, he’s helping build stable and sustainable clinical care, education and infrastructure at the country’s only state hospital – a destitute cinderblock hovel called Hôspital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti (HUEH).

“The rest of the world has essentially blown off the

Port-au-Prince state hospital because it’s such a difficult place to work – one of the most difficult in the world,” Israelski says.

Nongovernmental organizations steer clear of the sordid region, yet several miles out of town private hospitals provide better care to smaller populations, he explains. By necessity, Israelski has started operating on some patients at a private Seventh-day Adventist hospital outside Portau-Prince. And though a new multimillion-dollar state hospital is on the horizon for the capital, Israelski says, it will likely absorb any hospital-directed funds. In the several-year interim, patient care and medical training at HUEH – also the only training ground for new doctors – remain abysmal.

“Sterility is a myth down there,” says Damon DelBello, a pediatric orthopedist at Westchester Medical Center (WMC) who, with his wife, Jill, a nurse, took their first mission trip to HUEH with Israelski in the spring.

“We didn’t even have running water in the hospital. We washed our hands and flushed toilets using buckets of water.”

Power outages delayed treatment, DelBello says.

Equipment was sparse or nonexistent. Water came from a nearby well. Meanwhile, patients with their families lined up out the door for hours and even days – pharmacybought antibiotics and surgical equipment in hand – to

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Scenes of life-saving surgery and hope amid the ruins of the teaching hospital in Port-au-Prince. Doctors Damon DelBello and Ron Israelski, upper right.

get treatment before it’s too late.

Patients “were draining pus for all these years since the earthquake,” says DelBello, who managed to perform life-saving and life-changing operations on about a dozen children and treated dozens more in the clinic. “There are a bunch of kids still in the hospital I never got to for a variety of reasons due to the dysfunction of the hospital.”

Time-sensitive bone infections, or osteomyelitis, resulting from earthquake injuries and other limb maladies have risen to epidemic proportions, Israelski says.

“I was there six weeks before I went with Damon, and we saw kids with osteomyelitis where you could still see the bones on X-ray,” he says. “By the time I went back with Damon – the same kids who languished in those beds for another month, – their bones disappeared.

There’s pus coming out. They’ve got rubber legs and arms. They lost their limbs, and they may lose their lives.”

To Israelski, saving more lives in Port-au-Prince isn’t just about fixing people; it’s about fixing the system in a country with only 45 orthopedic surgeons to a population of 10 million; where 80 percent of doctors who train in orthopedic surgery leave the country within five years; and where the country’s only medical training takes place at a hospital with no running water.

“That is the teaching hospital in Haiti, the residency program in Haiti,” says DelBello, who is also an assistant clinical professor in orthopedic surgery and pediatric orthopedics at New York Medical College. “The state is not funding it, not staffing it. There are millions of people in need in that area, not to mention they’re training all their future doctors and nurses at that institution.”

22

So in addition to providing doctors to administer health care through ORSI, Israelski also brings structure – and hope – to the medical resident training program as de facto assistant program director. No stranger to program development – he was the capital campaign manager and former director of medical education at Orange Regional Medical Center (ORMC), founder of its Bone & Joint Center and the driving force behind the new TouroCOM medical school in Middleton – Israelski asks visiting physicians like DelBello to lecture to residents and has sent hundreds of textbooks donated from ORMC and New York University, where he is assistant professor of orthopedics.

“I also sent down to all the residents thumb drives of all the textbooks in orthopedics, so every resident in the program literally has a library in their pocket,” he says.

“How beautiful is that?”

ORSI even sent 17 full surgical suites donated from Orange County hospitals – “They’re all bubble wrapped.

Just unpack and you’re good to go,” he says – complete with anesthesia equipment, instrumentation and OR tables, plus thousands of plates and screws donated from other area medical centers. Those same suites, however, got held up in customs for six months and, if they break, will sit dormant due to lacking biomedical expertise – both dire reminders of the challenges goodwill faces when working in a developing country. Not to mention the cost.

“I’ve probably spent $100,000 out of my pocket and I have given up orthopedic surgery two to three days a week to do this,” Israelski says. “I’m poorer than I’ve ever

been economically, but I’m richer than I’ve ever been in terms of all the great satisfaction and gratification I get out of doing this work.”

But since good deeds don’t seed money trees, ORSI predominantly depends on donations of time and talent from like-minded physicians like DelBello at WMC, who says it won’t be long before he returns to Haiti with ORSI – with even more reserves of equipment and WMC physicians in tow – to expand care even to children with scoliosis. Israelski also calls Westchesterite Kenneth Egol, vice chair of education at NYU Langone Medical Center, a “godsend” to ORSI for, among other contributions, organizing the funding of three trips costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Doctors aside, Israelski also depends on the public for donations to cover expenses like equipment, travel and medicine. And with conditions in Haiti so grim, checks don’t need to be in the thousands to make a change at the ramshackle hospital that is HUEH. “It would take so little to put some water, electric and someone in charge of some equipment,” DelBello says.

“So little would make a huge difference.”

Antibiotics, simple as it sounds, are a top priority to Israelski to treat those infections that – as you read this – melt away children’s bones until Israelski’s return. It’s just one of the scenes that power his cause.

“Even though I’m not in Haiti all the time, I’m there every day. You know?” he says. “My heart is always there.”

Donations to ORSI may be mailed to P.O. Box 269, Goshen, N.Y. 10924. For more, visit orsinternational. org. n

ride

Fit to

‘Strong as a horse’ not just a maxim to riders

By Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Bob Rozycki A horse and a rider are like a dance duo, Frank Madden says.

“It boils down to the match of the horse and the rider,” adds Madden, head trainer at Old Salem Farm, which will once again host the prestigious American Gold Cup in September. “Ultimately, the goal is to have an extremely sound and experienced pair.”

Achieving that chemistry takes many things – expertise, talent, hard work, trial and error and one thing more – fitness.

“Fitness, core strength is so important to riding well,” says Scott Hakim, whose family owns the horse farm, situated on 120 lush, rolling acres in North Salem.

While Hakim, who also owns a real

Campino on the equine treadmill at Old Salem Farm.

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Sarah Natale takes a horse through its paces.

Scott Hakim

estate sales and consulting company in New York City, no longer rides, he has the Jack LaLanne look of a man who regularly heads to the gym. When the Hakim family bought the property, once owned

by Paul Newman, some 15 years ago and began making renovations, he made sure to add a gym, locker rooms and showers.

Among those who hit the gym are assistant trainer RoseAnne Spallone while barn manager Sarah Natale prefers to get her exercise outdoors through walking and yoga.

“Any kind of core exercise off the horse is beneficial,” Madden says, referring to strengthening the trunk of the body. “Posture has a lot to do with longevity and staying sound on the horse. And that goes to the core. I would think yoga would be a terrific thing for this.”

Riders have to watch their weight, too, he says. They can be neither too heavy nor too light. For this, anything cardio is good, such as bicycling or using a treadmill.

“Fitness for a rider,” he says, “is also key to preventing injury. Some of the more common ones are collarbone and groin injuries, such as a pulled groin,” the latter being a soft-tissue injury.

“There aren’t too many of those,” Madden 24

says. “There are more breaks or joint problems.”

Riders, of course, aren’t the only ones who have to stay in shape for show jumping. The horses must also be put through their paces. Early in the morning, Natale, Spallone and others are out in one of the rings, flatting some of the more than 70 show horses that board at Old Salem, steeds with romantic names like Vico and Rapunzel. (Flatwork refers to riding the horse around the ring for aerobic exercise and the building of muscle.)

Old Salem even has an equine treadmill. On the day WAG visits, Campino – a Dutch Warmblood with such a lovely, steady temperament that he’s become sort of the farm’s “spokeshorse” – calmly walks the treadmill as a demonstration, perhaps dreaming of an apple or carrot treat. Like humans, horses have various dietary needs and a dietitian visits the farm to ensure everyone is happy with his hay, alfalfa and supplements.

Contrary to what neophytes might think, show horses don’t jump all the time but rather practice small jumps two or three times a week, Natale says, to develop muscles and muscle memory. They also have plenty of paddock time. “That’s

their recess,” she says. Or as Madden says, “Jumping a horse is like working with a baseball pitcher: You don’t show your fastball every day.”

And yet, riders must ride.

“It’s one of those sports where there are so many specific things we do while riding that it’s difficult to get fit without riding,” Madden says.

Riding and “achieving a higher level of competence” are also his antidotes to being anxious on a horse.

“Even extremely fit people can struggle with riding a horse,” says Madden, who’s ridden all his life but has been intensely back in the saddle the last eight months, riding two to three horses a day. “Once anxiety enters into the equation, it’s extremely difficult to deal with. The horse has feelings, opinions. You’re asking it to do a lot of things that are not normal to a horse. If there’s tension in your body, the horse picks up on that tension. It’s an extremely sophisticated relationship.”

That’s why he never puts an inexperienced rider on an inexperienced horse.

The farm uses a mix of geldings, which tend to have the most stable temperaments; and mares, which tend to be self-

protective. Madden has also worked with the occasional stallion, which, well… he remembers one that bolted from a show after a cute gray mare.

As for the two-legged sexes, Madden observes, “I wouldn’t say there’s an edge for a guy or a girl.”

It comes down to the rider’s passion and dedication, and, he adds, “the horse makes a difference.” n The American Gold Cup equestrian competition takes place Sept. 11-15 at Old Salem Farm in North Salem.

The Cup, which is expected to draw some 6,000 people to Westchester County, will feature more than 700 horses and about 450 riders from around the globe in various classes – amateur and professional, children’s, junior and adult. The highlight is the $200,000 Grand Prix, which the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has designated a CSI 4*-W World Cup Qualifier. For more information, visit theamericangoldcup.com and oldsalemfarm.net.

one with the horse

By Georgette Gouveia

t the sparkling 2013 Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows, jumper Beezie Madden was honored for her triumph a month earlier at the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden. Though it was her first major individual title, it was also yet another accomplishment for the two-time Olympic gold medalist, who’ll be back in action at the North Salem horse farm when it hosts the American Gold Cup in September.

To get to the point where you can stand atop the podium at an Olympic or World Cup event, it takes a lot of conditioning, but above all just plain riding, an average of six to seven hours a day, Beezie says.

At the Spruce Meadows North Ameri-

can and Pan American tournaments in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where she recently competed with six horses, Beezie would exercise a horse in the morning and jump the horse in the afternoon, depending on the day and the horse.

The key here, Beezie says, is for the rider and horse to be like a hand in a glove.

“You can’t be thinking about it in the ring. It has to be a habit.”

And as with any great relationship, a good deal depends on both partners concentrating and communicating.

“A lot of the communication that’s going on is not very visible to the eye,” she says. “I’m telling the horse a lot with my hand, leg and foot.”

Even the best riders with the most elegant form can suffer from chronic lower back strain, so Beezie does stretching and works with TRX nylon suspension ropes in hotel rooms or heads to the hotel gym.

But it’s hard for her to work out in the

Beezie Madden victorious at the Rolex FEI World Cup Final this spring in Gothenburg, Sweden, her first major individual championship.

Courtesy of The Chronicle of the Horse

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25

summer, when she’s constantly on the road. She figures she spends about 10 days at home in Cazenovia, N.Y., where she and husband John – brother of Old Salem Farm head trainer Frank – have a horse farm, John Madden Sales Inc. Those 10 days, however, are “a nice break” when she and John can ride their 12 to 15 horses over the verdant land. The stable is a mix of a stallion, some mares and some geldings, which are the least temperamental.

There are also some brood mares and foals. The horses are European Warmbloods, though lighter boned, more like Thoroughbreds, she says, which is a trend in show jumping.

“They have a sensitivity and alertness,” she says of these Warmbloods, and not only in the ring, as the horses have to travel on airplanes and pose for the camera.

Given the rigors of summer travel and the haven that is the farm in Cazenovia, Beezie saves her serious physical training for the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla. For three months there, she works out with a trainer three times a week. You can bet those workouts are intense. Beezie acknowledges that she’s a competitive person.

“I like to do things I’m good at, and I don’t like to do things I’m not good at.”

It’s been that way since the Milwaukee native got her first pony as a Christmas gift at age 4 from parents Joe and Kathy Patton, who owned a horse farm in Wisconsin. Riding, she says, “was something we did as a family.”

Beezie – who shares her grandmother Elizabeth’s name and nickname – started competing at 6, moving on to the Grand Prix level at 22. Aboard Abigail Wexner’s Authentic, she was part of the gold medal American teams at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

She also took home an individual bronze medal from Beijing. She won the FEI Rolex World Cup Final Championship aboard another Wexner horse, Simon.

Given her competitive fire, it’s no surprise to learn that Beezie has her eye on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. But hold your horses: First there’s the little matter of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, next year. World championships are very important in show jumping.

“That,” she adds, “is the next big goal.” n Beezie Madden aboard Wrigley at the 2013 Spring Horse Shows, Old Salem Farm, North Salem. Photograph by Michelle Bloch.

26

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Jumpstart your immune system Go with your gut to make the fix

By Patricia Espinosa Photographs courtesy of The Blum Center For Health

Dr. Susan Blum

28

Step into The Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook and you might be surprised to find the stateof-the-art Mind Body Kitchen, which is used as a lifestyle education center.

Open to the public, the kitchen features classes on cooking for different ailments and chronic conditions, detox programs and for those short on time, Blum organic food to-go. In addition, a trained practitioner leads a series of free monthly community talks, which include a pantry, fridge and freezer makeover class, among others. Nestled behind the kitchen and reception area are a medical practice and the Mind Body Room, which offers meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback and both therapeutic and restorative yoga.

The idea for a space with a holistic approach to medicine belongs to founding director Dr. Susan Blum, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan. During 13 years of private practice, she treated, healed and prevented chronic diseases by integrating nutrition, supplements, detoxification programs, stress management techniques and exercise into traditional Western medicine.

Her vision was to build a wellness center where people in the community could learn necessary lifestyle tools to help themselves. That’s why the center is open to the public and not limited to Blum’s patients.

Part of that vision included writing a book, “The Immune System Recovery Plan: A Doctor’s 4-Step Program to Treat Autoimmune Disease” (Scribner). The four-step method focuses on using food as medicine, understanding the stress connection, healing your digestive system and optimizing liver function. The how-to-book offers a message of hope and shows readers how to reverse their symptoms and prevent future illnesses.

“People don’t know that there’s another way. They don’t know that they can fix their underlying immune function and reduce inflammation and feel better and not need medication,” says Blum, a member of the medical advisory board for “The Dr. Oz Show.”

“I’ve been working with my patients with that same approach (of functional medicine) and seeing amazing results, and I wanted to get the word out, because I can’t see everybody.”

Indeed, her appointment schedule is booked through

the end of the year, as is her nurse practitioner’s, Elizabeth Greig.

But despite that busy schedule, Blum is committed to offering each of her patients personalized care, starting with the initial visit in which she spends one and a half hours listening to the patient’s story and explaining everything.

Allowing herself enough time with everyone – as well as patient-free Wednesdays – helps Blum maintain her own center and balance so that she’s happy to see you when you walk in the door.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on here and why people will come back and love us is because they can feel that we care.”

the ‘experiment’

Functional medicine is all about the gray zone between health and disease.

“I look under the hood in a way nobody else does, because I’m looking for impaired function before (the patients) get sick. I have tools to measure your gray zone and to tweak your gray zone till you move to the white, before you move to the disease. In the conventional world, they’re just looking at disease and they’re good at it. And we need our acute medical system for that.”

But, she says, “If you feel off or have impaired functioning in your body or chronic inflammation and nobody knows where it is, I’m your man because I know how to figure out where the inflammation is coming from. I know how to figure out why you’re fatigued.”

Did you know that 70 percent of your immune system lives in your gut – a term that includes your stomach, small intestine and large intestine? That’s why nearly ev-

eryone who comes into Blum’s office to see her does the “experiment.”

The “experiment,” as detailed in her book, consists of two parts. It’s the removal and the reintroduction of five ingredients – gluten, soy, corn, dairy and eggs. The threeweek elimination diet gives your immune system enough time to calm down so it’s not triggered adversely by those foods, she says.

Out of 100 people who see her, maybe one or two can remove everything, reintroduce it and say they’re fine.

“It’s the minimum of people.”

Healing herself

Growing up in Baldwin Harbor, Long Island, Blum always sensed there was something she was moving toward.

“I call it the little motor in me, always sort of driving me forward.”

The self -proclaimed “beach girl at heart,” who had wanted to be a doctor ever since she watched “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” did her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, attended medical school at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, trained in internal medicine at St. Luke’sRoosevelt Hospital, did her residency in preventive medicine at what was then called the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and received her master’s in public health at Columbia University.

By the time she finished, she had just given birth to her third son, Avery, now off to Cornell. The Armonk resident and husband Bruce are also the parents of Jeremy and Corey.

With all that training she hadn’t found what she was looking for. The journey to finding her life’s work began 15 years ago when a brochure from The Center for Mind-

Body Medicine (CMBM) training for health professionals came across her desk while she was at home with her third child. She remembers looking at it and thinking, “I’m supposed to go.”

The idea in functional medicine is you need to work on yourself first before you can help others. She describes this process as transformational.

“CMBM helped me do my own work first, which is learning all the techniques that they teach – meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback , drawing, visualization and movement – for fixing your stress system, balancing your stress hormones and learning to relax.”

In order to understand nutritional medicine fully, she enrolled at The Institute for Functional Medicine for her training in 2000, where she finally found what she had been looking for.

“Nutrition and food is all biochemistry in the body. …

The food you eat brings information into the body that determines how things function.”

That training allowed Blum to see how all the pieces fit and how functional medicine can work with chronic illnesses, including her own – Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease in which the immune cells attack your thyroid gland, often resulting in inflammation that leads to an underactive thyroid.

Inspired and motivated by her own diagnosis, Blum found a path to a full recovery by following the same principles she prescribes to her patients.

As she writes in her book, “My intuition and medical experience told me that I could find a better way, and once I did, I wanted to shout it to the world.”

For more, visit blumcenterforhealth.com. n

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29

Curses, foiled again!

Fencing not just for the suburban elite

By Georgette Gouveia

The final of the Challenge Réseau Ferré de France–Trophée Monal 2012, an épée World Cup tournament in Paris. Diego Confalonieri (left) and Fabian Kauter. Photograph by Marie-Lan Nguyen.

“Fencing is like classical music,” says Slava Grigoriev, head coach at the Fencing Academy of Westchester.

Other types of music may be more popular, he adds. But there will always be classical music.

And so it is with fencing. Football, basketball, hockey and baseball may claim the lion’s share of the American sports fan’s attention as we cycle through the seasons.

But fencing has its dedicated audience, one that is growing, Grigoriev says.

Indeed, there are any number of fencing schools and programs in our area, including the Armonk Fencing Cub, the Candlewood Fencing Center in Danbury, the Darien Fencing Club, the Fairfield Fencing Academy and the Putnam County Fencing Center in Brewster. But fencing is not just for the suburban elite.

Three-time Olympian Tim Morehouse, who grew up in the Washington Heights and Riverdale sections of New York City, plans to teach fencing to a million youngsters over 10 years through his Fencing-in30

the-Schools foundation.

It’s the kind of big fencing dream that Grigoriev shares. He is chatting from the bleachers of the Fencing Academy of Westchester in Hawthorne. As he talks, Grigoriev keeps a watchful eye on some of the more than 200 students who train there, pausing from time to time to give the group instructions. It’s the eve of the 2013 USA Fencing National Championships and some of the academy’s students will be among the 7,000 participants.

There are, he adds, 14 who will take part in the junior men’s foil competition alone.

At first glance, you might wonder what the big deal is – pairs of students, who can range from 6-year-olds to senior citizens, thrusting and parrying, lunging and retreating, back and forth on narrow mats representing the playing zone or piste.

They’re tethered to wires that record the hits from their rapiers. It all seems so civilized, so Old World, so effete, right?

Except that fencing constantly requires the participant to make quick, strategic

adjustments in a concentrated amount of time and space. To score, a fencer must hit his opponent in a valid target area of the body over the course of the three 3-minute periods that make up a bout. There are three disciplines – foil, épée and sabre – with three different implements and target areas but one goal for the participants – be the first to score 15 points.

When the fencers pause to listen to Grigoriev, who offers instructions in a low-key but authoritative manner, and whip off their masks their faces glow and their hair is matted to their heads from the effort.

Clearly, fencing is one heck of a cardio workout, which may be why some at the academy on this particular day are hitting the treadmills and elliptical machines in one corner.

For fencing, Grigoriev says, you have to have heart and a heart.

“You have to have power. You have to be coordinated. And you have to be brave. You just can’t follow. You have to do it yourself.”

The bravery part is a reminder that fencing has its antecedents in those bygone eras when men wielded swords with the intent to kill. And as in any sport, some accidents can be lethal. In 1982, Soviet gold medal foil fencer Vladimir Smirnov was fencing Matthias Behr of then West Germany in the World Championships in Rome when Behr’s blade broke, slashing through Smirnov’s mask into his brain.

He died nine days later.

As a result of that tragedy, the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE), fencing’s governing body, requires tournament outfits to be made of ballistic fabrics similar to bullet-proof vests that can resist a force of 800 newtons. (The mask bib must be able to resist double that.)

Grigoriev stresses the safety of the sport, recalling with a smile that it was his mother who got him into it back in his native Kazakhstan.

“She thought it a very safe game.”

The épée specialist was part of the Unified Team of athletes from the former

Soviet Union that competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He remembers it as the year of American basketball’s Dream Team. Grigoriev, a two-time Soviet Union champion and World Championships finalist (1994, Athens), competed for Kazakhstan in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Having coached in the United States for 12 years, he’s familiar with the positive spin Americans put on failing to medal, the thrill of mere competition. Refreshingly, though, Grigoriev doesn’t hide his disappointment in having finished out of the money, as it were.

He is hopeful, however, that one day one or more of his students – who hail from places like the Hackley, Masters and Rye Country Day schools and have gone on to fence at Ivy League universities, winning numerous national and international titles along the way – will add an Olympic medal.

To achieve that, the student will have to be maybe something of an improvisatory jazz master.

“Fencing has a lot of regulations,” Grigoriev says, “but within those you have a spot to do whatever the body can let you do.” n

He is hopeful, however, that one day one or more of his students – who hail from places like the Hackley, Masters and Rye Country Day schools and have gone on to fence at Ivy League universities, winning numerous national and international titles along the way – will add an Olympic medal.

Slava Grigoriev, head coach, Fencing Academy of Westchester in Hawthorne.

Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.

* *While supplies last.

31

point man on pressure

By Mary Shustack

Photograph courtesy Dr. Marvin Moser.

When Dr. Marvin Moser talks about hypertension, it’s in your best interest to listen.

After all, the Scarsdale man knows his topic inside and out, having worked in nearly all aspects of the field – from patient treatment to clinical studies, pilot programs to publications – since the 1940s.

“I got involved in hypertension at a time when nobody paid much attention to it,” he says.

And Moser, who remains a clinical professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, will be the first to tell you that not much has changed on that front. It really isn’t something that captures the general public’s attention with telethons, walk-a-thons or Tshirt sales.

“It’s a great field, but it’s very boring,” he says with a chuckle.

But that hasn’t stopped him from devoting his life’s work to helping make medical strides in the specialty.

He has published more than 500 scientific papers, written five books for physicians on hypertension and cardiology and has contributed 35 chapters for medical texts. And that’s not to mention all the magazine articles, books and booklets for the general public.

In addition, Moser has lectured around the world and appeared on radio and national television. He’s been a visiting professor from Portugal to South Africa, Ireland to the West Indies, London to Moscow.

His credentials, which could fill pages, also include serving as senior medical consultant to the National High Blood Pressure Education Program of the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute from 1974 to 2002 and as a director of the hypertension section at Montefiore Hospital in New York City and of hypertensive and vascular 32

diseases at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Moser’s local ties run deep, as he was a practicing cardiologist in Scarsdale then White Plains from 1953 until 1995 and is emeritus chief of cardiology at White Plains Hospital.

“I would not have stopped practicing had I not had all these other things,” he says.

Moser is long a vocal advocate of patient education, a key element during the early 1970s when he gained national attention through work that grew out of the groundbreaking Westchester Hypertension Project.

“I was able to coordinate these programs all over the country,” he says.

Moser, who grew up outside Newark, N.J., went to Columbia University, then on to medical school at the Long Island College of Medicine and honed his skills in the military.

He has a keen appreciation for the history and progression of hypertension treatments, noting today there are many treatment options. (An elevated blood pressure, generally considered more than 140/90, puts the body at greater risk of stroke and heart and kidney failure).

Untreated, dire complications come into play. The importance of identifying and treating hypertension is not always understood, says Moser, emeritus editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension who has also served as chairman of several committees of the National Institutes of Health.

“A problem with hypertension is it doesn’t hurt,” he says. “Most people don’t have any symptoms.”

While treatment is readily available, the main cause of hypertension is often not understood, he adds.

Stress is a contributing factor but he adds that “there’s very little evidence that chronic stress is a major cause of high blood pressure.”

Often, the culprit is more diet-related.

“In most people, it’s probably the inability to handle salt as effectively as they would like,” Moser says.

Carrying extra weight is another strain on the body that impacts blood pressure.

But once it’s diagnosed, the treatment is often straightforward, he adds.

“It’s been kept relatively simple compared to a lot of other diseases, but the payoff is phenomenal.”

Today, a doctor might see a patient, prescribe pills to lower blood pressure, make sure the pills are working and then see that patient every six months for monitoring.

“The (success) comes when 10 years from now you say, ‘I haven’t seen a stroke in these people,’” he says.

To reach that point, he notes, there is a need to focus on education and prevention.

Moser continues his dedication, spreading the word through publications such as the new ninth edition of his seminal book, “Clinical Management of Hypertension” and the work of the Hypertension Education Foundation, of which he is president.

He’s still lecturing, often fitting talks into his travel schedule, when he and his wife, Joy, visit their three grown children.

As Moser says, hypertension is “a controllable disease” – and one that deserves attention.

“Even though you feel fine, you have to keep track of this.”

For more, visit hypertensionfoundation.org. n

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Shock&awe Dr. Oz’s personal trainer takes holistic approach to exercise

By Andrea Kennedy Photograph by Bob Rozycki

Donovan Green

34

Heads up, Fairfield. There’s a new trainer in town who’s ready to give you the biggest shock of your life.

“Shocking the body is about not knowing what’s next, about the element of surprise,” says Donovan Green, owner of Fairfield’s new SHOCK Studio. “No class is ever the same.”

Earlier this spring, Green opened his private studio on Post Road with his own intuitive approach to workouts.

“You’re not going to see me with a clipboard with a written-out routine and me checking things off as you do them,” he says. “I don’t have people step on scales.

There are no measurements; there are no weigh-ins, none of that stuff. It’s just me and you and people are drawn to that.”

They could also be drawn to his infectious energy and highly positive, highly motivating personality that’s almost – dare we say – Oprah-like. It doesn’t hurt that he’s so liberal with his mile-wide smile and a spirited, yet deep-voiced, “You go, girl!”

Jamaican-born and Bronx-bred, Green built his repertoire and client base over the last dozen years by taking his training through the five boroughs.

He dedicated years to developing his body-mind workout regimen that emphasizes a yin and yang approach of meditative personal awareness and fast-paced circuits. After years of word-of-mouth referrals in and around Manhattan, Green found himself training one of the most publicized health and fitness personalities in the nation, Dr. Mehmet Oz. “He was a lot of fun and filled with energy,” Green says of Oz, who, of course, rose to fame thanks to (the real) Oprah’s golden endorsement. “He is not afraid of hard work. As a matter of fact, he welcomes it.”

Green first trained Oz’s wife, Lisa, who, he says, “is not afraid to work or sweat,” and explains the daytime doc’s favorite exercises were the ones focused on body mechanics that didn’t require equipment. On “The Dr. Oz Show” website, folks can find Green (and his biceps) starring in a series of “No Excuses” workout videos, including a no-equipment regimen he developed called Healthy Couch Potato. That name says it all.

Back at SHOCK Studio, Green builds private sessions and workout classes with and without equipment. The lower level of his two-tiered center stocks everything from jump ropes to sand bags, BOSU balls to medicine balls, plus a full weight room. Cli-

ents take SHOCK classes upstairs – there are three to four a day from Green or fellow trainer, Rore Middleton – that target “Butt & Gut,” emphasize “Firm & Tone,” and integrate kickboxing or martial arts.

Green has a black belt in jujitsu and practices Krav Maga and Muay Thai among other forms of martial arts. He also offers TRX classes, where students work with resistance bands suspended overhead.

Then there’s DonaYoga, Green’s custom meditation blend interspersed throughout workouts, that’s a package deal of relaxation music, yoga and tai chi emphasizing breathing, balance and the fluidity of the body.

“Within a matter of a week or two, I have clients who had no balance now maintaining balance. Clients who could never do push-ups are doing pushups,” says Green, who trains beginners as well as high school, advanced and even professional athletes.

“Bodies change, posture changes, inches come down and stress goes away. But you have to make a commitment to nutrition or those results will never happen.”

For Green, nutrition, fitness and spirituality go hand in hand (in hand). His credo: “Your body is just a body until you make it a temple.” And as an admitted “chubby kid,” Green remembers observations as a 13-year-old that motivated him toward a life of health.

“I started looking at people in my community and people at my church and realizing that they were all overweight,” he says. “They’re supposed to be taking care of their body they call their ‘kingdom,’ but they looked sloppy.”

There was no turning back once teen Green was on the workout track, and he’s been on a mission ever since to bring others aboard. When Oz launched his HealthCorps program to teach nutrition, fitness and mental resilience to high schools around the country (see related story), Green was one of the first to lend a hand.

“I was with HealthCorps since day one,” says Green, who has since visited more than 60 schools from New York to New Jersey and Philadelphia. “We talk about nutrition, we talk about health and living their lives with a changed lifestyle.”

He also encourages kids to keep a strong self-awareness and warns of the danger of gangs. Green says it’s not the first time he’s helped keep his community not only healthy, but also safe.

“I had a gym in the Bronx for three-and-a-half years, and it helped the low-income community to change,” he says. “Today there are a lot of people that are no longer in gangs because of that gym being there.”

To Green, inspiring whole-body wellness is a responsibility, a privilege, from speaking with high school students or working clients into a sweat.

“It’s good for me to know I’m helping people,” he says. “It feels awesome to give back, so whatever inspiration God gave me, I’d like to spread that word.”

Call it a ripple effect – or maybe, a SHOCKwave. n

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Needling the medical establishment

By Audrey Ronning Topping

Photograph by Audrey Topping.

“Acupuncture: The yin and the yang are contained within the chi, the basic principle of the entire universe. They create all matter and its mutations. The chi is the beginning and the end, life and death, and it is found within the temples of the gods. If you wish to cure disease, you must find the basic cause.”

– Ancient Chinese treatise In 1971, I became the first Western journalist to witness the use of the ancient art of acupuncture for pain therapy and anesthesia in major surgery in China.

With Dr. Chu Fa-tsu, head of the surgical department at Wuhan Union Hospital, explaining the procedure, I watched in trepidation through an observation dome as a surgeon spent 12 minutes removing a large tumor from the neck of a fully conscious 54-year-old woman. Twenty minutes before the operation began, an acupuncturist had inserted two fine, flexible needles about two centimeters long into each wrist and whirled the needles between thumb and two fingers until the patient reported numbness in the throat.

When the incision was made, she didn’t twitch, but I did. Chu said the needles 36

had been inserted into nerve centers controlling the afflicted area of the body.

“It is very difficult to explain exactly what happens,” he said. “There are about 500 nerve points that we know we can use. We know the results we get but, like aspirin, we cannot explain exactly how it works or why we get favorable results, even in animals.”

The patient remained conscious and much calmer than I was, even speaking at times to the operating team. Seconds after the last suture was tied, she sat up, ate some orange slices, put on her robe, thanked the operating team and walked out. On the way she stopped to wave her “Little Red Book” of Mao Zedong’s quotations at the amazed observers.

We also witnessed open-heart surgery on a 33-year-old woman, who in addition to needles in the wrists had an additional needle in each forearm. Chu said the purpose of the operation was to enlarge the valve between the left auricle and the left ventricle of the heart. After the chest incision and the removal of a rib and some tissue, the heart was exposed and beating while the patient was awake and smiling.

It looked authentic but so incredible I wondered if I was being duped.

The acupuncture procedure may employ nine different fine needles, chosen according to the disease. They are inserted by a highly trained practitioner into the patient’s skin at certain welldefined nerve points located along the 12 main meridians believed to transport the life force (chi) from organ to organ throughout the body. They act as carriers, six for the yin (female forces) and six for the yang (male forces). Silver needles were advised for treatment of yin disorders and gold needles for yang. The theory is that when yin and yang are evenly balanced, good health results. But if the energy – flowing constantly like gentle streams through these 12 channels – becomes dammed up, stagnation and imbalance will occur, causing various illnesses. Acupuncture needles are used to puncture and hopefully burst the blocked meridians thus releasing the evil air and restoring healthy circulation and proper balance to the affected body.

The first use of acupuncture was recorded in “Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen,”

a 24-volume set of dialogues between Huang Ti – the legendary Yellow Emperor (2697 to 2597 B.C.) – and his chief physician, Ch’i Po. The work still stands as the basis of Chinese native medicine.

For centuries, acupuncture had been derided by the Western medical profession. One critic declared that the needles used were “hat pins,” while another said, “I refuse to have my ‘seat of honor’ used as a pin cushion.” They claimed there was nothing scientific about it. On the contrary, they felt it was covered with a prehistoric, mystic patina, and sometimes appeared to be scarcely comprehensible.

My reports in The New York Times and the experience of Times’ columnist Scotty Reston – who underwent an appendectomy in a Chinese hospital, in which acupuncture was successfully employed as a postoperative pain killer – stirred debate worldwide about the efficacy of acupuncture. The Chinese press contended that acupuncture was successfully used to treat illnesses ranging from paralysis and arthritis to stomach and headaches. A hospital in Hunan reported success in mental illness.

After some diplomats witnessed the in-

Add LIGHT to

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A map of the body’s pressure points and meridians.

novative use of acupuncture in anesthesia, the old healing art suddenly became the main topic of impassioned conversation at all the diplomatic parties I attended in Peking (Beijing). Foreigners were dubious in part because acupuncture was tinged with a strong ideological character, since “Mao’s Red Book” was often credited by the Chinese with inspiring astonishing cures. The debate, which is still going on, began to rage between those who believed the Chinese had made an important breakthrough and others who claimed that acupuncture was hypnosis or a placebo effect.

The latter was debunked in the 1960s and ’70s by a number of Western scientists – including Dr. Louis Moss in England and Dr. Elizabeth Frost, a professor of anesthesiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, international expert in the field and Westchester resident. They devoted much research to the study of the effect of acupuncture on the nervous system, confirming what the Chinese discovered by clinical observation thousands of years ago. Using an electrical Wheatstone bridge, Frost demonstrated that acupunc-

ture points corresponded to points of decreased electrical resistance. Moreover, pain relief caused by acupuncture needling could be immediately reversed by a morphine antagonist, Nalaxone. In other words, acupuncture spurred the body to produce its own opiates.

In 1971, Dr. Arthur W. Galston – professor of biology at Yale University, who also observed the use of acupuncture in China – told me he was convinced that Western pharmacology had much to learn from traditional Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture came into wide use later in many countries outside China for a variety of treatments but not for anesthesia in surgery. Chinese doctors, however, continued to employ it in surgery when they felt it was preferable to the use of drugs or where operations had to be conducted at localities lacking modern anesthesia apparatus.

Today, many aspects of traditional Eastern wellness, including Tibetan herbal medicine, are accepted or at least considered worth trying in the West. Acupuncture is seen not as a panacea but an effective tool in certain cases. n

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Serving aces The USTA and the US Open

By Georgette Gouveia

uick quiz: What’s the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world?

What’s that you say, the Super Bowl?

Or maybe the World Series? It’s got to be Wimbledon then, right?

Nope, it’s the US Open, which last year drew 710,803 spectators to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. – making it the fifth time that attendance has topped 700,000.

The TV numbers were just as impressive, with 17.7 million viewers tuning into CBS Sports to see Serena Williams defeat Victoria Azarenka for the women’s championship, which was on a Sunday. The numbers were slighter lower for the men’s Monday final but still good, with 16.2 million watching Andy Murray defeat Novak Djokovic in five taut sets. It was the mostwatched Open men’s final since 2007 when Roger Federer defeated newcomer Djokovic.

Such numbers are music to the ears of David Brewer – chief professional tennis officer of the United States Tennis Association and tournament director of the US Open.

“I think it speaks volumes about the quality of the US Open and the Open brand,” he says. “It’s a tribute to the entire organization.”

You’d never know it from Brewer’s relaxed, genial demeanor at the USTA’s sleek White Plains headquarters, filled with stunning photographs of past Open champions, but he and the staff of some 350 full-time employees – which will expand to more than 1,500 at the Open – have entered “high crazy mode,” with the action set to kick off with a qualifying tournament that begins Aug. 20 and Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day of tennis and music set for Aug. 24. But though the USTA may be busier than H&R Block in early April, it’s not due to any lollygagging. A portion of the staff is already working on the 2014 and 2015 Opens, and changes are afoot, beginning with this year’s Open, which runs Aug. 26 to Sept. 9. After five straight years in which Mother Nature pushed the men’s finals to a Monday, the Open is taking an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude and officially scheduling the men’s final for Monday, Sept.

9 at 5 p.m. Brewer already knows what you’re thinking, and the answer is this creates the most equitable schedule for the final four, with the women having a day of rest between their semifinals on Friday and final on Sunday, and the men getting a day off between their semifinals on Saturday and the Monday final.

Also new this year – more money.

“So not only a day off, but a raise,” Brewer says with a laugh.

The USTA has raised base prize money to more than $33.6 million, a more than $8.1 million increase over 38

David Brewer.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

the $25.5 million awarded to players last year. The USTA will provide $50 million in Open prize money by 2017. This has been a subject near and dear to the heart of Roger Federer, who as president of the Association of Tennis Professionals’ Player Council, the men’s governing body, has pushed for more prize money, particularly for those who lose in the early rounds.

In a written statement, Federer says: “The excellent outcome for the sport of tennis wouldn’t have been possible without the open-mindedness and fairness of USTA President Dave Haggerty and the USTA staff.

They approached our concerns with a true spirit of partnership. …Everyone I have spoken with is excited about the increases in prize money, as well as the agreement to change the schedule for 2015 and beyond.”

Ah, yes, 2015 and more big changes. The men’s final returns to Sunday afternoon, with the women’s semifinals on Thursday and final on Saturday and the men’s semifinals on Friday. Plus, adios, CBS. All of the action will be carried exclusively on ESPN in the U.S. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” says Brewer, who stresses the USTA’s respect for and long history with the network. “But there’s an advantage to having one domestic broadcaster. …No one is bigger and better than ESPN.” While the Open may be the jewel in the USTA’s crown, it’s far from the 760,000-member nonprofit’s only commitment. The USTA has launched the Emir-

ates Airline US Open Series, linking nine summer tournaments to the Open; owns some 90 Pro Circuit events across the country; and selects the U.S. teams for the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup, the Olympics and the Paralympics.

But beyond pro tennis, there is service to the community. You can see this, Brewer says, in such programs as 10 and Under Tennis, in which the USTA works with retailers to ensure that pint-sized players get off the ground quickly with affordable, graduated equipment.

And you can see this community-mindedness in the qualifying tournament beginning Aug. 20 – 128 men, 128 women competing for $1.5 million in prize money and a chance, if they’re in the final 16 men and 16 women, to move on to the big show.

“So in essence there’s three weeks of tournament,” Brewer says of the qualifying and the opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow. “There are 5,000 spectators a day for the qualifying. It’s a unique experience, and we use the qualifying tournament to bring kids to the site.”

To keep up with the action, Brewer will try to get in a jog or a nap when he can, maybe even hit a few balls himself. But he’s more concerned that you love tennis – as a spectator but also as a participant.

“Our big function is to promote the growth of tennis in the U.S., to get more people to play tennis and to play more frequently.”

For more, visit usopen.org. n

Fans at the US Open. Photograph by Getty Images/Courtesy US Open.

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wear

Game, set, style

By Andrea Kennedy

Maria Sharapova. Photograph by Getty Images/Courtesy US Open.

Tennis’ “uniform” has influenced fashion in a far more significant way than the ubiquitous mesh tank top of other sports.

For starters, you probably aren’t wearing a Chanel tennis dress to a tailgate. If you are, we salute you, and – let’s face it – you probably have box seats. But for better or worse – we’ll consider both – tennis fashion today would probably have its forefathers (and mothers) volleying in their graves.

The sport has always had a reputation for a highbrow approach to dress – see the kerfuffle over the orange-soled Nike shoes worn at this year’s Wimbledon by no less a clotheshorse than Roger Federer. Horse racing may be the sport of kings, but tennis – which has its origins in medieval France, from the French verb “tenir,” meaning “to hold”– was a favorite of Louis X, Charles V and England’s Henry VIII. Modern lawn tennis was born on the croquet fields of 19th-century England.

Imagine holding your racket in one hand and the train of your gown in the other, volumes of fabric sweeping about you on the court. The impracticality is mind-boggling. We only hope there were fainting 40

couches – or Rafael Nadal water bottles – nearby.

It wasn’t until Wimbledon 1919 that a gartered knee appeared (hurrah). It belonged to French tennis sensation Suzanne Lenglen, winner of more than 30 championships and the original on-court drama queen. Her “shockingly” short frock by French designer Jean Patou, rival of one Coco Chanel, was the ultimate in form meets function. She needed lighter, looser clothing for her graceful court action but wouldn’t compromise on style.

With the help of mass media, the look doubled Lenglen’s international fame as the first athletic fashion plate. Before long, her bare arms, knee-length skirt, bright bandeau and gartered stockings became the emblem for the ’20s flapper.

Chanel, of course, kept pace with Patou, releasing her own pleated tennis skirt for the active, modern woman – whether she knew her way around the clay or not – which helped secure the designer a place in fashion history. Roughly a century later, the tennis skirt has been reimagined from the court to the runway and continues to gain traction among the fashion savvy.

While visiting Paris in June, Rihanna got into the spirit of the French Open

by sporting a Chanel-inspired all-white ensemble with a lacy, midriff-bearing bandeau top, a white blazer with chunky Chanel broaches and a high-waisted pleated tennis skirt. Later that month, Stella McCartney dressed three of the seeded women – Laura Robson, Maria Kirilenko and Caroline Wozniacki – in their Wimbledon whites from her recently released high-performance Adidas tennis line that features slick styling and some flirty pleat work near the skirts’ hemlines.

Serena and Venus Williams are among those of the fashion vanguard, with bold colors, asymmetrical, peekaboo designs and flesh-colored undies. Trained in fashion institutes, the sisters often wear their own creations – Serena’s line is Aneres and Venus’, Eleven – though selections sometimes translate into more shock value than fashion prowess. Can we forget Venus’ red satin French maid getup at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open? Or Serena’s futuristic Tinker Bell at the 2005 Australian Open?

Perhaps not surprisingly, neither line has proven substantial in the consumer sector.

Still, wherever they go – including all the way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Galas – they make a strong statement that has taken their

sport beyond the Chris Evert diamond tennis bracelet and challenged others to step up their fashion game. Some players – Bethanie Mattek-Sands for one – have taken the dare, though at Wimbledon 2011, she looked like Lady Gaga sucked into a serve machine. Her tie-dye My Little Pony hair didn’t fare much better this year, though the pop of color under her white cap was kind of a fun backhand to Wimbledon’s all-white rule.

There is, however, only so much you can do sartorially when trying to return a 100-mph serve. Where most female players score are with crisp, vibrant color block dresses, outfits that Maria Sharapova pulled off at this year’s French Open and Wimbledon. At the French, Serena also aced an Adidas’ slate-colored V-neck dress accessorized in orange. She looks great when she toes the service line of style.

The women are such standouts – withness Anna White’s 1985 white Wimbledon jumpsuit – that the men tend to get lost in the shuffle. But they have certainly come a long way from long pants, ties, cardigans, vests and caps, sometimes by being throwbacks, as in the case of the elegant Federer – he of the crested blazers and Rolex watches. On and off the court,

Chanel pleated crepe de Chine shirt dress, SpringSummer 2013. Photograph courtesy Chanel.

he has for years been the preppy yang to Rafael Nadal’s rebel, pirate yin – clamdiggers, muscle Ts, bandanas. That look is as sensual as Rafa’s Armani jeans and undies ads.

Yet it is on FedEx that Vogue’s Anna Wintour has bestowed her fashionista blessing – sending a rack of suits to Federer’s hotel suite for him to try on when he’s in New York, hosting his birthday party before the US Open last year with the likes of Diane von Furstenberg and Oscar de la Renta, providing him with a front-row power seat at many a fashion show and sitting in his box at the Slams.

Anna – who’s as good at undressing male tennis players as she is at dressing them – has been cheating on Fed of late with the Uniqlo-sleek Novak Djokovic, putting nifty Nole in a black Speedo for the May 2011 issue of Vogue and supporting him in his first gala for the Novak Djokovic Foundation after the US Open last year.

Now there’s a new guy on the rise, Andy Murray, and while we don’t know much about his fashion taste yet, he cleans up real good on the July cover of British GQ. Leaving just one question: Will Anna be calling? n

Jill Stuart tennis skirt, Resort 2014.

Photograph courtesy Jill Stuart.

2012 US Open women’s champion Serena Williams.

Photograph by Getty Images/Courtesy US Open.

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Chelsea Piers’ home court advantage: Gigi Fernández

By Patricia Espinosa Photograph by Bob Rozycki

Chelsea Piers clearly had its eye on the ball when it opened in Stamford last year and hired tennis great Gigi Fernández to head up its tennis program. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and International Tennis Hall of Famer, who has 17 Grand Slam doubles titles under her belt, has leveraged her star power to recruit talent and lure clientele to the 65,000-square-foot tennis club. The Puerto Rico native, who had shown exceptional hand-eye coordination at 3 years old when she could rally on the court, asked her parents for tennis lessons for her 7th birthday. The rest is, well, sports history. The Darien resident gives WAG the inside scoop on her career, playing strategies and professional tennis:

“Move your feet. People tend to freeze when they’re tight. If you’re not conscious about telling yourself to move your feet, (you) stop.

“I used to tighten my arm and relax it. Because people get really tight with their arms, so you want to have relaxed arms. Tighten and relax, tighten and relax. Also, take the hand off the racket. If you’re holding the racket, there’s tension in the muscles. Relax your arm before you serve.”

What are the biggest mistakes people make in a match?

“Getting ahead of themselves. They think, ‘Oh my God, what happens if I win?’ Or ‘Oh no, I’m going to lose.’

Rushing when they’re trying to close out a match. Slow down. Stay in the moment and only worry about the next point.

“If you watch the pros, they are really deliberate when they’re closing out a point. They take their time, they walk around and they really try to compose themselves in between points.”

Did you have any sports role models growing up?

“In Puerto Rico, girls in the ’70s really didn’t do sports. You were supposed to get married and have kids, so I really didn’t have any role models. I’m the first Puerto Rican female athlete, at least to make a living at sports; the first to turn pro; and the first to win an Olympic gold medal.”

Who will you be rooting for at You recently married your longthe US Open? time partner, Jane Geddes, and “I like Mónica Puig from Puerto Rico. are co-parenting 4-year-old twins I don’t think she’s going to win the US Karson and Madison. How has make so much more money than we did, I take the elevator instead of the stairs. Open, but she’s a player to watch.” motherhood changed you? they’re able to have these support systems And I say, OK, when you put your body “It’s life-changing, especially for a pro- that we didn’t have. I pretty much traveled through what I put my body through, Is there anyone in tennis whom fessional athlete, because my life was by myself until I started doing well and I when every one of those steps hurts, every you admire the most in terms of always very me-centric and then all of a could afford hiring a coach. Now they have muscle, every joint and every bone in your career and conduct on and off sudden these little angels are born and it’s coaches, trainers, sports psychologists; they body, then you can judge me. (Laughs) In the court? not about you anymore.”

Would you like your kids to play tennis professionally?

“I take the Fifth (laughs). It’s a very difficult lifestyle. There are a lot of great things about it and I wouldn’t change it for the world, for myself. I think it was a great life experience, and it’s given me the most amazing lifestyle. But knowing what I know now, would I want that for my kids? I don’t think I would, because now I know what my parents must have felt when I just left at 18 years old. For 15 years, I never saw them, except maybe twice a year. And back then there were no cell phones, so I would just disappear for months at a time and call once in a while.”

have their own stringers… so many people traveling with them.”

the meantime, I’m going to continue to take the elevator.”

Is the fitness level better today?

As you know, much of the game of tennis is mental. How did you overcome nerves?

“When I started playing, Martina (Navratilova) had already started the fitness craze. I think the top players were already fit. Chrissie (Everett) had started to get fit.

Steffi Graff was very fit. So the players coming up knew that if they didn’t have that fitness level, they couldn’t compete.

It’s different now. It’s like they’re all fit.

Back then you could still be a little chubby and not in super shape and be in the top 40.”

A lot of players end up having injuries and needing surgery. Did you have any during your career?

“I’m Latin and I have a fiery temper and I’d lose my mind. In 1992, I went to the Deepak Chopra center in Lancaster, Mass., and I learned to meditate. That was in April and then I won the French Open in May, Wimbledon in July, an Olympic gold medal in August and the U.S. Open in September – all in a four-month span, all while meditating.

I would use some of the relaxation skills you learn in meditation. I would use them prior to matches. I would use them in changeovers and between points. Before that I’d had really moderate success.”

“I really admire Chris Everett, because she’s stood the test of time in a really graceful way. She made the transition from superstar to mom, which I can relate to. She’s had her ups and downs and she’s back again commentating. I tell her every time that she’s my favorite to listen to and she thinks I’m kidding but it’s true. She’s so complimentary of everyone, so gracious and it’s not about her anymore.

“Some of the players that commentate, it’s still about them. Hey, you’re retired.

You’re supposed to be commentating on the match and not about yourself and they still don’t get it. I won’t mention names, but you could probably figure out whom I’m talking about.”

What’s so great about tennis?

How would you compare the “I was really lucky, because I was injury“Tennis is a great lifetime sport. You level of professional tennis today free throughout my career. Then when I can take it up in your 30s and still become versus when you played? retired is when I got hurt. People give me What strategies or tips do you successful at it, and you can take it up at 4 “Stemming from the fact that today they a hard time here at Chelsea Piers, because give people at Chelsea Piers? and play till you’re 80.” n 42

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A one-of-a-kind outlook on life

By Mary Shustack Photographs by Marc Weinstein/Color Group

Cami Weinstein

To get a sense of interior designer Cami Weinstein’s singularly stylish approach, you need only glance at her portfolio, or if you’re lucky, spend a bit of time in her charmingly eclectic 1920s Chappaqua home.

Both spotlight the way she can tap into a variety of periods and styles, of hues and textures to create surroundings that are instantly livable but far from ordinary.

But perhaps the most telling – and whimsical – way is through a late-June post on her blog. Accompanying a simple snapshot of a pair of eye-catching pumps is this comment: “These shoes satisfy all of my loves – heels, flowers, cheetah – fashion, gardening, decorating!”

Indeed, the shoes are at once daring yet elegant, cutting-edge yet classic, respectable yet playful.

And there you have it – a look into what Weinstein’s work is all about.

Style through the years

A splash of orange and a touch of zebra print add a vibrancy to this family room designed by Cami Weinstein.

A detail shot of a family room design shows the importance of color and texture, signature Cami Weinstein elements.

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Over some 20 years through Cami Weinstein Interior Design, Weinstein has been tapped for Manhattan apartments and homes in Westchester, the Hamptons and Los Angeles.

Projects have included a star-quality home theater for a property in the Hollywood Hills and a distinctive Scarsdale kitchen, where chandeliers dripping in crystals add an unexpected touch. Then there’s the home office where lavender upholstery adds a fitting backdrop for mod accents from shapely lamps to kicky, studded furniture.

And while Weinstein may focus on residential work, commercial and hospitality assignments offer her another creative outlet. She’s particularly proud of work on the Akonia, a pair of commercial buildings on Bedford Road in Katonah that were redone with an eye on a contemporary point of view.

No matter the project, though, Weinstein begins each in the same way.

“I like to sit down with people,” she says. She wants to find out goals and preferences, budgets and expectations.

A good project, after all, needs a strong foundation.

From there, the fun really begins – and the palette can take shape.

“I probably am known for my color,” Weinstein says.

“I love color. I love different color combinations.”

And it’s not just in her client work. Her own home, she shares, has hosted a red breakfast room and a chocolatebrown bedroom.

“I love it,” she says. “It’s fun, and it’s just paint.”

But it serves a deeper purpose, she notes.

“It makes you feel good when you walk into a room that has some color in it,” she says.

More and more, she adds, clients are willing to try out new shades.

“They’re starting to dip their toe in color,” she says.

She’s not pushing brashness but rather exploring options, as they differ for each person and space.

“I like to work in a lot of different styles,” Weinstein says.

“I don’t think I could be a designer known for one look.”

For Weinstein, it’s all about the collaboration, helping clients get what they want, not imposing a preconceived idea.

“I’m not that kind of a person, so I’d never be that kind of a designer.”

The Weinstein way

Over time, Weinstein has come up with a number of approaches and tips that she says can help anyone who’s looking to refresh his or her home.

And a big one is stay true to yourself.

“That’s really a very important thing for people to realize. Don’t go with the latest trends… go with what you love,” she says.

The goal is to offer something timeless but fresh – and unique.

“Why do you want what everyone else has?”

Weinstein also suggests buying quality, investment pieces when possible, as over time their value will become more than clear.

While Weinstein will use online resources – and applauds how much more is readily available to designers today – she still likes that personal touch.

“Because I’m such a visual, touchy-feely type of person, I really like to see it.”

Projects, she says, can range from simple to complex.

It’s the nature of the field, and yes, she will confirm one construction truism.

“Kitchens are torture,” she says, before adding with a laugh, “I don’t know if I should really say that on the record.”

Early days

Weinstein, who has a bachelor’s degree in the fine arts of painting and printmaking from C.W. Post College,

Long Island University, has some 30 years in the design field. Her related experience was as an art director and creative director for giftware companies before she turned to interior design.

Today, services available through Cami Weinstein Interior Design range from creating a design concept all the way through the completed project.

With her understanding and appreciation of architecture, construction and furniture periods and styles, Weinstein brings a lot to the table – and customers often come back.

“I have a lot of clients that are repeat clients,” she says, noting some date back more than 15 years. She’ll do multiple projects, residences or in some cases, family members. “I’ve watched a lot of my clients’ families grow.”

And sometimes, projects are a Weinstein family affair, as the designer will team up with her husband, Marc Weinstein –a veteran photographer who heads up the local firm Color Group – to work on commercial projects, get advice or even create work for the family’s Montauk home, a getaway for the Weinsteins and their two sons, now in their 20s.

They will, Weinstein says, choose a few of her husband’s photographs to hang.

“We pick out a couple and I frame them,” she says.

In both their homes, she shares, she integrates her love of “livable luxury,” mixing a flea-market watercolor next to fine art, for example.

It all speaks to the overall atmosphere.

“There is no room in my house that’s off limits.”

A leopard rug, dark walls, mirrors and antique family crystal take this Cami Weinstein-designed billiard room beyond the ordinary.

Always fresh Keeping up-to-date on her field is important to Weinstein.

“I’m probably obsessed with design,” she says. “I read and look at things that have to do with design every day.

I think you have to be up on all the current trends but also history.”

To that end, Weinstein has long delved into her own love of the arts, with countless visits to museums and galleries fueling her ideas.

But she’ll just as easily find inspiraJOB 9-444 tion in a trip to a botanical garden or in her own escape, WAG MAG painting, which she now does for pleasure.

X inspiration, 6 No matter the source of9the Weinstein says certain things remain true.

People are trusting her to work on something very dear to them – their homes.

“I think that your home in the end is still your refuge,” she says. “I think they’re going to be appreciating that more as things get more and more frenetic.”

At its heart, Weinstein’s designs are all about how having surroundings that reflect your interests and lifestyle can provide not only enjoyment but also sanctuary and the space to create a well-lived life.

When asked if she has a favorite time during any project, Weinstein has a ready reply.

“It’s pulling it all together and seeing it all in,” she says.

“Once it’s all together, I think I get more excited than my clients.”

Perhaps, but we bet it’s more likely a draw.

For more on Cami Weinstein and her work, visit her site, camidesigns.com, or blog, texturebycami.wordpress.com; or call (914) 238-5978. n

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7/18/13 2:01 PM

spirit

Blithe

Novak Djokovic’s captivating path to wellness

By Georgette Gouveia

Photograph courtesy of Uniqlo.

47

In a sport that has been marked by the individuality and independentmindedness of its players – Ilie Nastase, anyone? – few are more idiosyncratic than Novak Djokovic.

Think not? Well, then, consider: Would Roger Federer wing-walk – yes, that would be on a moving airplane – for a commercial as Djokovic has done to represent Head, the racket company?

Would Rod Laver have donned a wig to impersonate Billie Jean King the way Djokovic has Maria Sharapova?

And would that Renaissance Man John McEnroe – art aficionado and sometime rocker – have celebrated winning the China Open last year by dancing Gangnam Style?

Such hijinks have endeared Nole to many (and infuriated a few others). But none can deny that underpinning the born performer is a serious Pilgrim’s Progress along the road to wellness that embraces mind, body and spirit.

“I have a personal philosophy, which I call ‘Be Unique’ and that is based on my strong passion, drive and eagerness to keep improving myself,” says the world No. 1, who is slated to play in the US Open at the end of this month.

48

He goes on to tell Uniqlo – the fun, affordable day- and active-wear company for which he serves as a global brand ambassador: “I am passionate about being the best possible tennis player, as well as the best possible person and I have a continual desire to help people, especially children who have been less fortunate than I.”

Advantage: fitness

The most apparent aspect of that well-being has been the physical transformation that helped propel him to the No. 1 ranking in 2011. (He is the first man since Federer to hold it two years consecutively.) Much has already been made of how Djokovic – who is allergic to gluten and grew up eating at the family pizzeria – changed his diet with the help of Dr. Igor Cetojevic, who encouraged him to forgo bread, sugary snacks and big, meat-centric meals in favor of gluten-free cereal, berries, nuts, fruit bars, vegetables, rice and drinks containing vitamins and minerals – although Djokovic does allow himself a single beer and even an occasional bagel after winning a tournament.

Always sinewy, Djokovic developed a leaner physique that nonetheless had more stamina to withstand punishing rallies with friendly rivals like Rafael Nadal. (Their six-hour, gladiators-

in-heat final at the 2012 Australian Open, in which Djokovic finally prevailed in the wee hours of the morning, blood seeping through his socks, is the longest grand slam final ever and considered one of the greatest matches of all time.)

But diet is only one part of the physical game.

In its Body issue last year, ESPN magazine described Djokovic’s “day off ” workout, which includes hitting the courts, stretching, drinking recovery fluids, visiting the trainer, going for a massage, talking strategy, doing yoga, jogging and then holding another 90-minute practice session, in which serving at 125 miles an hour, he must hit a water bottle placed in the corner of the server’s box on the opposite side of the net – five times.

This goes on for 11 months of the year.

Exhausted much?

Serbia in his soul

Djokovic’s fitness preparations even extend to his on-court attire. Last year, he signed with Uniqlo – a Japanese-based retailer that is making inroads into WAG country and specializes in the kind of sleek designs, intense colors (navy, seafoam, royal blue) and breathable fabrics that complement Djokovic’s fascinating athletic

blend of tautness and elasticity.

The relationship goes beyond apparel, however. Tadashi Yanai – the founding chairman, president and CEO of the Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., Uniqlo’s parent company – selected Djokovic, a fellow member of Time’s Most Influential club, because he sensed in him an athlete who wanted to be a champion in every sense of the word. And indeed, Djokovic and Uniqlo are partners in a $10 million Clothes for Smiles campaign to improve the education and lives of children around the world. After the US Open last year and Wimbledon this year, Djokovic – with girlfriend Jelena Ristic at his side – raised a combined $3.2 million for the foundation that bears his name to aid disadvantaged children in his native Serbia.

Serbia: No discussion of Djokovic can proceed without an understanding of the complex ties that bind him to his homeland. He was born there in Belgrade in 1987 on a day that is perhaps fitting for someone who plays doubles as well – May 22, at the beginning of the sign of Gemini, the Twins. Djokovic’s parents, Srdjan and Dijana, were skiers, and his father would bundle the baby, the first of three boys, strap him to his back and take him whooshing down the slopes of Kaoponik, a mountain

Novak Djokovic at the 2008 Pacific Life Open. Photograph by Ivan Andreevich.

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Novak Djokovic and girlfriend Jelena Ristic at the post-Wimbledon gala for the Novak Djokovic Foundation last month. Photograph: Demotix.com.

town where the family ran the Red Bull restaurant. But at 5, Djokovic saw Pete Sampras playing tennis on TV, and when coach Jelena Gencic opened a summer camp across the street, little Nole packed his bag himself and set off.

If you’ve seen Bob Simon’s funny, poignant profile of Djokovic on “60 Minutes,” then you know that Gencic, who died on June 1, had to be one of the greatest teachers this side of Aristotle and Annie Sullivan. The onetime coach of Goran Ivanesevic and Monica Seles, the gentle Gencic recognized in young Nole a “golden child” who would one day be the No. 1 tennis player in the world. She, his “second mother,” taught him not only how to play tennis but how to appreciate nature, poetry, classical music and languages. (Besides Serbian, he speaks English, French, German and Italian.) Gencic provided the entrée to Nikola Pilic’s tennis academy in Germany, where Djokovic spent his early teen years, beginning his international career at age 14.

That should have been all she wrote, so to speak, but life isn’t a Lifetime movie. As the former Yugoslavia splintered, 50

Serbian atrocities against Bosnian Muslims and rebel Albanians in Kosovo led to NATO raids on Djokovic’s country in 1999. At first, young Nole and his extended family hid in the basement of the apartment building where his adored grandfather lived. But soon the family returned to their Belgrade apartment and their lives. In interviews, Djokovic has recalled celebrating his 12th birthday with the falling bombs providing competition or waking up in the middle of the night to find his mother watching over him. And always there was tennis, even if it meant playing on the makeshift court of an empty swimming pool.

As a result, Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim has written, Djokovic carries a burden that no other No. 1 has ever had.

Early in his career, he didn’t always shoulder it well. He was a gorgeous punk kid with a reputation for quitting and playing “the Djoker,” sometimes at others’ expense. But he has blossomed into the kind of young man who can balance intense nationalism – committing himself to Serbia’s Davis Cup team and earning the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Order

Breakthrough: Novak Djokovic defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2011 Wimbledon semifinals to become the No.1-ranked player.

of St. Sava for helping restore Kosovo’s monasteries – with his responsibilities to the world. A resident of Monte Carlo – where he lives with Ristic and his beloved Poodle, Pierre – Djokovic is a member of the Monaco-based Champions for Peace and has said he would like to represent all the countries that made up the former Yugoslav Republic.

An Open book

In a sense, Djokovic’s progress toward what Jung called “the integrated self ” has been encapsulated by his US Open experience. After making a good first impression in 2007, he got off on the wrong foot with Andy Roddick and the New York crowd the following year, objecting to the American calling him out for his multiple medical excuses. Slowly, he began winning fans in Flushing Meadows, with the turning point perhaps coming with a spectacular comeback against Federer, down two match points, in the semifinals of the 2010 tournament.

Though he would lose to Nadal in the final, the tournament foreshadowed what was to come – a Davis Cup for Ser-

bia at the end of 2010 and an unbeaten 41-match streak that would fall one short of John McEnroe’s record and catapult Djokovic to the top ranking in 2011.

That year, he would win the US Open, defeating Federer in the same manner he beat him in the previous year, then vanquishing Nadal, whom some experts still see as his greatest rival despite Andy Murray’s ascendance. When Djokovic donned a New York firefighters’ cap for the trophy ceremony and spoke movingly of 9/11, wearing red, white and blue – the colors of the United States, the colors of Serbia – the symbolism and the irony weren’t lost on anyone. He had come full circle.

Still, his greatest US Open moment to date may have come last year though he lost to Murray in the final. As he practiced one day, a little boy yelled out, asking Djokovic to marry him. Though Djokovic said he could not, he invited the boy down to the court, let him hit and then gave him a hug. The gesture won more than a few hearts.

One blog poster summed it up precisely: “It’s been fun watching Nole grow up.” n

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he perfect home seems like it was designed to fulfill the desires of its residents.

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Occupying more than 12 acres in the heart of Pound Ridge, this contemporary estate is a modern vision with a touch of the historic in a literal link to one of the town’s most influential residents, Hiram Halle (1867-1944). The American businessman, inventor and philanthropist was an owner of Gulf Oil. It’s an escape, a gated estate where privacy is paramount, but in reality it is just minutes from the charming Scotts Corners shopping district.

Its rooms are grand in scale yet immensely welcoming.

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Within, the design has taken full advantage of the property’s natural features, with interiors offering countless open views, a light-and-airy sense throughout and a sophisticated modern elegance that complements its country setting.

Principal rooms include grand-scale living and dining rooms, a family room

One of the circa-1900 Hiram Halle barns on the property has an oversize loft, sliding doors and a concrete floor, an ideal space to house a car collection.

53

and a cherry-paneled library, all featuring some of the home’s seven fireplaces.

The kitchen, a showpiece that is considered the “heart of the home,” also features its own stone fireplace and a sunlit breakfast area.

An expansive master suite, yet again with fireplace, features a balcony, dressing room and limestone bath.

The lower-level has its own attractions, including a large recreation room and a wine cellar. An attached three-car garage features a bonus room.

For those who like to take their entertaining outdoors, a series of terraces and porches offers a wealth of options that work for a variety of occasions.

Once a part of a large property owned by Halle, the two historic barns remain a testament to the legacy of the conservationist and collector, who was known for his restorations of antique structures. The current owners of Horsefeather Farm have again thoughtfully restored the buildings to preserve their charm. Offering extensive garage space that would be the envy of any car collector, the barns could adapt to a variety of uses. Nearby, a one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse features a great room anchored by a grand stone fireplace, full kitchen and dining and sitting areas. Designed to echo the style of the barns, this addition to the complex offers most comfortable guest quarters as well as additional entertaining space.

Nothing less would be expected at Horsefeather Farm, where living well and enjoying one’s surroundings are what make the place a true home.

For more information, contact J.B. Avery at Houlihan Lawrence at (914) 646-3557, (914) 2349099, ext. 22334, or javery@ houlihanlawrence.com; or Robert Schlesinger at Houlihan Lawrence at (914) 263-1078, (914) 7627200, ext. 322, or rschlesinger@ houlihanlawrence.com. n 54

wear

suit up!

New swimwear line on deck

by Zumba and Speedo

By Andrea Kennedy

Photographs courtesy Aqua Zumba.

55

N

ew York summers are no friend to outdoor exercise. You do enough sweating just walking to the mailbox. While airconditioned studios offer a welcome respite, the pool is really the place to be. And that doesn’t mean you need trade in your cutest fitness fashion for a monochromatic tank. Indeed, one watery workout is about to get much more stylish.

Zumba Fitness and Speedo USA recently inked a deal to release a line of swimwear and accessories tailor-made for Zumba’s division of aquatic fitness classes, Aqua Zumba.

The Aqua Zumba by Speedo Collection marks the first child of Speedo, the world’s leading swimwear brand, and Zumba Fitness, the world’s largest branded fitness program that struck gold with its Latin flair and flashy gear.

With such high achieving parents, this baby’s set to make it big.

“We’ve had great feedback from the Aqua Zumba instructors that have already seen the line, and we anticipate they’ll be snapping up pieces to wear,” says Giorgi Duvall, Speedo’s senior director of merchandising and design.

The remaining Aqua Zumba instructors will get a sneak peek of the new “pool party” performance apparel this month at the Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando, Fla. (And no, they’re not obligated to wear it.) The line will officially hit stores in early 2014.

The collection will include more than 20 pieces like suits, aquatic accessories, footwear and bags, and you don’t need to be a Zumba devotee to know that they’ll feature a vibrant palette straight out of South Beach. New fashion-forward features, however, like laser cutouts and fringe certainly will make waves.

“The laser cutouts and fringe pieces are not only on trend, but they are favorites of the Zumba community,” says Duvall, who noted that Zumba participants were their key inspiration. “The silhouettes and signature styling featured in the new Aqua Zumba by Speedo Collection are synonymous with the self-expressive look and feel of the Zumba brand.”

The line was designed to integrate seamlessly with Zumba’s other apparel offerings that include tops, bottoms, outerwear, footwear and accessories. And though it targets the key Aqua Zumba demographic of women ages 30 to 45, the collection will also offer items for men and can suit general swim enthusiasts as well. (That’s one way to make a splash at your next lap swim.)

For the perfect blend of form and function, Speedo worked with Zumba fin in fin.

“We collaborated with Zumba throughout the entire process, from design to testing,” Duvall says. “It was not only important that we captured the spirit of Aqua Zumba in the collection’s design, but that we made functional pieces that support and enhance the Aqua Zumba class experience. Zumba’s input was critical.”

Speedo is, of course, no stranger to working up new swim gear. It released the first non-wool suit in 1920 and nearly 90 years later launched the LZR RACER, one of the fastest suits in history, during Speedo’s 2008 Summer Olympic campaign with the help of a holographic Michael Phelps. (He wore it in the flesh when he set two world records.) We’re not saying the new duds will win you Zumba gold – if there’s not such a thing, there should be – but that their high-performance makeup is designed to enhance your workout and make you look good doing it.

“The new collection offers compression pieces for men and women, which is not only figure flattering, but also helps maximize the workout,” Duvall says. “We use Extra Life Lycra for long-lasting performance, and most of the women’s suits feature the Speedo Hydro Bra for enhanced support. The accessories are designed to provide resistance in the right places to help maximize the workout.”

So it’s fun, fashionable and made for a fitness party. If you’re hitting the water, what’s not to love? The fact that you have to wait to till the new year, we suppose. In the meantime, find pool party times nearby at zumba.com, and don’t forget to plan with friends how you’re going to coordinate ensembles. And try not to get too hung up if you’re still stuck in a drab one-piece. As long as you’re in the water, whatever your wardrobe, at least there’s no threat of unsightly sweat. n

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56

wear

Punk’d

By Georgette Gouveia

Gallery View, D.I.Y.: Graffiti & Agitprop. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Commes des Garçons, spring/ summer 2006.

Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by Catwalking.

58

Rodarte, Vogue, July 2008, Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by David Sims.

John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, 1976. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by Ray Stevenson/Rex USA.

H

ave you been Punk’d yet?

And by Punk’d, we do mean with a capital “P.” If you haven’t seen “Punk: Chaos to Couture” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan through Aug. 14, by all means do so.

It may not offer the pièce d’occasion – or the long lines – that last year’s brilliant blockbuster Alexander McQueen exhibit did. But it is a stunning study in contrasts and an evocation of a time (ah, the ’70s and ’80s) when hair was spiky, T-shirts were ripped, CBGB was the temple of music and its gods and goddesses had names like Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, The Clash, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.

The punk aesthetic was a variation of the ’60s’ “Do your own thing,” with an edgy, S&M twist. Individuality was the watchword. And because punk was all about what you might make of it – as symbolized by its ultimate emblem, the safety pin – the true punk was able to play with what Shakespeare called “mighty opposites” – dark and light, hard and soft, leather and lace, black and white, concealing and revealing and yes, male and female. A true punk might pair a studded black motorcycle jacket, ripped, safety-pinned T, floral or plaid skirt and fishnet, lace or otherwise “hole-y” stockings. And that’s just the guys. (We’re kidding, of course, but you get the idea.)

The Met show – which is as much about the punk effect as it is about the actual period – captures the complementary quality of the movement in seven galleries that

evoke everything from Manhattan clubs to ancient Greek temples, including one that recreates CBGB’s infamous gritty, graffiti-ed bathroom, where, Patti Smith said, everything happened. Only in 21st-century America could a place you wouldn’t want to be caught dead in become a work of art.

One gallery consists of a series of pink niches recessed with impressions of landfill detritus – bottles, cans and so forth. It’s all fantastic. And it serves some pretty fantastic clothes like Gianni Versace’s 1994 black, safetypinned gown that Elizabeth Hurley wore so memorably in her Hugh Grant period. Seeing it on a mannequin crowned with what looks like a bearskin hat, you just want to rip it off and put it on (in the nicest, non-vandalizing way), because it embodies all the contradictions punk embraced, not the least of which was the need to appear tough and impenetrable and the willingness to be open and taken.

If you can’t get to “Punk,” you can still be punk this fall as the look is everywhere, particularly in the Rocker Chic salute by Neiman Marcus, locally in The Westchester, White Plains. There red is the new neutral and spikes, studs, chains, zippers and lace abound in accessories.

Only one thought remains: Can we in our spoon-fed, ultra-technological age surrender to the individualism that is the essence of the punk spirit?

For more, visit metmuseum.org and neimanmarcus. com. n

Riccardo Tisci for House of Givenchy, spring/ summer 2008, Vogue Italia, March 2008, Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph copyright Glen Luchford, art partner.

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At Neiman Marcus, The Westchester in White Plains, Elena sports a black Burberry Brit rock-studded leather jacket, $2,295; The Row shirt $260; The Row red leather pants, $2,290; with a red Alexander McQueen skull clutch, $1,155; and Valentino boot, $1,495. Photograph

by Bob Rozycki.

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Left, Elena wears a Burberry London studded sleeveless black dress, $1,295.

Right, Elena poses in a Red Valentino floral print ensemble (coat, $1,150; dress, $850); with a black and gold brocade Alexander McQueen clutch, $5,825. Photographs

by Bob Rozycki.

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61

wear

Rebel with a cause (fine jewelry)

By Georgette Gouveia Photographs courtesy of Paige Novick

Paige Novick has the perfect pedigree for a career in fashion. Teen years as a sales associate at the legendary Charivari flagship retail store in Manhattan – check. Forecaster of color and fabric trends at Cotton Inc. – check. President and creative director of Frou by Paige Novick, a handbag (and later also a clothing) store – check, check and check.

But beneath the fashionista was a rebellious jewelry designer waiting to burst forth – which she did in the luxury accessories company she founded in 2008. Her chain collar necklaces, leather cuff and chain bracelets and spiky earrings invite women to get in touch with their inner dominatrix – or perhaps their inner biker chick, ready to speed off into the night with a Brando or Dean.

For more, visit paigenovick.com or neimanmarcus.com.

1) Paige, your cuff bracelets with chains and your spiky earrings are marvelous variations on the punk theme. What is it about punk that inspires you?

“My inner rebel responds to the dark metals and moody side of punk style.”

2) Apart from your own designs, what’s the most punk thing you own?

“My cropped black leather motorcycle jacket by Preen. I love how it can offset a tailored look for a ‘tough and tender’ effect.”

3) You studied art history at the Sorbonne and worked with Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel in Paris.

What prompted you to go into jewelry design?

“My mother has designed fine jewelry for over 30 years. The desire to design jewelry must have been lying dormant in me for a while, because I just woke up one day and decided to do it.”

4) Tell us a little about the materials that go into your designs and where they’re made.

“Mostly, our pieces are made in the U.S. using brass, genuine stones and Swarovski crystals.”

5) What should we look from you for fall?

Paige Novick. Photograph by Gail Albert Halaban.

62

“Geometric shapes, layered chains, hints of peekaboo and lots of leather.” n

A ¾-inch slate stingray leather cuff with gunmetal fringe detail. $265.

Mixed chain collar necklace with Spikey charms, gold and gunmetal combo with Swarovski crystals. $460.

Zigzag collar necklace in shiny gold, brass and Swarovski pavé. $470.

Multichain, layered necklace in shiny gunmetal with silver links and slate leather. $520.

Hoop and pavé Spikey earrings in gold, gunmetal, rose gold and Swarovski crystals. $310.

63

In focus

By Mary Shustack Photographs by David Bravo and Bob Rozycki

From top, Hawkins “Hawky” Bravo; “Pre Flight” from “Intersections;” and bottom, photo illustration featuring David and Isaiah Bravo in front of “Careful Steps” from “Intersections.”

64

David Bravo’s lens captures more than what you see at first glance.

That is the heart of the work of the Fairfield-based photographer – and what has kept him in business for more than 25 years.

In “Intersections: David Bravo Photographs,” his third book, the spotlight shines not only on his creative work but also on the innovative work of The Kennedy Center. All proceeds of the book’s sales are to benefit the work of the Trumbull-based rehabilitation organization that serves people with disabilities and has a special connection to the Bravo family.

“Intersections” truly is a project that connects on many levels, as do the photographs of Bravo, who has worked for this magazine over the years.

A Fairfield native who found his love of photography as a teenager (“Two weeks into this I said, ‘I’m doing this for the rest of my life,’”) he honed his skills through a combination of community college, the Merchant Marine and traveling the world.

His training, influences and perspective come together every day but also are reflected in the pages of the book.

On the surface, it’s a paperback portfolio of sorts for Bravo, who has shot U.S. presidents and Academy Award-winning actors, Fortune 100 brands and CD covers.

There are portraits depicting some very familiar faces. But for every singer named José Feliciano, actor named Chazz Palminteri or designer named Josie Natori, there’s an equally captivating shot of those perhaps lesser-known – an elegant older woman, regal in her summer hat; a daring skateboarder captured in mid-flight; or a confident bride nearly strutting from a classic car.

It’s all about capturing and translating how Bravo sees the world.

“It’s life, what it’s like to be human and walk this earth,” Bravo says of the book, which he says celebrates the “quiet pockets of the mundane.”

But what might seem straightforward somehow takes on deeper meanings here, such as the dramatic shot over the Long Island Sound, all clouds and purple hues, that on closer inspection reveals a small sailboat nearly dwarfed by the sky. Then there is the intimate and quiet beauty of a single rose, though past its prime still stunning in its dew-drenched simplicity.

It’s perhaps in the many faces, though, that the story behind the book really

comes out.

And family plays a big part in that, starting with Capt. Hector Bravo, David’s father. Early in his career, when Bravo had just opened his first studio and his father was recently retired from the Merchant Marine, a pivotal moment came.

“My mother said, ‘Hector, while that uniform still fits you, let David do your portrait.’”

The success of that shot spurred him on. Bravo’s mother is also seen in “Intersections.” The late Eileen St. Clair Bravo, who with his father was an untiring supporter of The Kennedy Center, offers a warm, kind smile.

Also featured throughout are more than a few photographs of Bravo’s son, 5-year-old Isaiah. If you know David, you know his constant companion and maybe favorite subject.

But it’s the photograph of David’s late brother, Hawkins “Hawky” Bravo that speaks most directly to the book’s charitable element.

“My brother Hawkins, we called him Hawky, was the glue to our family,” Bravo says. Hawkins, who had Down Syndrome, passed away in 2007 at age 52. He had been served by The Kennedy Center for years. One literal way was in helping him find work.

Bravo recalls how his brother would proudly say “I’m getting my paycheck.”

It was earning something far beyond the money. “He felt like a man,” Bravo says.

In all, David says his brother was both a “beneficiary and great success story” of The Kennedy Center.

The book is one way Bravo is saying thanks.

And it’s something that the organization’s president and CEO, Marty Schwartz, recognizes and appreciates – the unwavering support of the Bravo family.

“It’s great that David is continuing the tradition,” Schwartz says. “He’s an enthusiastic supporter of The Kennedy Center, and he’s been a very valuable supporter.”

Again, it’s Bravo using his camera to serve his art – and others.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I have been blessed taking pictures for my career,” he says. “I think of a guy roofing a house in July…”

For more on David Bravo and the book, visit davidbravo.com. For more on the Kennedy Center, visit thekennedycenterinc.org. n

going up...

A big part of Kurt Kannemeyer’s job at St. Christopher’s in Dobbs Ferry is raising funds for and awareness of the work of the residential treatment center that serves special education students.

That the South African native takes his role as the institution’s director of development to heart may never be clearer than this month – the morning of Aug. 19 to be precise.

That’s when Kannemeyer will take the first steps on his weeklong attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, a challenge that will not only test his athletic and endurance skills, but also serve as both inspiration and a fundraising effort for his beloved students.

We first met Kannemeyer in the

pages of our June “Open Road” issue, when he shared his own story as a way of background about this trip.

Words Kannemeyer wrote about the Kilimanjaro climb remain inspirational: “Many of our students are facing their own ‘mountains’ on a daily basis, and for them, life has never been easy. The greatest joy for me in climbing is being a role model and showing our kids that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. No mountain is unreachable, no dream is impossible.”

The excitement is building as the time to reaching his own dream is drawing ever closer, Kannemeyer says during a recent follow-up chat.

“I’m ecstatic,” he says. “Everything is coming along so amazingly well.”

His goals remain at the forefront.

Part of the mission of this trip is to raise funds for programming for the stu-

dents in transitional cottages to ensure they receive the necessary life skills to become independent once they graduate.

It was back in 2009 that Kannemeyer took a group of students from the school to South Africa on an educational and humanitarian journey. The climb will also serve to fuel Kannemeyer’s vision to bring more students to South Africa, where new projects would include funding a perpetual garden and helping children living with HIV/AIDS. Kannemeyer, who with three friends will follow the Rongai Route to the summit some 19,500 feet above sea level, has a picture of the mountain in his office to keep him motivated.

And that motivation has also translated to the gym, where his training continues to intensify.

“It’s excruciating, but that’s a good feeling,” he says.

And sometimes, it also elicits a few laughs. He tells of a recent day when he was so focused, he began to visualize the mountain while on the treadmill.

“I started talking to myself,” he says, not quite realizing he had started almost to chant, “For the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.”

Next thing he knew, he shares with his trademark laugh, he was sheepishly smiling and explaining to the woman next to him that he was training for a student fundraiser.

Clearly, the students of St. Christopher’s are never far from his thoughts –which will no doubt be true as he sets off to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro in coming days.

— Mary Shustack To donate to Kannemeyer’s effort, visit 1canmakeadifference.myevent. com. To learn more about St. Christopher’s, visit sc1881.org. n

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PRINCE WILLIAM HAS PRINCE HARRY, SNOOPY HAS SPIKE – YOU KNOW, THE BAD-BOY BABY BRO WHO’S A CHUNK OF CHARM AND A TON OF TROUBLE. That’s what WAG Weekly is to WAG. In our e-newsletter, we let down our hair (and occasionally, our grammar) to take you behind behind-the-scenes of the hottest parties and events, offer our thoughts on the most controversial issues of the day, share what couldn’t be contained in our glossy pages and tell you what to do and where to go this weekend – all while whetting your appetite for the next issue.

If you can’t get enough of WAG — or you just want to get WAG unplugged — then you won’t want to miss WAG Weekly, coming to your tablet each Friday a.m.

65

back to school Christian Heritage School K-12 Open House

Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m.

“Attending Christian Heritage has been an invaluable experience as I graduate and move on to Boston College.”

- Hailey Wills, ‘13

I treasure every second I was able to spend with all these amazing teachers, students, and parents at CHS. - Kibom “Nick” Park, ‘13

CHILD•COR IS A CHILDREN’S WELLNESS PROGRAM that combines yoga,

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back to school PLEASE CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A CAMPUS TOUR.

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www.gunnery.org ~ 860-868-7334 ~ admissions@gunnery.org 99 Green Hill Road, Washington, Connecticut 06793

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69

wonderful dining

Harvest Renaissance Chef Vincent Barcelona on eating clean and trimming the fat

By Andrea Kennedy

I

t’s a beautiful thing when you find your niche, your respite for self and soul. A shared puzzle piece in Westchester’s pursuit of happiness fits snugly against the Hastings waterfront where Harveston-Hudson’s Napa-meets-Tuscany retreat brings an unusual calm to the New York dining scene – even for Westchester. It’s slowed down, spread out, a proper unwind from the caffeinated, iPhone-driven workweek. The riverwide views of the Palisades. The sunset-drenched garden.

The wine. The sfizi. The “play hard” après “work hard.” The rejuvenation.

“That’s what Harvest is all about. It’s a lifestyle,” says executive chef Vincent Barcelona. “It’s driven by the garden and a healthy, balanced living. It’s eating clean.”

With his modern Italian menu featuring indulgences like a sunnyside egg with brown butter, truffle and guanciale – “the best bacon and eggs you’ll ever have,” quips the chef – it’s no wonder that to Barcelona, eating clean doesn’t mean counting calories (an ethos that’s the scourge of happy eaters everywhere, not to mention Italians.) Meals, rather, are fresh and balanced, pruned like a bonsai to perfection without excesses of caloric fluff.

“It’s really easy to mask things with bells and whistles or sauces and things like that,” he says, “but you have to be sure the dish is absolutely perfect if it’s almost naked.”

Food critic Arthur Schwartz said it well when he called Harvest’s dishes “unaffected,” a term Barcelona calls one of his highest compliments.

Considering Harvest’s extensive menu of consummate local favorites, Barcelona shines just as bright, if not brighter, with his kaleidoscope of specials driven

by Hudson Valley farms, Montauk linecaught seafood and, fittingly, Harvest’s own harvest. Produce gets plucked from Harvest’s patio garden – it doesn’t get fresher than that – where folks can sip a Chianti and dabble in sfizi (exquisite small plates for you latecomers) among lush greens of lovage and lemon verbena, eggplant and cucuzza, fennel and sorrel, heirloom tomatoes, bush basil, rosemary and more.

Get ready for this: Farm-to-fork specials will star in his brand new offerings launching this fall.

70

“We’re calling it the Harvest Renaissance,” he says. “We’re doing a complete menu upgrade.”

Cue the collective gasp heard ’round the Hudson. You read it right. Harvest is retooling, and Chef says “nothing is sacred.”

Not even the world’s best bacon and eggs.

“It doesn’t mean that our great dishes aren’t going to realize themselves back on the menu again,” Barcelona says, “but I need to think what’s best for a busy restaurant.”

For a self-proclaimed perfectionist, serving upwards of 800 covers a night isn’t the sustainable or balanced approach he’s after.

“I’d rather trim it down a little bit and focus on specials that are really interesting, something off the grid you don’t see everywhere.”

So the Harvest Renaissance isn’t just a move to trim the fat, so to speak; it also opens the door to new favorites like Barcelona did when he took over at Harvest back in 2004. He’s also executive chef at Half Moon in Dobbs Ferry and two Montauk spots with the Fort Pond Bay Company. Nearly 10 years later and still of regional renown, he very well could ride the wave of popularity, yet he’d rather reinvent to dodge status as an “old warhorse.”

“We don’t want to be complacent,” he says. “We want to be the best restaurant in the area and not rest on our laurels.”

Still, it’s the reputation that will keep patrons coming and surely hook more, especially considering that homemade ingredients will stay central to menu offerings.

“We have our homemade meats,” he says gesturing to the wine cellar, where a glance up the wall of award-winning reds shows rows of pancetta and capicola hung from the ceiling to cure. (A veritable happy place in itself.) “We make all our homemade gelatos and sorbets, our fresh pastas.

We have the beautiful arugula rigatoni on the menu today with arugula picked from the garden. We do a purée of arugula and mix it right in with the dough.”

Chef may use the garden lavender for crème brûlée or lemon thyme on sashimi with a spritz of lemon and dash of coarse sea salt. So while the menu may change, expect less of a departure and more of a rededication to the Harvest mentality of striking powerful flavor profiles using the best ingredients in the region.

“Let the fish be fresh, let the vegetables be fresh,” Barcelona says. “Make sure you enhance it with a little acidity so your palate doesn’t get tired or add a neutral so it doesn’t get over-stimulated.”

His philosophy rings true to the farmdriven tradition he’s heightened with expert discipline – the type of skills seasoned by his first-generation Italian roots, upbringing in the restaurant business, training in France and rising through the ranks with Manhattan’s top chefs, including Mr. “Top Chef” himself, Tom Colicchio, while they were in their 20s. And thanks to his own balanced lifestyle, including trading city life for some land in northern Jersey and unwinding on his guitar or BMW motorcycle, Barcelona doesn’t feel much older than his days in the concrete jungle that were the ’80s in New York.

“I’m 48 years old, but mentally I’m much younger,” he says. “If I don’t CrossFit or play guitar or jump on my bike or go see music, it washes off into other parts of my personality. It’s good for everyone when Chef is happy. Everyone is happy.”

Happiness is what it’s about, after all – what makes us whole. And if your happiness is a riverfront view of the Palisades, a chillaxed California vibe or sfizi and wine, then new menu or not, Harvest will still be your home.

Just get those baked stuffed dates and short rib pappardelle while you still can.

Harvest-on-Hudson is at 1 River St., Hastings-on-Hudson. For more, call (914) 478-2800 or visit harvesthudson. com. n

wanders

youth

The real fountain of

By Cappy Devlin

The Ana Aslan spa in Eforie Nord, in Romania.

71

Aslan dedicated her life to the research of slowing down and sometimes reversing the premature aging process.

She was among the first to rule out a fatalistic approach to aging. As she said: “To be forever young is not to be 20 years old. It is to be optimistic, to feel good, to have an ideal in life for which to fight and conquer.”

72

hen I hear the word “wellness,” I immediately think of Dr. Ana Aslan, whom I met in Romania, where she was born Jan. 1, 1897 and died May 20, 1988 at age 91. In 1952, she became general director of the National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics there. That institute was the first of its kind and was recognized by the World Health Organization.

As one of the pioneering scientists in medical gerontology and geriatrics, Aslan also focused on social gerontology. While investigating the pain-relieving effects of procaine on patients with arthritis, Aslan discovered that the drug also had beneficial side effects, such as improved skin and hair, better memory and a general feeling of well-being. She was the first to use procaine as an ingredient in antiaging products. The promise of prolonged youth, along with the testimonials of thousands of users, reached far beyond the borders of Romania.

Notable leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, President John F. Kennedy, Konrad Adenauer, Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh reportedly received this antiaging therapy.

Other well-known celebrities, including Marlene Dietrich, Lillian Gish, the Gabor sisters, Charlie Chaplin, Kirk Douglas and Salvador Dali, were said to seek out Aslan at her Otopeni Clinic. Once discovered by celebrities, Gerovital H 3 (or procaine hydrochloride) became famous, and Aslan received many international awards for her scientific breakthroughs.

A staff of 1,000 doctors in more than 200 Romanian clinics still offers the antiaging remedy, later called Aslavital. Only the genuine Gerovital GH3 fully respects Aslan’s original formula, which has been said to alleviate stress, depression, osteoporosis, hypertension, age spots, varicose veins, poor eyesight, hair loss/baldness, Parkinson’s disease, allergies and many other ailments. (In our own country, the drug is unapproved and banned from interstate commerce and importation.)

Aslan dedicated her life to the research of slowing down and sometimes reversing the premature aging process.

She was among the first to rule out a fatalistic approach to aging. As she said: “To be forever young is not to be 20 years old. It is to be optimistic, to feel good, to have an ideal in life for which to fight and conquer.”

For treating arthritis, rheumatism and internal and nervous disorders, Romania’s Black Sea coast is the place to go. The spas of the resort cities of Eforie and Mangalia specialize in mud baths, using the rich, black mud from Techirghiol Lake, the greatest salt lake in Romania. The spa offerings include mud baths as well as Gerovital and Aslavital rejuvenation treatments.

Many times when I was in Romania with our Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, giving concerts throughout the country, we would go to the mud baths.

With our bathing suits on, we covered ourselves with mud and floated on the Black Sea. n

The Ana Aslan spa in Eforie Nord, in Romania.

73

wagging

O

n any given day, one of my family members is assigned the task of playing with the lizard. Each participant chooses either

the grass or beach.

Yes, I have four dogs who need their daily dose of stimulation. Yup, a couple of kids, too, who opted for Camp Mom instead of a seven-hour stint at the local pool. But it is the lizard, peering out from inside his glassy habitat that’s nabbed me with the guilties this summer season.

Perhaps I’ve taken anthropomorphism to a whole new level, but when I look at our reptilian pet, who came to us the size of a pencil and now wouldn’t fit into our breadbox, I feel responsible – not only for his physical well-being, but for his emotional well-being, too.

So how did I cure my angst? I marched down to the pet store and purchased a lizard harness. They really do make such things. And now, Rocket, our Bearded Dragon, enjoys daily excursions. If he’s not better off for it, I most certainly am.

Don’t ask me what I’ll do come winter: Reptiles can’t stand temperatures under 80 degrees.

Professionally, I routinely listen to my clients lament about their own shortcomings.

According to them, their dogs need more attention, more training, more exercise…

Who’s walked the lizard?

By Sarah Hodgson

Or do they?

Commercialism and the media have been quite effective in convincing the entire Northeast population that anything short of buying their dogs treadmills and serving organic dog food passes as negligence. The truth is dogs have the same brain capacity as a 2-year-old child, and as such need a balance of interaction, exercise and uninhibited play. Key word – balance.

Few people know that dogs, like people, can become exercise junkies, equally addicted to hour-long jaunts at the dog park, 90-minute hikes or routine 5Ks if conditioned to this level of stimulation daily. This is fine if you are, in fact, an exercise junkie who has the time to devote to this routine, but know that excessive exercise is not necessary for a dog’s happiness.

While there is some truth to the idiom, “A tired dog makes for a happy family,” dogs that are not conditioned as athletes can meet their daily doses of stimulation with two bouts of play in the backyard or a short romp with a neighbor’s dog. Extended trips to the dog park and marathon-worthy laps should thus be the exception, not the rule. And the amount of exercise is greatly affected by the type of dog you shelter. Personally speaking, my 100-pound Shepherd needs about four times as much running time as my little 10-pounder.

Of course, summertime brings its own

Pet of the Month Throughout history, there have been many great Avas – Ava Gardner, Eva Gabor, Eva Peron. (OK, different spelling. Still.)

Here’s another: Ava is a 4-year-old Maltese/Poodle mix. She came in as a stray just recently and has been such a joy since arriving. Although shy at first, she warms up quickly and has such a sweet, calm disposition. She seems good with everyone, although she can be a little picky about which pooches she likes.

Overall, though, she will make a wonderful companion. All she wants is love, kisses and to feel safe.

And in the end, isn’t that what we all want?

To meet Ava, visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Please note: The SPCA does not accept deposits, make appointments or reserve animals for adoption even if it has spoken about a particular dog or cat with you. It’s always firstcome, first-served among applicants, pending approval. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. To learn more, call (914) 941-2896 or visit spca914.org. n 74

challenges for dog owners and cat owners alike as the outdoor weather is simply too warm to expose any living being to prolonged outings. Dogs should be exercised in the early morning or evening after the sun has dipped down and provided with an endless supply of water, shade or ideally, air-conditioned spaces. All pets enjoy interaction, but time can just as easily be devoted (as it is in our home) to teaching Silly Pet Tricks, like jumping through a hoop, rolling over or “Hot Dog” – my summertime version of play dead.

So while my engineering-minded son is dutifully building a miniaturized treadmill with his Erector set to occupy his lizard during the cooler months, you can think equally creatively about how to stimulate your pets all year long. Though not created equally in size and mental acuity, all pets have the right, at least in my opinion, to a life balanced by love, play and a healthy dose of freedom.

A note about summer and dogs: As summer heat waves take hold and temperatures spike, the dilemma of regulating body heat becomes a canine’s chief concern. With few pores on their bodies to release perspiration, it can be metaphorically likened to our wearing a fur coat 24/7. As you’re enjoying the pleasures of this season, keep these points in mind to ensure that your dog is not only safe, but comfortable, too:

• Access to water. Place dishes of fresh water indoors and out. If you prefer your dog not drink from toilets, fountains or pools, have a large dish alongside each of these locations. Should your daily fun include an excursion, take a collapsible bowl and a bottle of clean water with you.

• Keys in the car. While I’d support a law mandating pets not be in cars when the temperature hits 60 degrees and above, if you must bring your dog in the car, put an extra set of keys in the glove compartment. Should you need to leave your dog in the car for any reason, keep the air-conditioning running. A car can overheat in minutes.

• Slowing metabolism. During the hot months, your dogs’ metabolism will slow down naturally. Do not be alarmed if their food consumption drops or their interest in exercise and play dwindles, especially during the hottest part of the day.

• Feel the pavement. Your dog’s “bare” paws are the most sensitive part of the body.

If walking on pavement, place the palm of your hand down before having your dog follow you. Too hot? Choose a cooler time to walk or find a shaded pathway at a park.

• Access to shade and pools of water.

When leaving your dog alone, a cool indoor location is ideal. If forced to spend time out of doors, your dog needs access to shade, a shallow pool to lie in and plenty of fresh water to drink. n

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89th Annual

Yorktown Grange Fair September 5 — September 8

Grange Fairgrounds • 99 Moseman Road, Yorktown Heights

Rides ~ Exhibits ~ Livestock ~ Contests Exhibits & Contests

Produce ~ Flowers ~ Art ~ Baking ~ Legos Needlework ~ Photography ~ Karaoke

Audience Participation Contests Chris Bicyc Clark le St Show unt s

Live Music

• Mighty Few Band • Unfunded Mandate • Jessica Lynn • Chain of Fools • The Sundown Band

For the Kids

Antique Tractor Parade Saturday at Noon

Annie & the Natural Wonder Band Magic with The Great Charlini

www.yorktowngrangefair.org 75

w’reel deal Four years in the (movie) trenches

I

blame “Everlasting Moments.”

“Everlasting Moments” is a Swedish drama about a family struggling with a father’s alcoholism while the mother turns to photography. I saw it in March 2009, my 38th movie of that year.

I liked “Everlasting Moments.” And a monster was unleashed.

From 2009 to 2013, I saw 1,377 movies. In 2012, I saw 397 movies. I’m cutting back drastically this year and seeing only movies I want to see.

It began with a bet – me against two friends to see who could watch the most movies in one year. The contest got out of hand quickly, with hurt feelings on all sides. I threw a garbage can at my friend’s head. It missed.

I didn’t think I would have to see every movie, but I was mistaken. I was going to every multiplex and arts theater within a 90-minute drive and seeing everything.

By March, after sitting through some duds, I wondered how I was going to do this.

Enter “Everlasting Moments,” “Shall We Kiss” and “Sin Nombre.”

These were movies I never would’ve seen if not for OCD moviegoing. Whenever anyone questioned this, and there were a lot of questions, I would point to those movies as a reason why I kept going, sitting through many bad movies.

I began to appreciate different cultures and different art forms. I became that pretentious guy who loves French cinema. I saw a ton of documentaries, which had to make me smarter.

I ended the year at 304 movies, less than my friend’s total of 309. He didn’t win anything but bragging rights. He still brags about it to this day.

I have an addictive personality. I joke that I abstain from things that have anonymous attached to them. Once I started seeing movies, I couldn’t stop. I hated losing the movie contest and knew I could do better. It’s like a runner trying to lower his time.

In 2010, I saw 322 movies. In 2011, I saw 354.

I always had the idea of averaging a movie a day. What was once a pipe dream was close to reality. And after I did that, it’d be time to stop. After three years of seeing obscure indies, I was going to go out on top.

Excessive moviegoing had taken over

76

By Sam Barron

A scene from “Everlasting Moments” – the movie that started it all for Sam.

Seeing so many movies meant I often saw multiple movies in one day. I became an expert at scheduling movie days. This is an art form.

my life. I obsessively checked to see when theaters would release their schedules for next week.

I had a formula set up. Mondays I would go to the Palisades Center, Tuesdays would be a film at the Jacob Burns Film Center, Wednesdays and Thursdays would be whatever else was playing in the area, Fridays would be The Picture House in Pelham and Saturdays, I would go to the East Village.

Seeing so many movies meant I often saw multiple movies in one day. I became an expert at scheduling movie days. This is an art form.

I got off to a hot start in 2012. I hit 50 movies by March and 100 by May. But like any movie, obstacles appeared.

The first was a lady. When not seeing movies, I somehow acquired a girlfriend.

Shocking.

The drawback was my girlfriend was not keen on excessive moviegoing, claiming it was unhealthy. I argued, and I am good at arguing, but it is hard to argue when your reason for seeing half the movies you see is because they were playing.

My relationship continued and I racked up movies. I saw my 200th movie in 240 days. I still had catching up to do, but a movie a day was in reach. Then came another obstacle.

I got a new job at Westfair. The job I had for most of my moviegoing allowed me to work from home and set my own hours. If I wanted to run out and see a 4 p.m. movie, I could. I doubted Westfair would be as accommodating.

The thought of quitting the movies entered my mind, but I had come so far and only had three months left. I didn’t see these films for nothing. With the job starting in October, I did what any normal person would do: I destroyed September.

I saw 51 movies in 30 days, a movie every 14 hours. Through 274 days, I had seen 254 movies.

Despite the new job, I was still able to see movies at an excessive pace. It was not uncommon for me to stay late to catch a movie. I’d like to think my editors thought I was a hard worker willing to stay late to get the job done, but the jig was soon up when I stayed late to see a free screening of “Butter.”

My personal life took a big hit. My girlfriend was in Australia for most of October and soon after she came back, she became my ex-girlfriend. While my moviegoing was not the only reason, it was a big reason. I think I became the first person to have a relationship end due to seeing too many movies.

My personality is such that if someone

breaks up with me because I see too many movies, I’m going to see more movies. I ended October having seen 299 movies in 305 days. I was close to the pace I needed and now I had nothing to stop me.

I officially met a movie-a-day pace in early November. I saw eight movies in one weekend at the Burns. I saw five movies the day before Thanksgiving and three movies on Thanksgiving.

In December, I went out on top. I saw 52 movies in one month, a new personal record I hope I never break.

On December 15, I did my first ever six-movie day, and saw my 366th movie, reaching my goal. “Save the Date,” a comedy starring Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan, will be the answer to a trivia question no one asks.

As the month wound down, I felt a sense of closure. I really enjoyed seeing so many movies, and I grew to love the Village’s various theaters. Cinema Village and Quad Cinema are treasures I was going to miss. I know, it’s sad to put theaters on a pedestal.

I gained some notoriety, somehow landing in The New York Times. Historians will look back and declare it the slowest news day ever.

How has 2013 been going? It’s been going well. Relinquishing movies has been a lot easier than I thought. Having seen every wide release for four years, I knew the first wide release I skipped would be a big deal. Sorry, “A Haunted House.”

I have terrible taste. Vowing to see only movies I want to see, I somehow have seen a lot of dopey action movies.

It’s weird going from a movie a day to a movie a week, but I enjoy having my life back and not being subject to the whims of movies coming and going.

As someone who is rigid, I miss having Saturdays planned for me. I’ve often thought about going to the Cinema Village for a movie. I don’t want to backslide, and I worry I would fall right back.

I joke that I wasted part of my life and in a way I did. But despite all the skepticism and criticism I received, I genuinely enjoyed seeing all those movies. I would do the same thing all over again. In fact, I’d probably see more movies.

I saw a lot of crap and many movies you wouldn’t last 20 minutes in. But movies like “Polisse,” “Tuesday, After Christmas,” “Four Lions,” and yes, “Everlasting Moments” made the crazy endeavor worth it. n

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where are they now?

Back in the swim

By Georgette Gouveia

W

hen WAG last left Ryan Lochte, whose strenuous dryland workout we followed – OK, attempted to follow – leading up to the 2012 Olympics, he was swimming across the Pond to London, as per one of his many commercials. But there, things went, well, not-so-swimmingly. Though he won five medals – two gold, two silver and one bronze, including a gold in the killer 400-meter individual medley that crowns the best all-over swimmer – there was a sense that these should’ve been five gold medals, that somehow he had let the country down.

It didn’t help that he appeared to cost the U.S. a gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, losing out to the French, whom the U.S. had beaten dramatically in the same event in Beijing.

(Talk about your karma.) And it didn’t help that as Lochte’s medal color diminished, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian to date.

What happened? Had Lochte peaked at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, where he was so brilliant, outshining a listless Phelps? Had the 400 IM, contested on the first night of swimming in London, taken too much out of him? Had he become the victim of overexposure and over-management? All of the above?

Some of Lochte’s post-Olympics actions and comments seemed to confirm what his detractors were all too eager to blare in the blogosphere – that he was a greedy, empty-headed, full-of-himself party boy. A reality show pompously called “What Would Ryan Lochte Do”? Doesn’t it beg the question, “Who cares?” Still, it got him a Teen Choice Award nomination as best actor. It also led some to label him with a couple of “d” words, only one of which is “dumb.”

But really, people, why all the hate for someone who is clearly devoted to his mother and raising money for muscular dystrophy, signs every child’s autograph after a meet and gives most of his medals away? (Case in point: Lochte – who has familial ties here and has appeared periodically at the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco – recently donated a swimming clinic to the silent auction at Chazz and Gianna Palminteri’s White Plains benefit for their Child Reach Foundation.)

The good news for us Lochte and sports fans is that he’s back in the pool. At the recent Santa Clara Grand Prix, Lochte won the 400 IM, the 200 back, the 100 fly and the 200 IM. At the 2013 Phillips 66 National Championship & World Championship Trials in Indianapolis recently, he pulled off one of the toughest doubles there is, winning the 200m free and later the 200m back. He’s qualified for seven events at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, now under way.

After Barcelona, he’s going on a swimabout, packing up his passport and Speedos to swim with various trainers around the world, with the blessing of Gregg Troy, Lochte’s longtime coach, who also coaches the U.S. team. It’s all in preparation for the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janiero, where Lochte predicts Phelps will return.

Sounds like a plan to add to his haul of 11 Olympic medals alone. How many medals do Lochte’s detractors have? Oh, yeah, right. n Ryan Lochte. Photograph courtesy Speedo.

78

Summer at the Bruce Robert Carley, La Salle, Michigan Flag House, Photograph, 18 x 24 in. ©Robert Carley

Museum

Dürer, Rembrandt & Whistler: Prints from the Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly through August 18, 2013 Revised & Restored: The Art of Kathleen Gilje through September 8, 2013 Flags Across America: The Photographs of Robert Carley July 14–September 22, 2013 Eggs-hibition: Unscrambling Their History through October 20, 2013 Telling American History: Realism from the Print Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly August 31–December 1, 2013

BRUCE MUSEUM Greenwich, Connecticut

brucemuseum.org

well

HealthCorps

A National Wellness Movement

HealthCorps co-founders, Dr. Mehmet Oz and wife Lisa, with HealthCorps high school students.

M

ost TV viewers know Dr. Mehmet Oz from his good buddy Oprah.

But before the two were a daytime dream team, Dr. Oz had already developed his nonprofit passion project, HealthCorps.

HealthCorps launches programs in high schools to teach students about nutrition, fitness and mental resilience. Students learn through guest speakers and practical, handson activities like yoga or cooking classes.

HealthCorps currently operates in more than a dozen schools in New York, including four in the Bronx. For the good work it does to encourage whole-body wellness among the young people of our neighboring communities, WAG invited HealthCorps to share its story. For more information, visit healthcorps.org: The idea for HealthCorps started nearly a decade ago when the organization’s co-founder, cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, was checking on a patient. He had per80

formed open heart surgery on a young woman, who was in her 20s. The surgery had gone well, but when he walked into the recovery room, he saw that she and her family were celebrating her recovery with a fried food feast. A lightbulb went off for Dr. Oz: This woman and too many like her are not aware of the effect their habits have on their bodies. He felt compelled to give teens the information they needed to take control of their health and help educate their families and communities to do the same.

HealthCorps launched its first school program in 2003 during lunch hour at a New York City high school. After that pilot, it was evident that HealthCorps was on to something. Students were hungry – not for food, but for knowledge about how to take control of their wellness.

Early HealthCorps organizers also learned that high school students had tremendous power to influence their parents and their communities and could serve as catalysts for change.

HealthCorps harnessed that power and added peer-mentors, recent college graduates with a passion for health whom students could listen to and emulate.

The mentors, called coordinators, are the heart of the HealthCorps program. These young women and men defer medical school or graduate school for two years to work in high-need high schools across the country. They lead students in experiential project-based lessons in nutrition, fitness and mental resilience, as well as a variety of extracurricular programs designed to enable teens to take charge of their wellness.

By 2005, HealthCorps had expanded all the way to New Jersey. By the fall of 2013, the high-need, high school-based program will be changing lives in 13 states and the District of Columbia. It will affect more than 135,000 students and members of the community.

Dr. Oz and his wife, Lisa, created HealthCorps before he became an Emmy Award-winning television host

(“The Dr. Oz Show”), before he was on a first name basis with Oprah Winfrey and before his name was shouted out by passersby on the streets of every city he visits. He was a hands-on and active board chairman then as he is now, and he invites his friends to help with the program, people like Fairfield’s Donovan Green, who often worked with HealthCorps’ New York City coordinators as a personal trainer.

HealthCorps has seen firsthand how teens are capable of the most profound changes in their lives and the lives around them. Through the vision of its founders, Mehmet and Lisa Oz, coordinators and friends of the program, HealthCorps is creating a movement to help improve the health and future of teens and their communities.

For more information about HealthCorps, to apply to be a coordinator or learn more about professional development training for school personnel, visit healthcorps.org. n

Physician, move thyself

By Erika Schwartz, MD

I like working out. It’s always been one of my favorite activities, even before it was popular or cool. The true reasons for my love of exercise elude me. I certainly don’t do it to be thin.

Maybe it’s in my genes since I came from Romania, from the land of Nadia Comaneci. Maybe I just like being physically and mentally active and figured out the connection to being healthy from the very start and just did it.

That’s why I’m continually thunderstruck by how few doctors are interested in keeping in shape and how patients blindly take advice from out-of-shape doctors, who don’t look even vaguely worthy of being emulated physically.

To me it’s just plain common sense that working out and staying in shape will keep you healthy for good. I don’t need more studies to convince me of that philosophy, but it’s great to see modern science in agreement with what the Spartans knew 3,000 years ago.

Unfortunately, in spite of all this knowledge, we are still living in a divided world

where conventional medicine, while paying lip service to the philosophy that exercise is good for you, is chock-full of doctors who prescribe medication for backaches rather than teaching you to stretch and give you pills to lose weight instead of teaching you to eat well and exercise – just to bring up the top problems in health care.

When I was practicing medicine in Irvington in the early 1990s, a middle-aged woman with a terrible backache came to see me. She had consulted an orthopedic surgeon, had X-rays and an MRI, spent multiple weeks taking terribly irritating anti-inflammatory medications and pain killers but found herself feeling worse than when the pain started.

My au courant medical training had taught me to put all people with backaches on bed rest, anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants.

Clearly, that didn’t work with this patient so I thought I would try common sense.

I taught her how to stretch.

On the examining table, I helped her put her knees up and showed her how to

hug them gently to her chest. Though we were both initially fearful, I slowly pressed the soles of her feet in and she hugged her legs while rocking.

Ten minutes later, we were done and she sat up and for the first time in months felt better. She stayed well because after that incident she remembered to stretch every time her back went out.

Her story represents the beginning of my integration of exercise into my practice as one preventative measure, which is what I have been doing for the past 25 years without having a real title to give it.

Exercise, physical activity, intentional movement, whatever you want to call it, is a most important part of the puzzle that represents our health. The older we get the more we need it and the less we do it.

Maybe if we understood how each one of us is different and would benefit from the proper type of exercise for the individual, under the supervision of a knowledgeable person, be it a fit doctor or trainer, the results would speak for themselves.

You don’t need to join a gym, buy fancy

workout clothes or go to yoga classes. All you need is to start somewhere. If you never got off the couch, get off it and walk around it now. Do it 10 times.

If you are a big jock and managed to destroy your joints by 40, change exercises and start a program that you never did before and don’t give up. Don’t continue doing things already proven to hurt you.

Stretch and swim, walk or jog, do yoga or Pilates, weights or videos. Whatever you do, you can be sure if you do it in moderation and are inspired to feel better, you will find it’s never too late to start and the results are truly amazing.

Don’t just do it to lose weight. Do it to stay young and healthy.

Like the 90-year-old in my practice I taught to use her walker to get to her office, 10 minutes away from her apartment. She lived to 94 and worked until the last day of her life.

I certainly view her as using exercise as an inspiration to us all.

For more information, email Dr. Erika at Erika@drerika.com. n

ECAD is a 501(c)3 Not-for-Profit Oranization www.ecad1.org | Info@ecad1.org | 914-693-0600 ext. 1950

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janas

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murphy

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wit wonders: What do you do to stay fit?

“I walk around in 4-inch heels, which is a workout every day. I also do SoulCycle.”

– Courtney Booth, assistant vice president, trusts and estates, Sotheby’s, New York City resident “As we (at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison) have been working on ‘The Three Musketeers’ – a really physical show – it’s been about finding workouts that complement the show rather than leaving me sore. Since we are doing so much sword fighting, I avoid weight-training on show days and tend to do more cardio. On days when I am feeling a bit sore from the stage combat, I do some yoga and stretching.”

– Angela Janas, Sabine in and fight captain for “The Three Musketeers,” New York City resident “Play golf and tennis and work out on the elliptical machine, and I try to do mindful meditation.”

– Richard Leroy managing director, commercial sales, Hudson Landscape Contractors & Tree Care Specialists Inc., Briarcliff Manor resident “It’s a combination of different types. I do The Bar Method, multiple repetitions of different movements. I do yoga. I do Pilates. I do Zumba. I mix it up. My new thing is green smoothies – kale, spinach, cucumber, fruit and coconut water. I’m addicted to them.”

– Susan Marocco, owner, Susan Marocco Interiors Inc., Bedford resident

“This is always an important question for actors, but especially true for us this season (at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). We all have to do a lot of pretty athletic fighting in the shows. This means our fitness preparation had to encompass strength, flexibility, cardio and stability in order to both maximize our athletic ability and prevent injury. … I decided to attack this summer with two consecutive circuittraining programs, the first of which focuses more on muscle-building and athletic performance (P90X) and the second of which focuses on cardiovascular fitness and flexibility (Insanity).”

– Charlie Francis Murphy, Edgar in “King Lear,” Porthos in “The Three Musketeers,” New York City resident “Well, I ride several horses a day, do yoga, just walking through trails and outside. I don’t like going to the gym so I do everything outside. Riding is excellent exercise, but you have to do other things to be in shape to ride a horse.”

– Sarah Natale, barn manager, Old Salem Farm, New Canaan resident “Each (show) I’m in has its own particular requirements. With each character, I feel the need to maintain a certain amount of strength, athleticism and, I hate to say it, physical vanity. Once the rehearsal process began, I found an excellent workout partner in my onstage brother in ‘King Lear,’ Charlie Murphy. Our goal now is to work out six days a week...

Having a partner is an excellent motivator, especially when he also becomes my onstage rival.”

– Ryan Quinn, Edmund in “King Lear,” Treville in “The Three Musketeers,” New York City resident

“I do tennis. I had a game here Wednesday night. I also do the elliptical machine, 30 minutes of it and 30 minutes of weights. I do the spinning class on the weekends. And I do swimming, 10 to 20 laps at Lake Isle (Country Club).”

– Sandra Rampersaud, sales executive, The Coughlin Group, Eastchester resident “Not enough.”

“I go to the gym and work out for an hour and a half – cardio, weights, running. Your muscles get used to doing the same thing. If you don’t mix it up and have a little muscle confusion, you aren’t going to stay fit.”­ – RoseAnne Spallone, assistant trainer, Old Salem Farm, Kent Lake resident “I stay fit by making exercise a priority in my life. I have been involved with sports my whole life, but I have taken tennis and golf into adulthood. I have also been a passionate runner for the last 25 years, but age and overuse have taken their toll. I have learned that I need to mix it up. Running, spinning, the elliptical and weight training are all part of my daily fitness regime. And I have found that my commitment to fitness has been good for my head as well as my body.”

– Liz Wooster, director of institutional advancement and development, The Bruce Museum, Greenwich resident

“I’m a runner and I’ve trained for marathons before.

Now that I’m pregnant, I’ve toned it down a bit. But I still believe in fitness. I do TRX suspension training. I’ve started prenatal yoga. And I try to walk or jog three to four miles a few days a week.”

– Julia Moran, special events coordinator, American Heart Association, Tarrytown resident Compiled by Georgette Gouveia. Contact her at ggouveia@westfairinc.com.

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– David Sleeman director, Winston Art Group, New York City resident

when&where Sunday

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SUZANNE VEGA

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The eclectic singersongwriter performs in a solo concert at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah.

Caramoor.org.

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SILVERSUN PICKUPS

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The alt-rockers are at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Mona is the opening act. Thecapitoltheatre.com.

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‘DANCING AT DUSK: CARIBBEAN SOUL WITH LA TROUPE ZETWAL’

Music and activities at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah. caramoor.org.

ROCK TUNES

Singer and songwriter John Hiatt performs at Tarrytown Music Hall. tarrytownmusichall.org.

John Hiatt

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GEARING UP

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Westchester/ Hudson Valley chapter hosts its ‘Light The Night Walk’ kickoff party at Grand Prix New York in Mount Kisco. lightthenight.org/wch.

‘BARRYMORE’ AT LYNDHURST

Picnic on the grounds of Lyndhurst in Tarrytown before heading to the Carriage House for a play about John Barrymore. lyndhurst.org.

The actress/singer is in concert at the Venetian Theater at the Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts in Katonah. Caramoor.org.

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‘JOHN HIATT ROBERT AND THE COMBO’ RANDOLPH & A performance with THE FAMILY BAND everything from blues to country to rock and roll at The Ridgefield Playhouse. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

Funk and soul will fill the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, with Tuak opening the show. Thecapitoltheatre.com.

TODD RUNDGREN

JAMES TAYLOR TRIBUTE

One of music’s major innovators takes the stage at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Tarrytownmusichall.org.

“Shower the People: The Music of James Taylor” features the voice and guitar work of Neil Donell Westchester Ridge Hill in Yonkers. westchestersridgehill.com.

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FOLK-INFUSED SONGS

A performance by musician and champion surfer Donovan Frankenreiter at The Ridgefield Playhouse. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

THROUGH SUNDAY AUGUST 11

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AUDRA MCDONALD

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‘SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES’

An energetic night of pure rock ’n’ roll at The Ridgefield Playhouse. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

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SIZZLING SUmMER PERFORMANCE Diana Ross performs at Stamford’s Palace Theatre. Stamfordcenterforthearts.org.

THROUGH SUNDAY AUGUST 18

‘DÜRER, REMBRANDT & WHISTLER: PRINTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. DORRANCE T. KELLY’

An exhibition of primarily American 20th-century prints is on view at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. Brucemuseum.org.

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THROUGH THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15 ‘CONEY NIGHT MAZE’

“Portrait of a Contestant”

by Daniel Charles Feldman

Monumental-scale installation by New York artist Dona Dennis continues at the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase. neuberger.org.

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Classic rock favorites at The Ridgefield Playhouse. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

ON VIEW

A painter and a photographer share their unique, compelling visions in “Media Informed and American Genre,” featuring paintings by Daniel Charles Feldman, and “Photogravures,” featuring fine art photography by Massimo Marinucci, at the Lionheart Gallery in Pound Ridge. thelionheartgallery.com.

AMERICA

Todd Rundgren

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‘DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS’

Four of today’s preeminent saxophone players perform with special guests at The Ridgefield Playhouse. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

Diana Ross

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worthy

HEALTHY SNACKS AND DRINKS

ALMOND BREEZE ALMOND MILK A healthy and low-calorie alternative to soy and dairy. almondbreeze.com

BARE FRUIT Organic, dried-fruit options. barefruitsnacks.com BOLTHOUSE FARMS BERRY BOAST A sweet, fruit juice mix with no added sugar. bolthouse.com

LARABAR A blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices. larabar.com

NATURE’S PATH CRUNCHY VANILLA SUNRISE CEREAL A gluten-free and nutritious cereal. us.naturespath.com OCEANSPRAY CRAISINS Dried cranberries. oceanspray.com

CAMPBELL’S V8 GARDEN VEGETABLE BLEND SOUP No artificial flavors or preservatives. campbellsv8soup.com CHOBANI Greek yogurt with only natural ingredients. chobani.com EMERALD COCA ROAST

LOW SODIUM V8 JUICE Vegetable juice. v8juice.com

ALMONDS IP.Ad.4.937x5.JN_Layout 1 Healthy nuts.

emeraldnuts.com

HEALTH WARRIOR PEANUT

BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CHIA Healthy, nutrition snack bars made from

organic, superfood Chia and Chia seeds.

ANNIE CHUN’S healthwarrior.com ROASTED SEAWEED SNACKS NAKED JUICE PIRATE’S BOOTY VEGGIE All natural roasted seaweed.

KIND BARS Juice and smoothies using all-natural All natural, trans fat and gluten-free,

anniechun.com All-natural whole nut and fruit bars. ingredients. baked rice and corn puffs.

kindsnacks.com nakedjuice.com piratebrands.com

“ “Iona Prep means…community, family, faith and great academics.”

Michael, Class of 2013

th Open Open House: House: Sunday, Sunday, October October 20 20th noon-3 noon-3 pm pm

For For more more information information visit visit us us at at www.ionaprep.org www.ionaprep.org

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watch Fashion in Bloom(ie’s)

Recently, Bloomingdale’s in White Plains and WAG teamed for the store’s “Summer Fashion Show.” And what a treat it was for us, getting all gussied up to co-host the event with Bloomingdale’s fashion director Susan Marasco. Half of the fun was selecting the dresses we presented in the “Garden Party” and “Summer’s Evening” sections of the show. Among our finds were two sexy Karen Millen floral print dresses and a devastatingly demure Coast-Aloisa blush dress. It was like a shopping spree without the sticker shock. Some 200 guests – who included our pal, the novelist Barbara Nachman – enjoyed the runway looks, along with the drinks and hors d’oeuvres that brought a touch of the tropics to Westchester.

– Georgette Gouveia Photographs by Robin G. London – westchesterlook.com.

1. Denise Breda 2. Denise Daly and Sandy Hapoienu 3. Wendy Stahl and Johanna Perlman 4. Lisa Fleming and Mimi Dicioccio 5. Arif Boysan 6. Susan Marasco and Maria Ferber 7. Virginia Prenske and Justyne Rickert 8. Lisa and Sammie Cartolano 9. Louise Colligan and Deirdre Zahl 10. Joanna and John Kazana 11. Patricia Devine and Victoria Zito 12. Janice Squitieri and Marie Porco 13. Kim Ackerman and Roxane Dornbusch 14. Diane Anderson 15. Kalaya Okereke and Ihuoma Alozie-Uddoh 16. Syril Burn, Beverly and Jackie Copeland 17. Barbara Nachman and Georgette Gouveia

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Teeing off for health

The ONS Foundation for Clinical Research and Education, in conjunction with Greenwich Hospital, held its fifth annual “Golf Outing” at The Stanwich Club. There were 27 foursomes that played the championship course after indulging in a buffet lunch. Following the tournament, golfers, friends and other supporters attended a cocktail reception, auction and dinner. Proceeds from the 2013 event will benefit ONS Foundation research, education and surgical fellowship programs.

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1. Brad Gilden, Jon Stellwagen and Katie Vadasdi 2. Brenda and Harold Tananbaum and Vicki Leeds Tananbaum 3. James Cunningham, Debra Pruzan-Clain and Michael Clain 4. Rebecca Karson, Amy Sethi and Lauren Mazzullo 5. Jim Wright, Barb McKee, Joseph “Casey” McKee and Richard Granoff 6. Paul Sethi, Frank Corvino and Brian Doran 7. Sung Lee, Alissa Lee, John Dowling, Annette and Amory Fiore 8. Stephen and Connie Kurczewski, Brad Gilden 4

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Breathing easier

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Greater New York Chapter – Westchester, celebrated its fourth annual “Spring Fling Gala” recently, raising $250,000 at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich. Doris F. Tulcin, chairman emeritus and a founder of the foundation, presented the Breath of Life Award to Gerald J. Klein Jr., president and CEO of Mahopac National Bank, and to Nicholas A. Stephens, partner, Edgewood Management LLC. The gala chairwoman was Renee M. Brown, CEO of C.W. Brown Inc. Photographs by Megan Baggot.

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9. Howard Strawbridge, Dora Ramiriz, John Mendogni, Michael Caligiure, Teresa Gaudio, Brian McElroy, Joe Gaudio and Amy Claydon 10. Erica Kates Powell and Doris F. Tulcin 11. Ricky Stephens, Lisa Kunstadter, Anna, Nicholas A. and Zack Stephens 12. Hossein Sadeghi, Golnar RaissiSadeghi, Cherry Ang-Dilag and Alona Bagual 13. Renee M. Brown, Gerald J. Klein, Jr. and Donna Mangione.

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watch In land we trust

More than 350 people gathered at Maple Grove Farm in Bedford for dinner, dancing and an auction to celebrate Westchester Land Trust’s 25th anniversary and honor George D. Bianco for his work as a community advocate and land preservationist.

Bianco, owner of Maple Grove Farm, was the group’s board chairman from 2007 to 2011. In the last year, the trust has preserved 92 acres in New Castle, Ossining and Pound Ridge.

Photographs by Cheryl Moss.

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1. George Bianco and Richard Gere 2. Jesse Fink, Lynn Elliot and Laurence Shipman 3. Annie Farrell and Betsy Fink 4. Kelly and Shep Goodman and Doug DeCandia 5. Pete Menzies, Kathy Moser and Gretchen Menzies 6. Jim and Ashley Diamond and Nan and Scott Hayworth 7. Vivien Malloy and Judy Richter 5

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Music in the air

The Music Conservatory of Westchester hosted its 12th annual “Golf and Tennis Classic” at Whippoorwill Club in Armonk. The event included a lunch, tennis tournament, cocktail reception and awards dinner and auction. More than 200 people attended the event.

Photographs by Nina Kruse.

Humanitarians

More than 350 people attended the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester’s 19th annual “Humanitarian Awards Dinner.” The event honored Jim and Ashley Diamond as Humanitarians of the Year and John Bueti as the John Beach Award recipient. This year’s dinner raised more than $425,000, which will benefit the club’s scholarship initiative and educational programs for more than 2,000 youth members.

8. Kevin Bannon, Jim and Ashley Diamond, John Bueti and Brian Skanes 9. Renee Jordan Torre, Muffin Dowdle and Deirdre Farrell 10. Elizabeth Stephenson

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11. Jean Newton, Bernie Williams and Rodd Berro 12. Peter Duchin 13. Bernie Williams, Gil Parris on guitar, Kip Sophos on bass and Joe Piteo on drums 14. Gayle Cratty, Moira Kiernan and Anna Morais

A musical celebration

Supporters of the Westchester Philharmonic held an evening of food and music for the orchestra’s inaugural “Friends of the Phil” dinner. Board President Neil Aaron received the Golden Baton for his nearly 10 years of service to the orchestra. The League of American Orchestra’s President Jesse Rosen gave a keynote address and violinist Ryu Goto entertained.

Photographs by Eliva Gobbo.

1. Jesse Rosen, David Fuchs, Joy Henshel, Millicent Kaufman and Burton Greenhouse 2. Helen and Marilyn Libson 3. Lenore Eggleston, William Brancaccio and Christina Maurillo 4. Andrew Spano and Catherine Marsh 5. Hannah and Walter Shmerler 6. Sarah Recca, Dan and Lisa Sedgwick 7. Halie, Karyn and Fern Aaron 8. Jennifer Solomon, Joshua Worby, Sarah Carter and Eugene Moye 9. Michael Fischer, Darrington Hobson, Gayle and Neil Aaron 10. Joshua Worby and Eugene Grant

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Guys and gals together

The Breast Cancer Alliance held its first ever coed golf outing at the Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase recently, raising nearly $60,000 to support breast surgical fellowships. Among those on hand were Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Stew Leonard Jr. of the eponymous market, disc jockey Scott Shannon and New York Mets’ broadcaster Lee Mazzilli.

Photographs by Elaine Ubina.

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11. Irv Goldstein, Scott Shannon, Rob Astorino and Stew Leonard Jr. 12. Lee Mazzilli

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watch Moonstruck

More than 370 guests attended “Fly Me to the Moon,” the Bruce Museum’s 26th annual Renaissance Ball, which was held at the Century Club in Purchase. The event benefits education and exhibitions at the museum, bringing in nearly 20 percent of its operating budget.

Photographs by ChiChi Ubiña.

1. Tamara Holliday and Lori Feldman 2. Linda Ruderman 3. Michael Kovner, Peter Sutton, and Jean Doyen de Montaillou 4. Dino Rivera, Sachiko Goodman, and Michel Witmer 5. Tina Volkwein, Carolyn Westerberg, and Tina Teel 6. Tiffany Burnette and Don Casturo 7. Tom and Alyssa Bonomo 8. Patricia and John Chadwick 9. Leora and Steve Levy 10. Anna and Michael Carley and Maria Ward 11. Leah and Bob Rukeyser

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Lunch with a (tennis) queen

The Metropolitan Interclub Tennis League (MITL) kicked off its 50th anniversary with a round-robin tournament, followed by lunch at the Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck.

The luncheon’s more than 200 guests, including founders and longstanding supporters of the MITL, had the chance to listen to guest speaker and British tennis legend Virginia Wade, whose many accomplishments include a Wimbledon singles title in 1977, Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee year.

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12. MITL Board with Virgina Wade (in purple)

Night at the opera

New Rochelle Opera’s annual “Spring Gala” honored Metropolitan Opera star Matthew Polenzani at The Fountainhead in New Rochelle. The convivial tenor, a Pelham Manor resident, enjoyed arias from New Rochelle Opera singers, along with other music and dancing.

Photographs by Marilyn Monsanto.

1. Camille Coppola, Armando and Ann Beth Leonardi and Billie Tucker 2. John and Nancy Fraioli, Louise Shepherd 3. Ernie and Judy Huie-Kennedy 4. Elaine Malbin, Shirley Love, Barbara Bender and Elinor Ross 5. Adam Klein and Peter Hakjoon-Kim 6. Alex Perlov and Robert Kalian 7. Matthew Polenzani and Marge Bliss 8. Zhanna Alkhazova and Rosa Polenzani 9. Paulette Soffin and Dolly Hockemeyer

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Tee time

More than 300 supporters of The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation gathered at Century Country Club in Purchase for the organization’s 21st golf invitational, which raised more than $1.3 million to help find better treatments and cures. Willie Geist, co-host of NBC’s “Today” and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” served as emcee of the event that honored his father Bill Geist, a longtime CBS News correspondent who announced last year that he had Parkinson’s disease.

Photographs by Ben Asen Photography.

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11. Jody, Bill and Willie Geist, Bonnie Strauss and Paula Stein 12. Stefanie, Dan, Ned, Nancy and Morris Offit 13. Jeff Feingold, Nancy Rackoff, Paula Stein, Amy Leeds, Nancy Wolk and Harold Strauss

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watch Celebrating life

Friends of Karen’s 35th anniversary gala benefit “Celebration on the Sound” at the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club raised $340,000.

The charity provides support, at no cost, to families caring for a child with a lifethreatening illness.

Photographs by Erik Motta.

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1. Amelia with event emcee Kate Snow 2. Lucas, Zane and Perry Cacace, Palma Patti, Danielle Hartzband, Hayden and Derek Cacace 3. Alex Muscarella and Ken Hicks 4. Trish and Eric Lobenfeld 5. Pam and John Hervey 6. Sharon and Jonas Weiner 7. Neil and Lydia Singer 8. Howard and Susan Code

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Notable night

The Guidance Center of Westchester’s annual gala honored Kelly Fowler Hunter and Anthony Marciano for embracing the agency’s mission to improve the well-being of people of all ages through innovative and effective programs that enable everyone to learn, work and thrive. More than 190 guests attended the event at Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle. The multiservice agency raised nearly $190,000 for its work.

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9. Anthony Marciano, Amy Gelles and Kelly Fowler Hunter 10. Kathy and Brett Perrine with Christine and Stephen Paletta 11. Kathy and Sonny Hagendorf 12. Markham and Jody Rollins 13. Sheryl and Barry Schwartz 14. Jay Kushner and Michael Armstrong 12

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Dining for Ossining

Mary Lou and Jerry Morrissy of Briarcliff Manor were honored at this year’s Dine-a-Round to benefit the Ossining Children’s Center. The event was held at a private estate in Ossining and began with a cocktail party and auction, followed by dinners at various homes in Briarcliff, hosted by friends of the center. The event raised more than $150,000.

Photographs by MaryAnn van Hengel.

1. Trish, Tom, Mary Lou, Jerry and Jennifer Morrissy 2. Emmett Morrissy 3. Connie Curan and Dru van Hengel 4. Art and Becky Samberg 5. Kim Huchro and Barri Winiarski 6. Michael and Anita Hegarty 7. Meg Curry, Noam Bramson and Michael Curry 8. Lynn and Alex Puro, Debra Kittay

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Cookin’ at The Rock

Executive Chef Jeremy McMillan of The Farmhouse at the Bedford Post Inn was one of the featured chefs at Citymeals-on-Wheels’ 28th annual Chef ’s Tribute “Rumble at the Rock” at Rockefeller Center.

The event raised about $820,000. Owners Richard Gere, Carey Lowell and Russell Hernandez were all on hand.

Photographs by Hart Media.

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9. Beth Shapiro and Richard Gere 10. Carey Lowell and Jeremy McMillan

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watch Galloping gourmets

Friends of great cuisine and great art turned out for the opening of Palomino, Chef Rafael Palomino’s new place in Larchmont, which is graced

by Judith Economos’ equine paintings, Andrew Economos’ woodwork and American food with a Latin beat.

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1. Mac and Tootie McCarthy 2. Andrew Economos 3. Judith Economos 4. Toby and Les Crystal 5. Mario and Anne Federici 6. Betsy Stern with her son and daughter-in-law

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Hitting for the green

The Ahmad Rashad Golf Classic, a two-day event to benefit White Plains Hospital, held its opening reception at 42 The Restaurant in The Ritz Carlton, Westchester. A number of sports, entertainment and media celebrities attended the event. More than 120 golfers took part in the classic at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale.

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7. Paul and Harriet Weissman 8. Jonathan Spitalny and Robert Tucker 9. Bill Suggs, Peter Roth, Mike Woodson and Jon B. Schandler 10. Sunny Mitchell and Dawn French

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Hot town

Gallery 66 NY and Art to Wear Too in Cold Spring sponsored a community-wide event that focused on “Fashion as Art.” Merchants throughout the picturesesque village – home to the Parrott canon that was so integral to the Civil War as well as many tempting shops, eateries and galleries – participated by displaying fashion mannequins created by local teenagers.

11. Julia Olson 12. Hali Traina 13. Abigail Flaitz and Glynnis Flaitz 14. Barbara Galazzo, Dolores and Sarah Strebel, Dominque LeGross and Jaynie Crimmins (Photograph by David Divad.)

Measure twice

TapeMeasure, a home design and upholstery shop in Pleasantville held a cocktail reception, to celebrate its opening.

Photographs by Ed Cody.

1. Jay and Mary Sullivan, Felicia Lonigro and Marty Orzio 2. Robert Pini 3. Lewis Fischbien and Komo Gandy 4. Roshi Bouzarjomehri, Jill Cohen and Marge Sandwick 5. Elizabeth Calderone and Michael Boodro 1

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Fostering leadership

More than 150 guests attended the Leadership Westchester graduation ceremony at the Gateway Center at Westchester Community College in Valhalla,. Leadership Westchester, a program of The Volunteer Center, affords participants an invaluable opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of nonprofit board responsibilities and key management tools needed in future volunteer leadership positions.

Photographs by Paul Schneiderman.

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6. Jeanette Gisbert and Susan Kushner 7. Deborah Silverman and David Severance 8. Julie Sootin, Sharon and Kevin Masciovecchio 9. Karen Schatzel 10. Katherine Stipicevic

Want to be in Watch? Send event photos, captions (identifying subjects from left to right) and a paragraph describing the event to hdebartolo@westfairinc.com.

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class&sass

By Martha Handler and Jennifer Pappas

Jen and Martha working it – and hardly working – at The Pilates Greenhouse in Ridgefield with owner Jane J. Bradley. Photograph by Sarah Kadagian.

I have begun to think of Ridgefield as a reservoir of talent and creativity that we can all draw on and drink from.

Perhaps there are super nutrients in the water supply of this bucolic New England town. For example: My friend Debbie Kadagian, a fellow Ridgefield resident, Ayurvedic medicine practitioner and filmmaker, is putting the final touches on her new documentary about treating mind imbalances holistically, giving young adults in the United States another option for battling anxiety, depression, ADHD and mood disorders. It is titled “Healing the Mind: The Synthesis of Ayurveda and Western Psychiatry” and will be narrated by the Emmy-nominated Giancarlo Esposito, who also lives in Ridgefield. This film features interviews with doctors in the field of Eastern and Western medicine, psychiatry, pharmacology and holistic healing, such as Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Ronald R. Fieve and Deepak Chopra, with testimonials by public figures like NFL star Ricky Williams. In this country, we are used to being given a pill to make our mind imbalances “go away” and Ayurveda has another, more holistic way to heal. This month’s article will be about empowering yourself through knowledge, while exploring alternative therapies. Knowledge is a powerful tool that opens our eyes and allows us to see and experience the world in different ways.

I encourage you to check out this important film.

Sounds incredibly interesting.

M Watching TV these days, you’re barraged by ads for the myriad of drugs on

J

the market (reminds me of the line in The Rolling Stones’ song, “She goes running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper”) and the long list of their potential side effects (anal leakage, thoughts of suicide or depression, visual, aural or tactile hallucinations, gynecomastia or man boobs, etc.). You can’t help but wonder why people are willing to jump for the “quick fix” when the potential downside is so great, rather then trying to get to the root of the problem – if you believe like I do that many of today’s maladies are a result of our psyches being out of whack. Generally, when I’m not feeling myself, I’ll talk to Dre at Nature’s Temptations in Ridgefield for herbal recommendations and then head to Jane Bradley at The Pilates Greenhouse in Ridgefield to have my body “reset.” No matter what ails me (headache, hangover, pulled hamstring, neck soreness, stress, exhaustion, the blahs), she’ll design a workout that will cure my ills and leave me feeling like a million bucks.

Jane is definitely a miracle worker and my health hero.

Well, you already know how I feel J about exercising. I know, I know: It’s good for you. I am, however, determined to implement an exercise regimen at some point. Don’t hold your breath though. Proper breathing, i.e. meditation, is key to a healthy body and sane psyche.

All kidding aside, I just heard about this cool, innovative company in California, Original Language, which is designing T-shirts printed with crystal-infused inks (Crystals are said to contain healing properties). The company specially formulates

the quartz crystals that are tailored to the persons’ specific needs (relaxation, motivation, creativity, health, love). In theory the company’s prints, which contain a variety of gemstones, radiate a positive force into one’s own energy field, thus creating a tool for expanding consciousness and awareness. Original Language’s goal is to use the medium as a way to raise the vibration of the wearer, as well as that of the world. Hey, you never know. For more, visit originallanguage.org.

They are cool and one has to be M open to new ideas. Which reminds me, have you heard about the biochemist who recently theorized that nasal mucus – commonly known as boogers – has a sugary taste, because it’s meant to entice children to… have a snack? He believes that it helps introduce pathogens into childrens’s immune systems that will help strengthen their bodies’ natural germ defenses. This is all part of the “Hygiene Hypothesis,” which theorizes that our culture’s increasing obsession with cleanliness and our growing tendency to ply children with antibiotics, which kill and forever alter one’s healthy gut flora, helps explain why certain allergies and diseases have nearly quadrupled in recent decades. I guess my mother was ahead of her time. She rarely allowed us kids to take antibiotics – even when we had strep throat. (She instead gave us apple cider vinegar and vitamin C.) She encouraged us to go barefoot as much as possible, and she didn’t think twice about bringing us all with her when she went to attend to sick neighbors and

friends. Perhaps I owe my very healthy immune system all to her.

Oh Lord. Well add that to my NoJ Can-Do List. I refuse to eat my own boogers. If I want to introduce pathogens into my immune system, I will just hop into a New York taxi. Those suckers are traveling germ-mobiles and have become so gross, but not as gross as picking your nose. And how in the world did that biochemist surmise that nasal mucus has a sugary taste? Ugh! I just got a visual on that.

Wag Up The off Broadway show “Cuff Me: M The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody.” It’s hysterical and perfect for a girls’ night out. Warning: if you enjoyed the book, you won’t appreciate the unauthorized musical’s humor.

A new App for your phone called J Uber! You can call for a clean car to come and pick you up anywhere, rain or shine, for just a few bucks more than a germ-mobile (aka a New York taxi).

Wag Down toilets that don’t have a M Public hook and a shelf for placing clutch purses, etc. + Company, a “hip” mixolJ Death ogy bar in New York City, where they still feel that leaving their guests out in the cold and rain (in the lame attempt at giving their place a “happening” vibe), is cool. It’s not the ’80s anymore. Please, try to come up with some other, more creative way to embarrass everyone.

Email Class&Sass at marthaandjen@wagmag.com. You may also follow Martha and Jen on Facebook at Wag Classandsass or access all of their conversations online at wagmag.com.

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