Book Launch- June 17

Have you ever been to the launch party for a new book? Neither have I until recently, when The Park Avenue Diet made its debut at a lavish, four-story penthouse on (where else?) Park Avenue. Over a hundred colleagues, friends, celebrities, and revelers converged at 6 p.m. as flashbulbs popped, wine flowed, and general merriment abounded.

Let’s walk around so I can introduce you to some of the celebrity consultants, whose contributions to The Park Avenue Diet make it the unique and revolutionary book that it is. Of course you know Tinsley Mortimer, the glamorous and charitable socialite! She was followed by camera crews and reporters from Access Hollywood and German television, as well a dozen journalists from such publications as W, Elle, and The New York Observer. Tinsley’s empathetic, humanistic, and brilliant insights into interpersonal skills are the epicenter of the book, but you’ll be reading them at a later time.

Here are two other contributors to The Park Avenue Diet, who also sent photographers and reporters into a tizzy: Bernadette Penotti, a personal trainer/fitness expert par excellence, and Helene Hellsten, the distinguished and stunning Swedish fashion expert of international renown.

It was a special thrill to welcome my mentor, Dr. Stanley Krippner, to this exciting and momentous event. He is one of the world’s most distinguished humanistic psychologists, and I have been privileged to be his friend for 40 years—but until now we had never worked together on a book. He flew in from California just for the book launch, then returned for graduation ceremonies at Saybrook Institute. Here he is with my personal assistant, Kristina, and another colleague, Debbie Ellis.

Chef Marie-Annick Courtier and her husband made a rare visit to New York City to join us for the launch of The Park Avenue Diet. Her recipes and wisdom are intrinsic to the message of the book, and I had the unique pleasure of thanking her for her brilliant work by giving her a culinary tour of the East Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Soho. The next day, she flew to France to cook at a lavish wedding in a chateau in Burgundy. Salut a la France!

Here’s part of our distinguished team of celebrity consultants for The Park Avenue Diet,together actually for the first time. Most of them had never met each other, but all became fast friends. Four cameras snapped away when the group assembled, as I marveled at this warm, brilliant, and highly photogenic assembly of talent.

It wouldn’t be a party without Aida Turturro, of one America’s greatest actresses. She’s a longtime friend of Bernadette Penotti, and I’ve been lucky to share her company over the past decade at Christmas dinners with the Penotti family. I’ve followed her career as a fan as well, from a stage appearance on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire to her legendary television role as Janis in The Sopranos. What an artist!

Here’s the real star of the event, the book itself. All of the copies were gone by the end of the launch, as were all of the wine and sushi appetizers. The guests stayed on, having met new friends and having enjoyed watching a revolutionary new book gets its first media attention.

Some other assorted photos follow. You know everyone by now, so walk around, enjoy yourself, and thanks for being here!