1. Among his quirks, blogger Matt Drudge is known for linking to stories that mention his name. But not always: He has yet to link to “Watching Matt Drudge,” by Philip Weiss (September 3), which is bad, since the salient fact about Drudge is that he drives traffic. The story got plenty of Web attention anyway. Working With Words called Weiss’s piece “the best, most comprehensive and balanced rendering of the guy I’ve seen yet.” Even those who claimed to learn nothing new had praise for Weiss’s technique in handling a subject who would not speak to him. After wondering whether “the piece is really all that useful,” the American Scene stated that “the way [Weiss] turns what might’ve been a standard profile into highly interpretive, long-form criticism without being completely annoying is sort of genius.” That sounds useful to us.
2. Thirty years have not dimmed legendary publicist Bobby Zarem’s regard for what I❤NY did for the city, but he is not at all happy about how credit has been doled out for the campaign. On our “Design Maven” map (August 13), we wrote that Milton Glaser “dreamed up the now-famous I❤NY logo in a cab.” As he has done over and over again for 30 years, Zarem fired off an angry missive seeking to set the record straight: “Milton Glaser was hired in 1977 to develop a log and a logo only from the slogan ‘I Love New York,’ which I had in place from the very outset. He took my slogan and put a heart where the word ‘love’ was, as the I Love Lucy show had done some years before … I spent three and a half years of my life creating and executing the ‘I Love New York’ campaign, which literally saved the city, and nearly no one or phenomenon that we know would exist in New York today had I not done that.” We reached Glaser, who, while acknowledging Zarem’s central role in the campaign, said, “Yes, I Love Lucy used a heart, but in addition to, not in place of, the word ‘love.’ It’s not brain surgery, but it worked to invigorate an old slogan that had been around for quite some time.”
3. But does Lance Bass love New York? After his remarks on the difficulties of apartment hunting and trying to locate Justin Timberlake’s restaurant were reported in “Intelligencer” (“Lance Bass Not Hooked on NYC,” September 3–10), the former ’N Syncer and current Hairspray star claimed to have been misquoted and made disparaging remarks about reporter Jada Yuan. Our Vulture blog leaped to Yuan’s defense, and the celebrity blogs went mad for the story. Amid all the craziness, we offer this voice of reason: “I don’t think pissing off a bunch of New Yorkers is a good way to get started,” wrote Celeb Face. “I live in New York, and these are scary, scary people.”
4. What did we leave out of our “Fall Preview” (September 3–10)? “One is left to wonder if your reviewer believes the sounds of Margaret Garner materialized out of thin air,” wrote Julietta Appleton of Mount Kisco. “How could you possibly not have noted Grammy–winning composer Richard Danielpour?” “You were asleep at the wheel in missing the September 25 Genesis show at Madison Square Garden and their September 27 show at Giants Stadium,” wrote Ed Carus of Ringwood, New Jersey. “Perhaps you’re not prog rockers, but there are still many of us out there.” “Shame on you, New York Magazine,” wrote Roslyn Berger. “Not one mention made of the Jewish High Holy Days on your calendar of events.”
IN STORES NOWThe ‘Look Book’ Is Here
As models flew in from around the world for Fashion Week, booksellers across the country were stacking The New York Look Book: A Gallery of Street Fashion, the book version of our weekly “Look Book” feature. We asked a couple of the “Look Book” subjects how their lives have changed since appearing in the magazine.
“We are a little concerned that people think we dress in black tie all the time. We want people to know it was after 5 p.m. and it was at the opera. This is a bigger compliment than being on the party pages.”
—Andrew Andrew
“I was shocked beyond words that my picture was included. All these beautiful people being photographed and this October, I’m going to be 78 years old. I got such strange reactions. At the spa where I exercise, people wanted my autograph. It was hysterical.”
—Rosalie Mishkin
“This will be helpful publicity for my music and artistic projects. Too bad I’m moving to France. The book seems like a nice way to make friends.”
—McCloud Zicmuse
“I was walking down the street and a lady stopped me and said, “Oh my God, you’re in a magazine. Go buy it.” So I did. One of my friends said to another, “She was in a magazine, you didn’t know that?” It’s pretty cool. Everyone has their own style.”
—Mica de Jesus
“Fall Preview” corrections: Edward Albee’s Peter and Jerry opens November 11. And author of true-crime books (not thrillers!) Joe McGinniss’s Never Enough states Robert Kissel was murdered in Hong Kong.
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