The protagonists
Two book lovers become the story when questions are raised about their literary chat show
Christy Scott Cashman and Deborah DiMasi love a good story. They just never thought they'd be the story.
For the past 10 years, Cashman has hosted an annual fund-raiser at her Back Bay estate, with DiMasi as a regular guest, where readers like themselves dine with authors such as Stephen King and Susan Orlean. The dinner parties have led to a new chapter for the two women: In May they launched "Open Book Club," a monthly show on NECN on which they chat with authors in Cashman's home library.
The show and the friends's business relationship have raised ethical and political questions. Cashman owns the show's production company, Saint Aire Productions, with her husband, industrial developer Jay Cashman. DiMasi's husband is House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi. Just before the first episode aired on NECN, the Globe began publishing a series of stories about the ties between the men. Jay Cashman has business interests in Massachusetts, including plans to build a wind farm on Buzzards Bay, that could have benefited from actions taken by the speaker.
Deborah DiMasi and Christy Scott Cashman would not discuss the specifics of their business relationship during an interview with the Globe after they taped the July episode of their show. They said they simply want to promote their passion for reading through their program, which is the only one of its kind in New England.
"We both love to read. We both enjoy doing this together," said DiMasi, 43, sitting with Cashman, 37, in the music room of her Dartmouth Street corner-lot mansion. Their publicist sat in on the interview. "I also think reading really has gone by the wayside. It's something we need to bring people back to."
Added Cashman: "This is the basis of storytelling, reading a book. It takes you outside of yourself and makes you think about other people and potentially understand other cultures. . . . Books are highly interpretive. You can come from any walk of life. Debbie can read a book and have a different idea and perspective than I would."
On camera and off, it's clear that the women are close friends, as they finish each other's sentences and banter in a rhythmic cadence. Their friendship began in 2000, when they met through mutual friends at a dinner.
"We hit it off instantly," said DiMasi, who is soft-spoken and reserved, while Cashman is bubbly and gregarious.
"Well, she's ugly, but she's nice," joked Cashman of her first encounter with DiMasi, whom she calls her "best bud."
From the beginning, the women discovered they had a lot in common. Both are married to wealthy power brokers. (DiMasi married her husband in 2001; Cashman married in 1999.) Both women are mothers: DiMasi has an 18-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son; Cashman has two boys, ages 7 and 5.
And they love books. Their interest in literature led them to help connect fellow readers to authors over dinners at Cashman's home for a good cause. The parties served as fund-raisers for PEN New England, an organization of writers that promotes literacy. About 100 people on average attend each of the author parties.
After a lively dinner that featured Andre Dubus III, author of "House of Sand and Fog," the women thought the chat-with-an-author concept could be a novel idea for television.
Cashman is a former model and actor who has been in movies such as "Kettle of Fish" and "Fever Pitch." She runs her film and television production company, Saint Aire, which she named after a Henry David Thoreau essay. Two years ago, the friends taped a pilot, with Dubus as the featured author. During another dinner fund-raiser last year, the women screened a reel of the pilot, which caught the attention of Phil Balboni, then president of NECN.
"We think it's one-of-a-kind, not only in concept but in style, and will have broad appeal thanks to the continued popularity of book clubs everywhere," said Doreen Vigue, vice president of communications at NECN.
When asked about her business arrangement with DiMasi, Cashman explained that she is her business partner and a consultant. She said DiMasi is not her employee. The women take a hands-on approach with the show. They line up their guests, schedule tapings, read the books, pick their wardrobes, and coordinate with NECN. Pressed further on whether DiMasi receives compensation from the show, their publicist, Jane Lane, interrupted and said: "It is not relevant."
If DiMasi accepted money from the Cashmans, it could present a violation of state ethics laws for her husband. State ethics provisions prohibit people with interests before the Legislature from providing anything of more than $50 in value to lawmakers and their immediate relatives. Jay Cashman wants to build a wind farm on Buzzards Bay. Last year Speaker DiMasi inserted energy legislation into an amendment that, had it become law, would have made it easier for Cashman to build 120 turbines.
NECN does not pay the women to host the show. The opposite, in fact, is true: Cashman's production company pays NECN to air the show. Asked whether the show is an infomercial, Vigue said: "No. This is a regular program which will have commercial breaks sold to advertisers who want to sponsor Open Book Club." Vigue would not say how much the regional cable network charges Saint Aire to broadcast the show.
DiMasi and Cashman said they are seeking national sponsors to help offset the show's costs and to avoid any potential ethical issues with using a local advertiser.
"We are very cognizant of not wanting to have any sponsors that perhaps would appear as though there's any kind of conflict of interest. We are going after national sponsors such as
So far, the women have interviewed authors Tom Perrotta and Sue Miller. The next episode, which airs July 6 at 7:30 p.m., will feature Dubus and his new novel, "The Garden of Last Days."
During a recent taping at Cashman's estate, three cameras moved around the dimly lit library and focused on the two friends and their three guests. They talked about the book's main characters: a single mother who works as a stripper and a terrorist in South Florida in the days before Sept. 11, 2001.
By the end of the hour taping, Dubus appeared assured by the women's examination of his book and his writing process. "They seemed to like it," he said as the camera crews began packing. "It was greatly encouraging."
Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.
