Author ready for a new chapter; MTV host to stay up late
FIRST EDITION The title of her latest book -- "My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere" -- is a bit misleading because she's not been everywhere. "Motherhood is the one place I haven't been," confesses Susan Orlean. That'll change in December when the celebrated author of "The Orchid Thief" has her first baby. "It's absolutely a big deal," she said yesterday from San Francisco, where she's promoting "My Kind of Place." "But I'm at a point in my work life where I don't feel a huge worry about taking some time off." Although at 48 she's older than your average mom, Orlean married former investment banker John Gillespie three years ago. "I'm a newlywed, and this is what newlyweds often do," she said. And what do her editors at The New Yorker think about her plan to produce less? "Well, I'm not really somebody who cranks out a story every five minutes," she said, laughing. "They may not even notice." For now, though, she's staying busy. When she returns home to Boston, Orlean will join authors Tom Perrotta and Andre Dubus III at a benefit for the Grub Street writing center. "I feel great," she said. "I'm doing what I do."
FROM LATE NIGHT . . . TO LATE NIGHT The long work day of Springfield native Damien Fahey, host of MTV's "TRL," will become even later when he guest-hosts "The Late Late Show" on CBS Monday. At 24, Fahey's appearance will make him the youngest person to host a late night show. The guest lineup hasn't been determined. Fahey made his name locally on FM station Kiss-108 before heading to New York City.TOUCH UP He's scaled the heights of NFL stardom, yes, but Pats QB Tom Brady did not scale that mountain on the cover of the November issue of Men's Journal. As an item in yesterday's New York Post makes clear, No. 12 was in Boston, barely above sea level, when the picture was taken. Apparently, the mag's publisher, Jann Wenner, deemed the original cover not "adventurey enough" and ordered up the rugged range shot.
ARTFUL NEWS Four 19th-century oil paintings by renowned English artist Robert Salmon were given to The Forbes House Museum in Milton. The set was originally acquired by Captain Robert Bennet Forbes in 1834 through a trade with the artist in exchange for a dory, the museum said yesterday. The four marine paintings have been kept in the Forbes family for 170 years. They were given to the museum, to be displayed in perpetuity, by Florence Cushing Perkins, a descendant of the eminent families of China trade merchants and art patrons and life member of the museum. . . . Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company's education program was awarded $100,000 by the GE Foundation in support of the organization's 16-season-old Fall Festival of Shakespeare, it was announced yesterday. Some 500 students from 10 high schools in the Berkshires and neighboring New York participate in the program.
UPDATE YOUR DATEBOOK We haven't seen this many stars with this much style in town since -- OK, it was just a few weeks ago. But here's a rundown of who's coming through our little hamlet in the next few days. Tonight former Jerry Seinfeld galpal turned fashion maven Shoshanna will be at the Intermix on Newbury Street with her fall/winter collection. The gathering will also mark the launch of Melissa de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz's book, "Fashionista Files." . . . Fashionista
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