'Book party'

From left: Four-year-old Quinn Cashman, Christy Scott Cashman, NECN's Charles Kravetz, and Debbie DiMasi. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

Novelist Tom Perrotta canceled at the last minute because of a bad back but Sue Miller was one of the few dozen guests slated to attend last night's posh party at the Back Bay home of Christy Scott Cashman to celebrate the launch of Cashman's new TV show with Debbie DiMasi. Perrotta, Miller, and Andre Dubus III are featured in the premiere episode of "Open Book Club," which airs Sunday on NECN.

Awarding experience

Funny filmmaker Bobby Farrelly was among friends at the Park Plaza the other night as he and brother Peter were honored by the Charles River Association for Retarded Citizens. "We've won a few awards, but this one's actually important," Bobby Farrelly told us, referring to the Sam Gerson Humanitarian Award. "I mean, it's got the word 'humanitarian' right in the title." Named for the former Filene's Basement CEO, the award was given in recognition of the Farrellys' work with people who have developmental disabilities. (The Needham-based Charles River ARC serves about 500 children and adults with such disabilities.) "Bobby and Peter include people with disabilities in their films and they're presented without pity or condescension," said Maria McTernan, the agency's development director. "There are 150 Special Olympians in 'The Ringer.' " Farrelly said he and his brother are busy finishing the script for their next film, called "Hall Pass."

Dempsey's not a doctor, but he does good

During his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday, actor Patrick Dempsey took a moment to talk about the Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. "My mom's a three-time ovarian cancer survivor," Dempsey said. "This is the hospital in the town that I grew up in and my sister runs it."

House beautiful

More than 750 guests crowded into the Boston Design Center last night to see the new Dream Home, which features lush interiors by several of the city's hottest design pros. Kicking off last night's gala was Christopher Kennedy, president of the center's parent company, as well as the featured interior designers, including Mark Bombara, Gerald Pomeroy, and Eileen Patterson. Proceeds from last night's gala and the three-month Dream Home exhibit will benefit the Esplanade Association.

Boosting a school's fortunes

More than $1 million had been raised before any of the several hundred guests arrived at the Perkins School for the Blind's swanky soiree last night. The fete was hosted by Boston Culinary Group chief Joe O'Donnell and Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck and his wife, Corinne. Among those expected were Celtics greats Bob Cousy and JoJo White, and a slew of current and former state pols including Martha Coakley, Tom Reilly, and Paul Cellucci.

Her cause hits home

There was a time when Jeannette Walls wouldn't talk about her difficult childhood. But then she wrote a best-selling book about being homeless and scavenging for food, and now she crisscrosses the country talking about the bad old days. Last night, Walls, whose memoir "The Glass Castle" has been optioned by Brad Pitt's production company, spoke at a fancy fundraiser for Heading Home, formerly Shelter Inc. "For a lot of people, the book has helped put a face on homelessness," said Walls, who was a gossip columnist for 20 years before writing the book. "They think homeless people are all crazy, smelly people who have no past and no future. . . . Obviously, that isn't true."

What do you want to bet Samantha Power and Ben Affleck were chatting about Barack Obama yesterday as they strolled through Harvard Square. Power is the Harvard prof who was forced to resign as an adviser to Obama's presidential campaign after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." Affleck and his wife, Jennifer Garner, are also Obama supporters who recently hosted a fund-raiser for the Illinois senator.

Pats QB Tom Brady is on the guest list again for next week's benefit gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, and this year he'll walk the red carpet with his supermodel sweetheart Gisele Bundchen. (The pretty pair attended the elegant affair last year, too, but they arrived separately.) We're told Brady and Bundchen will be sitting at designer Donatella Versace's table. Not that they couldn't afford their own. Bundchen has again topped the list of the world's richest supermodels, earning $35 million over the past year, according to Forbes.

We trust Maria Menounos (inset) left her microphone at home yesterday when she hit the beach in LA to play some competitive volleyball. On a lark, the Medford native and "Access Hollywood" correspondent tried to qualify for the AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open, which takes place this weekend. "Should be fun," Menounos told us in an e-mail beforehand. "I doubt I'll make the team, but I love volleyball."

Sidelined Sox pitcher Curt Schilling is criticized in some quarters for his "paid appearances" on WEEI. But this week, big Schill broke out his own wallet and bid $10,000 for one of the 54 spots at the SBLI Kids Football Clinic at Gillette Stadium June 26. (The two-hour clinic with Tedy Bruschi gives children the chance to do drills with the Pats linebacker.) Schill thought he was just getting the bidding started, but no one outbid him, so he was the winner.

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