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Burt Libby Handmade Model Canoe, Circa 1996

This is an interesting attic find, something my husband acquired and I packed away some time ago; two decades ago, actually. It is a model canoe, beautifully handcrafted. Inside is the name Burt's Canoes and the date 1996. I did some research, sent out some email messages to the Wooden Canoe Builders Guild, and learned it was made by Burt Libby of Litchfield, Maine, a legendary canoe builder. Apparently he would hand make these sample models  -- all of 4-5 feet in length -- of what would eventually be a regulation 16' canoe. It may be tiny but it appears seaworthy.

"Burt was a great model builder," wrote Pam Wedd of Bearwood Canoes in Ontario. "I met him quite a while ago, when he used to come to the WCHA assembly in the Adirondaks. He would often have a display of his models in the lobby by the auditorium where we would have all our evening programs. He died a year ago I believe." It is a beautiful royal blue.

The details are amazing -- the brass trim, the cane seats, the ribbing, the oars. It's a work of art. 

The Q&A Cafe Archives // Media Week // Robert Frank on the Emerging Billionaire Class

  Robert Frank, then with The Wall Street Journal, sat for a Q&A Cafe interview in February '08 to talk about the ""new rich" -- before they became as crazy rich as they are now. We taped the interview at Nathans. Though he covered Europe and other beats for the Journal, his title at this time was "wealth reporter." That got my attention, in addition to his good book, Richistan, and he graciously accepted my invitation for an interview. After 18 years with the newspaper of Wall Street, he moved to CNBC, the cable channel of Wall Street, where he continues to report on the rich, now called the super rich and the billionaire class. He is host of "Secret Lives of the Super Rich." These segments may not be in order, but its all there. Enjoy this moment in time, when the rich were merely wealthy. 

 

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives // Media Week // Robert Novak

NOVAK AND JOYNT IN NATHANS BACK ROOM

I can't say this January 2008 Q&A Cafe was one of Robert Novak's last interviews, but it was in the prime of his last year before being diagnosed with brain cancer, which would claim him in August 2009. He was conservative, controversial, thoughtful, difficult, interesting and a force in Washington for years, especially during the time partnered with Rowland Evans writing their syndicated column and newsletter, the Evans-Novak Political Report. He was a regular on TV. He played a significant role in the Valerie Plame affair, and that's discussed in this interview. (Note: Plame also appeared at The Q&A Cafe)

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives // Media Week // Kojo Nnamdi

KOJO AND CAROL AT THE GEORGE TOWN CLUB IN 2014

There is an interesting, if harrowing, story behind my interview with Kojo Nnamdi, the iconic host of his own DC-centric talk show on WAMU/PBS public radio. The Q&A Cafe interview that is linked to here was a second try, because our first attempt, taped at The Georgetown Ritz-Carlton, ended abruptly in near disaster. Just as we started to roll tape the heat of the TV lights unleashed the sprinkler system, which gushed with such force it started knocked equipment onto the stage where we were doing the interview! Everyone ran for the doors. Kojo and I sat still in shock. There was damage to the room but fortunately no people were hurt. We were not invited back by the Ritz and founded our new home at The George Town Club, where this interview at last happened. Kojo is terrific. Enjoy it.

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives // Media Week // Connie Schultz

CONNIE SCHULTZ WITH  SEN. SHERROD BROWN

While The Q&A Cafe was at Nathans, we taped one show a week. That was the standard until Nathans closed and we moved to the Ritz Carlton Georgetown and started doing the show on a monthly basis. This is one of the Nathans shows, taped in January 2008. The guest is Connie Schultz, who may be known as a "Senate wife" (wondering in '17 if that term still exists?) -- married to Sen. Sherrod Brown -- but especially in Ohio and beyond, and here as well, she is better known as an acclaimed syndicated columnist, and that was the reason for this fun and interesting conversation. While with The Cleveland Plain Dealer she won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Connie is also an author, including ... and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man.

The Q&A Cafe Archives // Media Week // Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon was a fan of Nathans and The Q&A Cafe and it was a pleasure to have him as a guest on the show. His appearance was timed to the release of a new book, "Windy City," and that's where we began.

You may notice some of these older interviews -- this is from 2008 -- come in chunks rather than a whole show. That's because in the olden days YouTube did not allow video posts of longer than 10 mins. Trust me, this involved a lot of sitting at the computer and editing the show down. We were very happy when the rules changed and a whole show could be posted, all 45 minutes. 

The Q&A Cafe Archives// Media Week// Leonard Downie Jr.

The timing for this April '08 interview with Washington Post editor Leonard Downie Jr was quite timely -- the Post had just enjoyed its most recent experience with winning Pulitzers! It was a victory lap Downie and also teeing up his retirement from the paper. It also was a taping of the show where we attempted a very lame version of signage. #fail. Its cute to see the little sign, though.  We were always such a homemade interview show, very much in the mode of Wayne's World. Proud of that, actually. Grand was not my goal, only a good conversation in a bar. 

A rare reverse view of the set, showing the other end of the room. We did the show once a week and taped at lunchtime, and thus had to pull blackout shades down on the windows that faced M Street. 

Jim Vance Remembered ... with a few photos

Up top, the WRC/NBC/Channel 4 news anchor dream team: George Michael, Arch Campbell, Jim Vance and Bob Ryan. Photographed at Nathans when George appeared for a Q&A Cafe interview (photo at the bottom). And Vance just being Vance. He also did a Q&A, appearing with his chief anchor competitor, Gordon Peterson of WUSA/CBS.  (their respect for each other was apparent). And worth mentioning, Bob Ryan did one, too. Arch, obviously, is due his own. 

The Q&A Cafe Archives//Media Week// Tucker Carlson

              WITH TUCKER CARLSON AFTER OUR INTERVIEW IN NATHANS BACK ROOM.
We're back from a week off and ready to resume daily postings from The Q&A Cafe archives. Our last series was chef interviews. Now we'll switch to media interviews. There have been so many and going back to the start of the program, even before it was on TV, which is why, sadly, my interviews with Art Buchwald, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, and Christopher Hitchens are not recorded. I have an audio recording of Tim, but that is all. Nonetheless, there's a trove of interviews with broadcast anchors and print journalists. 

Tucker Carlson appeared soon after the show started to be televised on NewsChannel 8 and DC Cable. This was long before his FoxNews career. In fact, he was working for MSNBC at the NBC studio on Nebraska Avenue, which is where the interview started. He'd just come off being a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, and he gave us the behind the scenes scoop. 

We talked politics, too, of course. It was 2008. A lot going on.

 

 

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Chef Patrick O'Connell, Friend and Witness

It was May and we were freezing! I love this pic from my Q&A Cafe interview with Patrick O'Connell, founder, chef and owner of The Inn at Little Washington. We go so far back that Patrick once confessed he sat behind my older sister, Susan, in high school in Camp Springs, MD. The journey of life brought us together years later and a lasting friendship formed. Patrick and his then-partner Rinehardt Lynch were the witnesses when Howard Joynt and I married in Upperville, VA, and both are godparents to our son, Spencer. It goes on and on, but most of all I am a devoted fan of the culinary haven he created in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and his charm and integrity. It was a delight to have him be my guest at a special Q&A Cafe taping, at Tudor Place Museum House in Georgetown. It was to have been a warm and sunny May day, but like any spring day it surprised us with a last blast of wintry wind and rain. We persevered and had a marvelous conversation. I hope you'll find it warms you. 

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Chef and Restaurant Mogul Daniel Boulud

Daniel Boulud started his culinary path on the family farm outside Lyon, France, cooking with his grandmother and other family members, and then as a teenager working his way into the kitchen of a legendary chef. Today he owns restaurants all over the globe, including DBGB DC in downtown Washington. The singular mothership, though, is Restaurant Daniel on Upper East Side of NYC, a transcendent dining experience from "soup to nuts," as they said an earlier century. He masterfully combines that kind of old world heritage with a uniquely modern vibe in the room and on the plate. We talked in April of 2015. Our long friendship threads through the interview, which we taped at the George Town Club. 

 

Q&A Cafe Archives:: Chef Weekend Continues with Eric Ripert

(This pic makes me giggle, as it reveals how I felt about having Eric Ripert as a guest on the show!)

Have you been to Le Bernardin? Well, if you haven't yet, make a reservation now and go! Either way, please watch this interview with chef Eric Ripert, which we taped in 2012, during the years The Q&A Cafe was based at the Ritz Carlton Georgetown. I remember it as such a fun, light, happy and interesting conversation about one of my favorite subjects: food. I was intrigued also by his being a Buddhist. Talented, friendly, smart....on and on.

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Master Chef Eric Ziebold

It's the weekend and so let's talk fine food! For the next few days we will go to the archives for chef interviews, beginning today with this conversation with master chef Eric Ziebold, owner and chef of Kinship and Metier. While I usually tape The Q&A Cafe before an audience, we did this interview in the empty and quiet upstairs Kinship bar. July 2016.

Eric and I first met when he became chef at the acclaimed CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental. The acclaim continues with the new venture he oversees with Celia Laurent, his wife.

Kinship and Metier are a "ma and pa" restaurant operation in the most elegant sense. I love the place, especially grabbing a booth in the bar. Enjoy the conversation and then make a reservation, pronto!

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Ted Leonsis

Damn! I can't find the date for this interview, but since it is at Nathans it happened before July 2009, when we closed. Ted Leonsis was a Nathans regular but we didn't know each other. I reached out to him the old-fashioned way, through email. He started right off with his Nathans stories and that was a delight. But he is a sports powerhouse in Washington and that was the thread of the interview. Over the years we've had a lot of sports figures appear for a Q&A Cafe interview: Fred Smith, Dan Snyder, John Riggins, Mark Ein, Stan Kasten, Johnny Holliday, Thom Loverro, Kevin Sheehan, George Michael, to name a few. 

Ted is the consummate modern entrepreneur and mogul and, most of all, he came to play. There was no question that would have made him shy. We had fun. You will, too. Please give this interview a watch. 

Da

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Tommy McFly from November 2015

This past weekend, Tommy Pavlick married his long-time love Chrysovalantis Kefalas. Tommy is better known as "Tommy McFly," the popular morning drive host of "The Tommy Show" on CBS's 94.7 Fresh FM. I'm pulling this interview from the archives to mark the happy occasion for Tommy and Chris. I first met Tommy back in 2007 or so when I first started writing a diary of social commentary for New York Social Diary. We'd run into each other here and there around town.  It was an instant liking and friendship. Coincidentally, several years later, I ran into them both at The Source and they announced their engagement.

Tommy always has a smile. His generosity to the community and good causes makes him a role model for all public figures. Here's our Q&A from November 2015.

 

The Q&A Cafe Archives: Sept 2008, George Stephanopoulos

We taped this Q&A Cafe with George Stephanopoulos soon after the economic collapse of September 2008. It meant a lot to have him as a guest, as we were/are friends - dating back to the Clinton campaign -  and also because I had worked for "This Week" when it was known simply as "the Brinkley show," as the guest producer/aka booker.  His memoir of working with Bill and Hillary Clinton, All Too Human, remains one of my favorite political books. 

Interestingly, mid-interview, George received a phone call he had to take. It was the White House, I think. We stopped the taping, he slipped into the bar to take the call, and then he returned and we resumed. The audience loved it. 

Trivia: later, keeping it in the family, Ali Wentworth was a guest. She is a marvelous actor and comedian and also George's wife. Too bad they did not appear together -- which is something I did do with some other "power" couples:  Chris Matthews and Kathleen Matthews, Connie Chung and Maury Povich, and Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. 

btw, every network Sunday show host of that era appeared at The Q&A Cafe: Tim Russert, and his successor David Gregory, and his successor Chuck Todd (now my boss), and Bob Schieffer.

The Q&A Cafe Archives: In 2012, Simon van Kempen of the "Real Housewives of New York"

Simon van Kempen, on the right above, is unique in the Real Housewives universe as during the few seasons his wife, Alex McCord, starred in "Real Housewives of New York" he became a central character (one of the first husbands to do that), and was also quite controversial. He came to Washington to appear on The Q&A Cafe just as Bravo announced production of the "Real Housewives of Washington." In the photo we are joined by two members of that soon to be notorious cast, Paul Wharton on and Mary Amons, but in fairness to Paul and Mary the notoriety came principally from two other cast members, Michaela and Tareq Salahi. (Who, btw, also did a Q&A, and I'll post that tomorrow. For now, here's Simon: