BY: DIANE SUSTENDAL

Remember the excitement of the first days of the new school year, once after Labor Day, now mid-August? Two of the key questions asked were: “Where did you go this
summer?” and “What did you read?” And I wondered the same.

So, before the first deb party commenced or hurricane map got posted, I asked folks where they went and what they packed in their Vuittons, as well as the books they had on iPods or tucked into carry-ons.

Dr. Quinn Peeper, of OBY-GYN and ESU (English Speaking Union, of which he’s the President) fame, packed his tartans and took a group of 16 ESU fans to Scotland.
They stomped about in great old houses, castles and gardens; had tea and crumpets, but hardly a haggis anywhere, much less at the stately homes of Lady Shaw-Stewart, who entertained without peer. Peeper’s bedside reading? The same as Sir Winston Churchill’s: Anita Loos’ “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” Peeper’s version was just re-released. On the heavier side, he dove into James Boswell’s “Life of Samuel Johnson.” The trip was such a success, it’s going to be repeated soon.

Sidonie Villere and Jonathan Ferrara take a break from reading and relax at Panormos Beach Bar in Mykonos.


Alexa Georges went off to her annual yoga retreat on a remote beach in southern Crete to reflect and meditate. No cell phones, no computers, not even thoughts of the New Orleans Film Festival Gala she’ll produce and co-host come Oct. 11 (a don’t-miss event) or her brother John George’s run for Governor. Now that it’s September, she’s working 24/7 on both.  She called her Crete trip a “Detox before Retox” as she stayed in Mykonos for three weeks with friends, including a gaggle of New Orleanians who made it a prime destination or a heavenly stopover on the way elsewhere. Part of the Mykonos crew was Bruce and Virginia Wallis, who packed Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” Jonathan Ferrara and Sidonie Villere—who will have a small family wedding in Turks and Caicos on Oct. 20, with a reception at the New Orleans Museum of Art in November—turned a few pages in Mykonos (a stop after their trip to the Venice Biennale): Jonathan’s choice was “The Bourne Ultimatum” by Robert Ludlum and Sidonie’s was “Two Little Girls in Blue” by Mary Higgins Clark. F.Y.I. art lovers: Jonathan just moved his gallery to 400a Julia St. Mykonos was a mid-stopping point on the journey St. Charles Avenue’s Sue Strachan took to Athens and Istanbul, where she met up with Mitchell Gaudet and Erica Larkin. She polished off “Middlesex,” Jeffrey Eugenides’s tome about three generations of Greek-Americans between  Detroit and Turkey. In Crete, Alexa read Nikos Kazantzakis “Symposium;”  he also wrote “Zorba the Greek.”

“In Mykonos I was too crazy busy to read. There were three novels from last year on my bedside table still waiting to be read. Our house guests leave books, so we have an interesting array from “The Road Less Traveled” to Harry Potter to Friedrich Nietzsche,” says Alexa.

Rich Look works the room.


Songwriter Rich Look and real-estate maven wife Cassandra Sharpe packed their bags after his gig at Le Chat Noir during White Linen Night. They had a party that same night at which they poured masses of Veuve Clicquot to pals such as Bill Borah and Arlene Mmahat at their Julia Street townhouse, where a balcony allowed for viewing high above the swirling sea of thousands of white-clad art lovers. Afterwards, they headed to East Hampton and the local book store having polished off “Mayflower” by Nathaniel Philbrick and Nancy Mitford’s “Savage Beauty.” Hardly a place better than the Hamptons to kick off your shoes, breathe in the salt air, and dive into a couple of good books especially in August. No, they did not read “The Manny.”

Cary Alden and Sally Richards went on their annual “Pre-Tony Awards trip” to NYC in June to catch nominated plays including, “Moon for the Misbegotten” with Kevin Spacey, “Curtains” with David Hyde-Pierce (who won “Best Actor in a Musical”), “Grey Gardens,” starring Christine Ebersole (who won “Best Actress in a Musical”) and the former Tony Award-winning “Jersey Boys,” where they lucked out getting great front-row seats.

 “Our new tradition, which is in fact very old-fashioned, is to wait at the stage door and get autographs—and we got all of them. We also lunched at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americaine with Joe and Therese Duke, formerly WWL-TV/Channel 4 news director and WWL Eyewitness Morning news producer, who have been working for CBS for many years,” says Cary. When it comes to books, Cary’s reading “The Secret” and no, she will not reveal it—even to me.

Quinn Peeper


Morgan Packard, managing editor of New Orleans Magazine and Louisiana Life kept travel simple this summer. Visiting with family in Dallas, she found her childhood charm bracelet—you can’t get it off her arm for now. “I have a crazy schedule this fall including three weddings, so I picked up ‘Somebody’s Going to Die if Lilly Beth Doesn’t Catch That Bouquet: The Official Southern Ladies’ Guide to Hosting the Perfect Wedding’ by Gayden Metcalfe and former New Orleanian Charlotte Hays. It’s hysterical! And I reread William Gibson’s  ‘Pattern Recognition.’ Meanwhile, I’ve got my nose in decorating books to finish the house.”

Okay, school’s in. September is here and kicking off the fall benefit season is the Overture to the Cultural Season gala on Sept. 8 at NOMA, and then it’s non-stop
benefits, deb parties and all sorts for celebrations. So I hope you are all rested and ready.