May 2009

Be
Well!!!
Special Health Issue

Fat Facts & Fantasy

Live A Long,
Happy Life

The Art
of Growing Older

Is Plastic Surgery
Now Passé?

Douglas Turner
Ward: Turning
Theater Upside
Down
PAGE 2 M 2009
AY

Energy Tips 101 and 102

Less waste. More haste. For 100+ energy saving tips,

See and pay your bill online with e*bill. visit us at www.conEd.com
It’s fast, easy and convenient.
Save time. Save stamps. Save money.
Learn more at conEd.com/ebill.

Report any power problems including

dim or flickering lights, loss of power
or gas leaks to us immediately by
phone at 1-800-75-CONED. Also
report electric power problems online
at www.conEd.com.
©2008 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Ad: Arnell Group
nyc
PAGE 3

In This Issue
May 2009
NEWS The Big Fat Myth
Page 5 Stanley Mieses

LIVE The Art Of Getting Older

Page 7 Beth Baker

LOOKS Under The Knife

Page 11 Margaret Morganroth Gullette

HOME A New Take At Reverse Mortgages

Page 13 David Peskin

ASSETS Do You Need Insurance

Page 14 Russell Wild

SAVOR Feast On May Flowers

Page 16 Carol Wilson

ARTS Turning Theater Upside Down

Page 18 Jerry Tallmer
PAGE 7
HOBBIES The Zen of Collecting
Page 20 John Grossman

THEATER Those Tempermental, Difficult Homosexuals

Page 24 Jerry Tallmer

FILM All Hail, Bette Gordon

Page 25 Trav S.D.

HEALTH Take A Walk

Page 26 Nancy Monson

ADVICE Marci’s Medicare

Page 28

CARE How To Make A Part D Appeal

Page 29

THRIVE To A Happy, Longer Life

Page 30 Jeannette Moninger

PAGE 26

John W. Sutter PUBLISHER

Janel Bladow EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jerry Tallmer MANAGING EDITOR
Mark Hasselberger ART DIRECTOR
Allison Greaker, Jennifer Holland AD
Colin Gregory
Published by COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC
145 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10013
REPS PHONE: (212) 229-1890 FAX: (212) 229-2790
ADVERTISING: (646) 452-2465 • www.thrivenyc.com

nyc © 2008 Community Media, LLC

www.nyc-plus.com
PAGE 4 M 2009
AY

Cutting Care;
Enough is Enough!
By Emma DeVito
Now that the dust has settled in Albany, there’s just one word that describes the
Letter from
impact of the recently adopted new state budget on long-term care: Devastating.
No one argues that the state faced a considerable financial crisis that demanded
a responsible response by the governor and state lawmakers. Unfortunately, that’s
not what we got.
The dire state of the economy notwithstanding, for most of this decade
the Editor
I
can’t believe a year has passed since I wrote my first Editor letter in
annual state budgets were pasted together with various resources, some of which, Thrive NYC.
regrettably, were not of the recurring type. This was the year, everyone knew well What a year it’s been, not only for me personally, but for most of the
in advance, when it would be time to “pay the piper” for the spending structure that New Yorkers I know.
had been built on a foundation of singular revenues. Of course, no one foresaw that Tough is the first word that comes to mind but then when talking New
economic turmoil that has beset the state, nation and world. Yorkers, it’s a word that fits them well. And while the economic atmo-
But then, to take it out on the wrong people? A good share of what was done sphere doesn’t seem any clearer, at least the weather is improving, days
growing longer and flowers are blooming. So there’s hope!
this year balances the state’s budget on the backs of the poor. And what better way that to improve our spirits than to improve our
I’m talking about frail older adults with chronic disabilities and persons living bodies and minds? This issue is dedicated to improving your health and
with HIV/AIDS, individuals who particularly rely on Medicaid to pay for the wellness. We have several stories with a unique twist, especially fitting for
long-term care they need. They are black men and women, women in particular. seniors.
Hispanic men and women. They are men and women who have grown old never First, “The Big Fat Myth,” takes a serious look at what it means to be
having a lot of resources, including those who now live in a city that’s one of the overweight and you’ll be surprised by some new findings. We also look at
the latest trends in plastic surgery and, while the numbers of people going
costliest in the nation. Seniors with no place to turn. They are people with HIV
“Under The Knife” are down, seniors are still shopping for alternative
infection whose already difficult treatment regimen is complicated by substance treatments too look younger. But one of the best ways to keep a youthful
abuse and mental health issues. bounce in your step is no doubt doing things that interest you and keep you
That is the face of those in need. And that is exactly whom the state’s budget cuts active. So we explore the benefits of strolling the streets in “Take A Walk”
impact most drastically and dramatically. and the positives of hobbies in “The Zen Of Collecting.”
The state targeted long-term care this year for significant cuts, couching those And spring just wouldn’t be spring without blossoms… so our food sec-
reductions in the language of “reform.” What has occurred, however, achieves very tion features flowers. People have been eating editable petals for centuries
as our story “Feast on May Flowers” tells us. Why not try one of the deli-
little in the way of true reform, while cutting deeply into the resources of providers cious recipes for Mother’s Day or Memorial Day?
who care for the most needy and frailest of our society. From us at Thrive NYC, have a merry and healthy month of May!
This isn’t over. More government cutbacks may yet be in store as the year goes
on. Meanwhile, a new nursing home pricing method based on “regional” costs that Janel Bladow
will be developed over the coming months is likely to be a blunt instrument being Editor
used by the state to further curtail residential care spending. And, unless legislators
by some miracle have second thoughts, nursing home rates for AIDS facilities such
as Village Care’s Rivington House will lose a Medicaid reimbursement factor that
has traditionally been employed by the state to help facilities address the complicated
needs of patients who are HIV positive. These are all individuals who are among
the most frail, and the poorest, with complex care needs.
It’s time to say, “enough is enough!”
Enough harm has been done to the poor.
Enough has been taken away from frail seniors.
Enough has been eliminated from the care of those with AIDS.
More than enough.
We all want reform of care. Village Care has for more than a decade taken on the
mantle of reform, creating care for seniors and persons living with HIV/AIDS that is
primarily community-based and which offers individuals the most opportunity and
independence while giving them high quality services.
Village Care is not alone. Throughout the long-term care field, it has been the
providers who have tried to move from a system that shifts from a heavy reliance on
costly institutional care and addresses care and cost from the perspective of patient
need first.
Just a few days ago, I was in Albany to attend a reception honoring Carl Young,
who has headed the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging for
the past 20 years, and who will soon be retiring.
Carl talked about the way the term “special interests” is used so much these
days in a disparaging way. Special interests are bullied around as the cause of our
financial woes, Carl said. He went on:
“If special interests means frail seniors who need quality care and services…if
special interests means making sure that persons living with HIV/AIDS have the
care and treatment they need…if special interests means making sure that people
have access to rehabilitation and home care, allowing them to continue to live at
home, in the community…
“If that’s what special interests means, where do I sign up?”

(Ms. DeVito the president and chief executive officer of not-for-profit Village Care
of New York.)
 nyc
The
Big
Fat
Myth
Can you be overweight
and healthy too?
B Y S TANLEY M IESES
I
t’s finally happening — fat people
in America are getting fed up.
They’re tired of taking it on
their cushioned chins from every
comedian and commentator on
national television, who otherwise
would not dare treat another minor-
ity with such disdain and unchecked
callousness. Daily, with a boldness
that is copied in everyday exchang-
es among our citizens, the chatter-
ing class demonstrates how fat is
the number-one publicly acceptable
prejudice in America. But their free-
dom to be offensive is supported by
official statistics that show that the
fat are a majority in America, and
therefore fair if slower-moving game.
Official statistics categorize 60 per-
cent of all Americans as overweight
and one out of four as obese. Break
out the numbers specifically for aging
male Baby Boomers and seniors and
the stats are even more distressing;
practically three out of four mature
adults — peaking at 77.2 per cent of
men between 65-74, and 73.1 per-
cent of women between 55-64 — are
classified as overweight or obese.
So the insults are hurled on the
back of these dubious numbers,
which we are fed through “studies”
conducted by government agencies
under the influence of the morbidly
profitable food and pharmaceutical
industries and a voracious new lobby,
the $50-billion-a-year weight-loss
industry. Then, conveniently classified
overweight and obese Americans are
PAGE 5
asked to digest the HMO’s spurious
cost analyses that place the blame for
spiraling health-care costs at the feet
of the fat. Rather than lowering the
cost of health care, the HMOs rally
alarmists who flog phantom statistics
(“400,000 premature deaths owing to
obesity annually”) to pave their way
out of providing aspects of coverage,
or discourage people from seeking
regular medical attention with these
demoralizing attacks, or altogether
avoid insuring people whose “condi-
tion” allegedly makes them greatly
predisposed to disease — a bogey-
man challenged by the latest research
in medical science.
“Given that Americans are enjoy-
ing longer lives and better health
than ever before,” says University of
Colorado law professor Paul Campos,
in his book, “The Diet Myth: Why
America’s Obsession with Weight is
Hazardous to Your Health,” “the
claim that nearly four out of five of
us are running serious health risks
because of our weight sounds exactly
like the sort of exaggeration that
can produce a cultural epidemic of
fear.” He classifies “fat hysteria”
as “the leading moral panic of our
time.” This panic has institutional-
ized our prejudice. We tend to ste-
reotypically characterize fat people
as mouth-breathers, unemployable,
out of control, morally reprehensible
— an embarrassing lot. The opinion
of fat people most Americans hold is
that they “do it to themselves,” that
FAT MYTH, continued on page 6 
PAGE 6
 FAT MYTH, continued from page 5
people can exercise will and make
choices to exercise and their choice
is to sit on their prodigious derrieres
and eat.
But as the late Senator Daniel
Patrick Moynihan once said: “You
are entitled to your own opinions but
you are not entitled to your own set
of facts.” The latest facts on obesity
and longevity don’t contest that liv-
ing lethargically is bad for you but
the facts, as gathered by a number
of independent and reputable sourc-
es — scientific and academic, with
no multi-billion-dollar agenda — do
present formidable evidence that
there are any number of contributors
to being fat. (They include a block in
Leptin or insulin receptivity, an insuf-
ficiency of heat-producing fat cells
and hypothyroidism or other glan-
dular conditions.) New studies are
finding links between overweight and
sleep disorders and depression. The
facts don’t dispute that, for some, “the
glands are in the hands.” But there is
further scientific evidence that fat
and fit are not mutually exclusive and
that a sedentary thin person is likelier
to drop dead of a heart attack than a
chunk who’s on the go.
Professor Glenn Gaesser of the
University of Virginia and author of
“Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your
Weight and Your Health” (Gurze
Books, 2002) was called a “contrar-
ian” when he wrote that “men and
women medically classified as over-
weight who exercise regularly and are
physically fit, yet remain above the
ranges recommended by the height-
weight tables, have lower death rates
than thin men and women who do
not exercise and are unfit, and have
death rates comparable to thin and
average-weight men and women who
do exercise and are fit-proving that
fitness, not thinness, is what really
matters in terms of health.”
Perhaps the most harmful aspect of
the misinformation Gaesser sees per-
petuated in popular press and adver-
tising is the increase in unhealthy
fad dieting. He is particularly con-
cerned by the extreme strategies of
regimes like those that profess to
burn fat quickly, which have been
shown by many opponents to have
negative long-term health impact.
“Chronic efforts at weight loss may
be responsible for more deaths than
‘excess weight’ itself,” he writes in
the Harvard Health Policy Review.
In “Fat Politics: The Real
Story behind America’s Obesity
Epidemic,” (Oxford University
Press, 2005) author J. Eric Oliver
(a professor of political science at
the University of Chicago and for-
mer Robert Wood Johnson Health
Policy Scholar at Yale) backs up
Gaesser and makes the case that
obesity in America is a real concern
but our true national health prob-
lem is panic over obesity — stirred
by a “public health establishment”
that supports the findings of spe-
cial-interest-funded science. A
2005 study published in the Journal
of American Medical Association,
reduced the number of premature
deaths associated with overweight
and obesity from an earlier figure
of 400,000 (a figure that “The Diet
Myth” argued was deeply flawed
and could not possibly be correct)
to a more reasonable 25,000.
M 2009
AY
And acclaimed nutritionist Marion
Nestle weighs in with yet another
hypothesis that adds agribusiness
and food processing into the obesity
mix. In Food Politics (2002), Nestle
says that the food industry now pro-
duces 3,800 calories a day for every
person in the United States — 50
per cent more than what is required
for daily well-being and a 500 cal-
orie-a-day increase since 1970. She
also makes the connection between
the rise in the average American’s
weight beginning in the late 1970s
to “advances” in food processing and
agribusiness subsidies that encour-
aged that, and the mammoth effort
by marketers to turn us into a Fast
Food Nation. Add to that the serial
appointment over the last decade of
cronies and lobbyists as the over-
seers at the USDA and FDA, and
you have a recipe for disaster.
Bloated statistics, hidden agendas
and compromised science marked the
Bush administration but is a correc-
tion coming from the Obama admini-
station? When so many people who
are being (mis-)classified as fat realize
that they are no longer a power-
less, bully-able minority what will
happen? “When ‘they’ become ‘us,’
everything changes,” writes Barbara
Bruno Altman, Ph.D., and editor of
Dimensions, an online journal devot-
ed to fat acceptance. “And when ‘we’
exercise our discretion about who gets
our money, people and businesses
listen to us.”
 nyc
B Y B ETH B AKER
I
n Maryland’s Greenbelt Community Center,
25 elders sit in a circle, watching professional
storyteller Candace Wolf. She moves around
the circle, smiling, giving someone’s shoulder
a gentle squeeze, making eye contact. The art-
ist, on the faculty of the nonprofit Arts for the
Aging (AFTA), enlists the group’s help in creat-
ing a story, based on a silly photo she has passed
around of a stocky older couple arm-wrestling.
Most of her listeners seem engaged, going along
with the gag.
“Why are they wrestling?” Wolf asks.
“He wants to go out to a bar, but she won’t let
him,” one woman suggests.
“She’s smarter than he is, too,” says another.
A man in the circle rolls his eyes.
“Why is he so strong?” Wolf asks.
“Used to work on the railroad,” offers another
woman.
Before long, a narrative has been spun, with
threads offered by participants — most of them
people with dementia or other cognitive prob-
lems — and woven by Wolf. She has adapted her
storytelling workshops to this audience because
studies suggest that making art, or even listening
to music or viewing paintings, supports physical,
mental and emotional well-being and eases some
symptoms of illness, including dementia.
The idea is gaining traction.
In 2006, artists, policymakers and aging
experts held the first-ever national conference
on the arts and aging in Newark. Meanwhile,
New York announced a $1 million initiative
in 2008 to connect 57 of the City’s arts and
cultural organizations to 150 senior centers.
The program funded workshops in Chinese
music for seniors in downtown Manhattan, as
PAGE 7
The
Art of
Getting
Older
Making art, or listening
to music or viewing paintings,
supports general well-being
and eases symptoms of
dementia.
well as a theater night for aging thespians in
Staten Island.
The movement was bolstered in 2006 by
preliminary findings from the federally funded
Creativity and Aging Study, suggesting that
participating in an arts program may have
health benefits for older people.
“We needed this kind of data desperately
to prove what we’ve observed over the years,”
said Paula Terry, director of the National
Endowment for the Arts’ AccessAbility office,
which helps make the arts accessible to veter-
ans, the elderly, the institutionalized and those
with disabilities.
Leading the study was psychiatrist Gene
Cohen, director of George Washington
University’s Center on Aging, Health &
Humanities, who has studied creativity and
Artists older than 65 had
aging for 30 years. In 2002, he and other
researchers recruited 300 people, ages 65 to high levels of personal
103. Half were involved with arts programs
including singing, creative writing, poetry,
painting or jewelry making; half were not.
growth, autonomy and
After two years, those in the arts group
reported better overall physical health and independence
fewer doctor visits than the others. They
also reported fewer falls and better scores on
depression and loneliness scales. Medication
use increased with age in both groups, but
the arts group went from using an average
6.1 drugs to seven drugs, while the control
group went from using 5.7 drugs to 8.3. Cohen
noted that arts programs also had a positive
impact on maintaining elders’ independence
and appeared to reduce “risk factors that drive
the need for long-term care.”
How could drumming or collage-making
translate into better health?
ART, continued on page 8 
PAGE 8 M 2009
AY

 ART, continued from page 7

Neuroscientists unaffiliated with
Cohen’s study are exploring evi-
dence that challenging mental activ-
ity such as artistic expression stimu-
lates the growth of new brain cells
in the cerebral cortex. Even as we
age, said Roberto Cabeza, an asso-
ciate professor of psychology and
neuroscience at Duke University,
the creation of these new neuron
networks continues.
Cohen theorizes that arts par-
ticipants have a heightened sense of
control and social engagement, both
of which may boost the immune sys-
tem. “Art,” he says, “is accessible to
all communities, and it’s an activity
that can be sustained.”
Bill Hamilton, 85, was among the
participants in Cohen’s study, along
with other members of his retire-
ment community’s chorale. “We’re
the laboratory animals,” he joked.
Hamilton had enjoyed group
singing in high school but hadn’t
sung publicly in more than 40 years
when, in 2001, he joined the new
musical group. Singing, he said, has
been “a pleasure and a rediscovery.”
Director Jeanne Kelly, who leads
five senior choruses, said the groups
give members “something to look
forward to, something to excel in,
something to be in command of.”
Sometimes arts participation can
be powerful therapy. Susan Perlstein,
the founder of the National Center for

Managed by The Salvation Army

In the Heart of Manhattan’s Upper West Side & Convenient to All Transportation
Great rental apartments for adults 50 and over!
Small Studios, Studios & 1 Bedroom Apartments
Unfurnished -- Many with Kitchenettes
RENTALS INCLUDE: * Two Meals Daily
* Utilities For Prices and
* Weekly Cleaning Service
* Coffee Shop Additional
* Emergency Generator
* Beauty Shop Information Call:
* 24 Hours Security
* Roof Garden 212-316-6000
* Daily Schedule of Programs

720 WEST END AVENUE (95TH STREET) NEW YORK, NY 10025

See our website: www.salvationarmy-newyork.org/housing/williams
 nyc
Creative Aging and New York’s non-
profit Elders Share the Arts, recalls a
Holocaust survivor who sat watching
her peers perform theater for a year
before she told them how she escaped
death more than 60 years earlier. The
group turned her story into a play and
made her the star.
“She said to the group... she felt
for the first time she could feel at
home,” Perlstein said. “This process
of being able to share your stories
and transform them into art is actual-
ly a deeply healing process. She went
from a depressed, sick older person
to a lively young person. It was phe-
nomenal to watch this change.”
Other research suggests health
benefits for older people involved
with the arts:
A study published by Columbia
University’s Research Center for
Arts and Culture found that artists
older than 65 had high levels of per-
sonal growth, autonomy and inde-
pendence, all indicators of “success-
ful aging.” Parts of the study have
been submitted for publication in
peer-reviewed journals.
A study published in 2004 in the
Journal of Aging and Health found
that 124 independent elders who
took part in four weeks of theater
training showed cognitive and psy-
PAGE 9
“THE FUN NEVER STOPS!” – Associated Press
“EFFERVESCENT & IRRESISTIBLE!
AN UTTER CHARM!”– The New York Times
“DON’T BUY
A TICKET— “IT DOESN’T
BUY TWO! GET ANY
IT’S A SHOW BETTER
YOU’LL WANT THAN THIS!”
– WOR Radio
TO SEE
TWICE!”
– Backstage
Photos: Carol Rosegg
The New ’50s Pop Hit Musical Comedy!
Mon & Tues at 8, Wed at 3 & 8, Fri at 8, Sat at 3 & 8, Sun at 3
Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200
WESTSIDE THEATRE 407 West 43rd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues)
www.MarvelousWonderettes.com
chological gains when compared
with a control group.
An observational study published
in 2005 in the American Journal
of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other
Dementias found that 12 people
with dementia demonstrated signifi-
cantly more engagement, pleasure,
self-esteem and normalcy while par-
ticipating in a painting program
than they did during more-tradi-
tional adult day care activities.
Two groups cited by the NEA as
exemplars in the field of the arts
and aging are the Liz Lerman Dance
Exchange in Takoma Park, MD and
AFTA. The dance troupe, a pioneer in Italian Food at its best
intergenerational arts, has long includ- “SINCERE SERVICE”
ed older people in its company. “A GREAT DATE PLACE” — Zagat
AFTA has 18 artists, including
Wolf, who lead 80 free workshops 7 west 20th street between 5th and 6th Ave
a month in 40 Washington area
senior centers and nursing homes.
“We’ve learned that after the pro- *Mother’s Day Special*
grams, seniors were talking and
smiling and socializing with one Mom’s main course is free
another more,” said the group’s
executive director, Janine Tursini. ***** CHECK OUT SUNDAYS FOR FREE DINNER NIGHT****
“They were able to access memories BUY 1 GET 1 FREE
and reminisce, which for people
with cognitive impairments is a *Choose any Appetizer, Pasta & dessert and receive one of the
critical accomplishment.”
same or lesser price for free. Cannot be combined with any other discounts, coupons,
open table reservations or primecard and not valid on Mother’s Day*
Reprinted from The Washington Post
P a g e 10 M 2009
ay

The Perfect Match!

ement Plan
Life Improv
Grp HEFA
RxPCN A4 Rx
RxBin 003858
CMS: H3359P6 -021
up : LI 5+
Gro
JANE DOE DOB: 00/0 0/ 00 00

ibles and
Medicare deduct y for
coinsu ra nc e ap pl
rvices
Non-Physician seMay Apply
M ed ic ai d CO B

Medica
re id
Medica

If you have Medicare and Medicaid, Healthfirst offers you

one of the most comprehensive healthcare plans in New York
Depending on the plan you choose, some of the great benefits you can get include:
• Up to $600 per year ($50 per month) for • $0 copayment for primary care visits
non-prescription drugs and health related • $0 copayment for specialist visits
over-the-counter items
• No referrals required
• $0 for ALL covered dental services
• Up to $500 for hearing aids every three years
• FREE car service to and from your doctor up to
• Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D)
16 times per year (4 per quarter)

we put your health first

Find out more about Healthfirst Medicare Plan for 2009, call:

1-877-237-1303 | (for
TTY1-800-662-1220
the hearing or speech impaired)
Monday through Friday, 8:00AM – 6:00PM www.healthfirstny.com

Healthfirst Medicare Plan is a health maintenance organization that has a Medicare Advantage contract with the Federal government and is available in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island,
Westchester and Nassau. Not all plans available in all counties.
©2008 HF/Management, LLC H3359 MKT08_98 11/08
 nyc
Under The Knife
IS THE BOOM IN PLASTIC SURGERY OVER? ARE SENIORS
GROWING MORE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR SKIN?
B Y M ARGARET M ORGANROTH G ULLETTE
P
lastic surgery sometimes gets played, pedaled
and plugged as an irresistible tsunami over-
powering its primary targets, aging women.
But the tide has been turning.
Half of plastic surgeons report their practices
were down in 2007. That was before the worst of
the recession, so it’s not just a matter of cost or
insurers who only cover operations that fix “defor-
mities” or improve healthy functioning.
From 2004 to 2005, liposuction was down 5
percent; eyelid surgery down 20 percent. Even less-
invasive procedures such as microdermabrasion
and chemical peels were down in that same time
period, by 7 percent and 50 percent respectively,
according to the American Society for American
Plastic Surgery.
It’s also a matter of growing cultural aversion
toward the results. “Scary” is emerging as an
increasingly common adjective for the surgeons,
procedures and — more frequently — the results.
Web sites with names such as “Plastic Surgery
Disasters” and “The 15 Worst Celebrity Plastic
Surgery Disasters You Will Ever See” have devel-
oped cautionary before-and-after galleries.
“Before” shows attractive men and women
of all ages, including celebrities. “After” shows
women with cavities in Barbie-sized breasts; men
with hyper-wide eye-lifts. One Flickr site invites,
“Caption This Disaster.”
The anti-plastic tone can often be cruel and jeer-
ing: “You wanted this look? You think this looks
good?” Sometimes it’s rueful, such as a recent New
Yorker cartoon of a young couple lovingly holding
hands. “I want someone I can grow old and have
plastic surgery with,” she says.
“Anti-aging surgery” is becoming a misnomer.
Dr. Pauline Chen, the surgeon who wrote “Final
Exam,” describes an older surgeon, after “count-
“It’s a scary thing,
when you have friends
you don’t actually
recognize.”
-- Nora Efron, author
less submissions” to the knife, as having skin
“like plastic wrap stretched tightly over a bowl.”
Designer Isaac Mizrahi says, with ageist malice, “If
you want to look 70, get a facelift.”
The pushback extends to stars such as Ashley
Tisdale. In People recently, the young actress went
out of her way to say her five-hour operation to
repair a deviated septum wasn’t plastic surgery,
which she wouldn’t recommend to anybody.
Resistance can also take the form of support for
P A G E 11
those who resist “getting done.”
The thoughtful film critic Wesley Morris, for
instance, praises the face of Melissa Leo, a 40-year-
old actress in “Frozen River,” for its “amazing and
unlimited capacity for solemnity, grief, despair and
rage. If you’ve been to a movie lately, you know
what an un-nipped, untucked, Botox-free miracle
that face is.”
This type of feedback and commentary is com-
plemented by a majority who oppose surgical fixes
for themselves. According to a Nielsen study of
women around the globe, 80 percent would never
“go under the knife.” Data from the American
Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery itself indicate
that 69 percent of U.S. women do not think it an
option for themselves.
Why don’t we ever hear that nonusers — many
of them resisters — far outnumber potential
users?
People actively opposed have a point of view
that rarely gets heard and a social milieu that is
entirely supportive of them.
According to interviews collected by sociolo-
gist Abigail Brooks for her absorbing 2007 Boston
College dissertation, resisters are often dismayed at
the way surgery survivors look.
A woman in Brooks’ study described a friend
who lost “the most gorgeous, beautiful eyes, they
were her redeeming feature. . . The bags are gone
but the shape is different.” “Her eye is crooked,
definitely,” another of Brooks’ interviewees reports
SURGERY, continued on page 12 
P A G E 12
 SURGERY, continued from page 11
thinking. A woman with an eye-lift
looked as startled as a “deer in the
headlights.” Another said she found
it “exhausting” to interact with a
woman whose facelift gave her an
intense “wind-tunnel” look.
“Normal” is a goal for many who
undergo plastic surgery. They often
say they know surgery won’t make
them look “beautiful” so normal is
their aim. But it turns out their
friends think “normal” is the way
they used to look.
Even Nora Ephron, who made
some women feel bad about their
necks, admits, “It’s a scary thing,
when you have friends you don’t
actually recognize.”
This is the real majority speaking,
New York is SMART and it’s turning against the trend.
THE NEW SCHOOL is New York Disappointment is built into the
practice, and is not limited to so-called
addicts. Many decide after one experi-
COURSES THAT FIT INTO YOUR SUMMER PLANS ence that it was enough. Women are
The New School’s summer courses run from three to nine writing books — like Alix Kuczynski’s
weeks—so you can learn a lot in a little time. Take “Beauty Junkies” — that declare “never
classes on a noncredit basis or earn credit toward again.” After age 50, the percentage of
your college degree. Study on campus in the heart of users drops by almost half. The so-
Greenwich Village or online from wherever the summer called boomers are halfway through
takes you. What could be smarter than that? the dangerous age.
The conspiracy of silence is break-
Choose from hundreds of courses in
ing down. The death a year ago of hip-
r
#VTJOFTT
BOE
.BOBHFNFOU hop star Kanye West’s mother, college
r
&OHMJTI
-BOHVBHF
4UVEJFT
teacher Donda West, after a five-hour
r
'PPE
4UVEJFT operation for multiple cosmetic proce-
r
'PSFJHO
-BOHVBHFT dures, sent a wake-up call.
r
.FEJB
4UVEJFT
BOE
'JMN Certification in the best hospitals
r
4PDJBM
4DJFODFT
BOE
)VNBOJUJFT is no guarantee even of survival. Two
r
7JTVBM
BOE
1FSGPSNJOH
"SUT women died in 2004 at the famed
r
8SJUJOH Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat; one
was Olivia Goldsmith, author of
'JOE
PVU
BCPVU
PVS
Bachelor’s Program for working adults at “The First Wives’ Club.” The death
www.newschool.edu/ba133. rate from liposuction is 1 in 5,000
View summer course offerings and register online, as of procedures.
"QSJM


BU
XXXOFXTDIPPMFEVSFHJTUFSUPEBZ Some 40 percent of breast aug- But despite such dismaying and
To order your FREE course catalog, call 800.319.4321 x34
mentations will entail complications
within three years. The dreaded
or visit us online.
MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph
www.newschool.edu/summercatalog infection) is turning up also in some
patients who undergo face lifts.
Any licensed medical doctor can
perform cosmetic surgeries. “It is
The New School is a leading university in New York City offering some of the nation’s most
distinguished degree, certificate, and continuing education programs in art and design, ironic that the doctors who choose
liberal arts, management and policy, and the performing arts.
to perform an operation that is solely
"O
"GàSNBUJWF
"DUJPO&RVBM
0QQPSUVOJUZ
*OTUJUVUJPO
cosmetic are willing to accept mor-
M 2009
AY
tality and complication rates signifi-
cantly higher than those who restrict
their interventions to those required
for the treatment of disease,” writes
Dr. Sherwin Nuland, author of “The
Art of Aging and How We Die.”
David Heilbroner, co-director
of the 2006 HBO special “Plastic
Disasters,” explained in an interview
why it’s hard to learn about the dan-
gers. “Doctors settle lawsuits, which
then stay off the books. There’s no
national center collecting data on
botched surgery.”
Even when outcomes go relatively
well, several respondents told Brooks
they did not share with their friends
how much pain they had endured.
When one woman complained of
being lied to, her friend said, “Well,
if you told people how painful this
would be they’d never do it.”
Plastic surgery is becoming a pub-
lic-health issue in need of regulation.
And we’ll hear more about its dan-
gers from the competition — provid-
ers of non-surgical procedures like
Botox — who have money to spend.
The other critics, at this point, are
numerous. They include vindictive
bloggers, disapproving fashionistas,
disillusioned ex-users, legions of un-
retouched women, concerned doc-
tors, feminist anti-ageists, sociolo-
gists and women’s health activists.
I’m not holding my breath about
rapidly transforming the commerce in
aging in America. The cult of youth is
ever-present in the magazines, TV and
films; hurting women’s self-esteem as
they grow older. Men are being affect-
ed and joining the ranks of users. In
some zip codes parents are giving teen
daughters new silicone breasts as a
birthday present.
attention-getting facts, the larger, less-
told story is that most of us as we get
older see ourselves and our friends as
just fine exactly the way we are.
Margaret Morganroth Gullette is the
author, most recently, of “Aged by Culture”
(University of Chicago Press, 2004).
Reprinted from Womensenews.org
 nyc
A New Take
on Reverse
Mortgages
In these tough economic times,
many seniors are living on the
equity in their homes
B Y D AVID P ESKIN
A
few years ago, reverse mort-
gages were considered a
last resort product for aging
seniors in financial trouble. In today’s
world, this special type of loan has
been rapidly changing and improving
the lives of seniors every day.
Hundreds of thousands of hom-
eowners are already enjoying the ben-
efits of reverse mortgages, and that
figure continues to grow at an average
rate of more than 150 percent a year.
Reverse mortgages are in fact now con-
sidered a mainstream product offered
by a variety of upstanding financial
institutions such as Met Life, Wells
Fargo and Senior Lending Network®,
which I founded.
With all the attention this product
is getting, it’s worth knowing a little
more of the details and how reverse
mortgages are helping seniors remain
in their homes.
WHAT IS A REVERSE
MORTGAGE?
About 95 percent of all reverse mort-
gages issued in the United States are
Home Equity Conversion Mortgages,
(HECMs), which are insured and
regulated by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), a division of the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA).
In the current economic environment
with home foreclosures and decreas-
ing home values, government-created
HECM reverse mortgages are an excel-
lent financial tool enabling seniors to
maintain their standard of living, in the
comfort of their own homes.
Reverse mortgages allow senior
homeowners to convert a portion
of their home-equity into cash, as
opposed to selling their home for an
insufficient price. Depending on the
type of product, the borrower can
choose to receive the loan as a lump
sum, line of credit, monthly payment,
or combination of the three. Proceeds
from the reverse mortgage can be
used for almost any purpose, and
repayment is not required as long as
the borrower continues to live in the
home, provide basic maintenance and
pay taxes and insurance.
WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS?
To qualify for a reverse mortgage,
the borrower must be at least 62
years old and own and reside in
their home. Prior to being issued a
HECM reverse mortgage, borrow-
ers also are required to meet with
a HUD-approved counselor and are
advised to speak with a trusted fam-
Reverse
mortgages
allow senior
homeowners to
convert a portion
of their home-
equity into cash
ily member, caregiver, or financial
analyst about the product and its
features.
The loan amount depends on the
borrower’s age, the value of the home,
its location, and the current interest
rate. A homeowner’s credit score
and annual income are not taken
into consideration during the loan
process, however, credit is checked to
view any existing liens or judgments.
MYTHS AND
MISCONCEPTIONS
One of the biggest misconcep-
tions about reverse mortgages is
that the bank or lender will own
the home. This is simply not true.
The homeowner retains the title of
the property and can sell whenever
he or she chooses.
Another untruth is that the
home must be completely paid-
off in order for the borrower to
qualify for a reverse mortgage. This
also is not true. As long as there
is sufficient equity in the home,
the borrower may be eligible for a
reverse mortgage. In fact, reverse
mortgages are often used to pay-off
any existing liens or mortgages.
For example a retired senior
homeowner with insufficient cash
flow to meet his needs and on the
verge on foreclosure might not have
the money needed to pay for his
mortgage and take care of medical
and healthcare expenses. With a
reverse mortgage, the homeowner
could avoid foreclosure and evic-
tion from his home, as well as have
the funds for necessities while liv-
ing comfortably in his retirement.
The reality is that reverse mort-
gages are for seniors with a wide
variety of different needs and dif-
ferent situations. The loan’s pro-
ceeds may be used for a variety of
purposes, such as healthcare, medi-
cal needs and to pay off debt, as
well as luxury expenses, new cars,
vacations and just to simply have
access to supplemental cash when
times get tough.
With a HECM reverse mort-
gage, the loan will never exceed the
P A G E 13
value of the home, because it is a
government-insured loan.
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Because reverse mortgages offer
unique benefits, it is important for
seniors and their caregivers to under-
stand all aspects of the product and
how they work.
You may have seen legendary actor
Robert Wagner as the spokesperson
for Senior Lending Network®, the
nation’s leading educator on reverse
mortgages. He talks about living the
life you deserve in your golden years.
“Many baby boomers are using
reverse mortgages as financial plan-
ning tools and to supplement their
retirements,” said Wagner. “The prod-
uct is really life changing. The pro-
ceeds are tax-free and it’s a comfort to
seniors to know they have options.”
Although reverse mortgages are
not for everyone, seniors around the
nation are benefiting from this power-
ful product. Take the time to talk to
your family, friends and anyone you
trust with your finances along with
a local reverse mortgage loan officer.
The sooner you find out if this loan
will work for you the sooner you will
be able to enjoy a happier and more
comfortable retirement.
David Peskin is the founder and
chief executive officer of Senior Lending
Network®, a program of World Alliance
Financial Corp., one of the top three reverse
mortgage companies in the nation.
P A G E 14
B Y R USSELL W ILD
D
uring these trying economic
times, shopping for insurance
isn’t anyone’s idea of fun.
But having the right insurance in the
right amounts should be a financial
priority, experts say. What kind of
insurance do you need? Which could
be a waste of your money? Use this
checklist to help you make sense of
it all.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Do you need it?
Ten out of 10 doctors agree: Yes.
With healthcare costs soaring ever
higher and many employers not pay-
ing their traditional share, underin-
sured households are risking financial
ruin. Half of all personal bankrupt-
cies are due to medical bills.
How much is enough?
“You don’t just need a health
insurance plan; it has to be a
quality plan,” says Leonor McCall-
Rodriguez, president of One Voice
Insurance Services in California,
who reports that policies of ques-
tionable value are flooding the mar-
ket, advertised everywhere. “You
want a major carrier,” she says.
“And you want to ensure that all
serious procedures are covered.”
Ask enough questions. Research
deductibles and copayments. Find
DO
YOU
NEED
INSURANCE?
out which drugs are covered.
Inquire about emergency care cov-
erage. Ask your current doctors if
they participate in the plan.
Tips: “You also need to know
how to use the plan,” adds McCall-
Rodriguez. Preventive care, such
as colonoscopies and vaccinations,
are covered 100 percent by many
plans. Checkups can be covered
even before deductibles are met.
If you’re 65 or about to turn
65, you may want to buy Medigap
insurance to supplement Medicare.
The “Choosing a Medigap Policy”
publication is available online at
www.medicare.gov. You can also
call Medicare and speak to a coun-
selor at 800-633-4227.
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE
Do you need it?
If you own a home, yes. A home
— even after the recent market woes
— makes up such a large percentage
of most families’ net worth that not
insuring it and its contents is a big
mistake. How much is enough? You
probably already have homeown-
ers insurance — getting a mortgage
without it is generally impossible
— but you may be underinsured.
“Many homeowners buy a policy
and then let it renew year after year.
Meanwhile, their home value may
have appreciated greatly,” says agent
Andre Urena, CEO of the Latin
American Agents Association.
“Your home should be insured for
A checklist to cover your assets.
an amount somewhere between what
it would cost to build a new, similar
home — its ‘replacement cost’ —
and the current market value of your
property,” Urena says. You also need
to assess your valuables. They might
not be covered unless your insurance
company knows about them, says
Cathy Pareto, CFP, president of Cathy
Pareto & Associates, a financial plan-
ning firm in Coral Gables, Florida.
Tips: Photograph or videotape
the inside of your home, cataloging
possessions. Keep documentation in
a safe place. If a fire destroys your
home or you are robbed, you’ll need
that proof to collect on insurance.
Receipts also help. When shopping
for policies, get several quotes. And
be aware that a typical homeowners
policy does not cover damage caused
by floods, earthquakes, water — line
breaks, termites, or mold, which
require additional insurance.
AUTO INSURANCE
Do you need it?
You bet. Turn your steering wheel
the wrong way and you may be liable
for all sorts of damages.
How much is enough?
Each state sets a minimum,
but that typically isn’t enough. In
California, for example, the minimum
is 15/30/5, meaning that your carrier
would pay $15,000 for bodily injury
to a single person, $30,000 for injury
M 2009
AY
to all people involved, and $5,000 for
property damage.
Tips: Consider exceeding the mini-
mum — by how much will depend on
your state’s minimums, your personal
assets, and how much you have to
protect. Auto insurance companies
reward older people with clean driv-
ing records. These drivers can get
the best rates because they’re expe-
rienced, often own safer cars, and
— if retired — tend to drive less, says
Urena.
If you’ve had the same auto insur-
ance for a number of years, it may
be time for a cost comparison to
see if you’re getting the best deal.
If you take a Driver Safety Program
or defensive driving class, you may
receive an additional discount.
RENTERS INSURANCE
Do you need it?
If you rent and have household
goods and furnishings of value, yes.
Renters often don’t think about
insurance — until it’s too late. A
survey by Allstate Insurance found
that 60 percent of renters don’t have
it, even though the U.S. Department
of Justice reports that renters are
statistically more likely to be robbed
than homeowners. Should your rent-
ed home be burglarized or catch fire,
your landlord’s insurance won’t do
you a lick of good. Renters insurance
will. It also can provide liability pro-
tection should someone be injured
while visiting.
 nyc
P A G E 15

How much is enough?
The home or apartment’s value
isn’t important to the renter; its
contents are. So you’ll need a good
tally of your belongings’ value and of
your financial exposure should you
get sued.
Tips: Renters insurance generally
covers each valuable up to a certain
point. If you own items such as expen-
sive jewelry, furs, or a rare coin collec-
tion, you may need to purchase a rider.
LIFE INSURANCE
Life insurance, which comes in
many types and sizes, isn’t for every-
one.
your money elsewhere,” she says.
Tips: Whether you buy term or
permanent, it pays to shop around.
Premiums can vary substantially.
LONG — TERM CARE
INSURANCE
With the average cost for a single
day in a nursing home now hovering
at about $200 — an expense usually
not covered by health insurance or
Medicaid — even a short-term stay
could obliterate an average family’s
finances. Long — term care (LTC)
insurance is designed to pay for
nursing — home care, or perhaps a
home — health aide, should you find
yourself in need. Government fig-
ures tell us that about 70 percent of
people over age 65 will require some
form of long — term care during
their lifetime, and that the average
need for services spans three years.
Do you need it?
LTC insurance is a wonderful thing
to have, but you must weigh the ben-
efits against their high cost. The best
candidates tend to be in their 50s and
have enough money to pay the premi-
ums. “Saving for retirement should
come first, and LTC insurance after
that,” says financial planner Pareto.
How much is enough?
Purchased at age 55, a plan that
would pay $150 a day, inflation —
adjusted, for up to three years of care
might run you $1,100 or so a year in
premiums. Purchased at age 65, that
same plan might cost $3,000 or so a
year. Given these prices, you don’t want
to buy more than you need. How much
you need, says Pareto, can vary greatly
depending on where you live. Factor in
other potential sources of income such
as Social Security, pension, and invest-
ment income in determining your need.

Do you need it?

If you have dependents — such
as young children or a non — work-
ing spouse who would not be able to
support themselves if you died — life
insurance can be crucial. Otherwise,
probably not.
How much is enough? If we’re
talking about term life insurance —
the kind that remains in force for
say, 10 years, or 20 years — you
need enough so that if you die, your
family could get by. “As a very rough
rule, you should carry life insurance
to the tune of eight to 10 times your
annual income,” says Cathy Pareto,
CFP, president of Cathy Pareto &
Associates, a financial planning firm
in Coral Gables, Florida. The other
kind of life insurance — permanent
life insurance — is a more compli-
cated product that combines a death
benefit with money you can tap while
still alive. “Permanent life insurance
is sold heavily in Latino communities
as a conservative investment, but it
typically isn’t the best investment in
town,” says Pareto. “Permanent life
insurance [which includes whole life
and universal life policies] tends to
be an expensive way to invest. You
might be better off with lower — cost
term insurance and then investing
Insurance Buying Guide
Look very closely at each policy’s list of “activities of daily living” (ADL) — which determine how bad your
condition must be before your policy kicks in — the waiting period, and the time that your benefits will last. It’s
best to have inflation adjustment built in, especially if you’re buying the plan at a younger age. If you’re healthy,
ask for a good — health discount, which might save you 10 percent off your premiums.
Pareto suggests paying special attention to the part of the policy that discusses home — care reimbursements.
And if you think that you may want to return to your home country some day, look for a policy that will pay you
a lump sum that you can take with you. Such a policy would be called a “cash” or “cash-based” policy.
UMBRELLA INSURANCE
It’s called umbrella insurance because it covers the kind of litigious rain that may soak you despite the pro-
tection afforded by your homeowners and auto policies. We’re talking about comprehensive personal liability
insurance. Say you’re sued for slander or defamation of character. Or you accidentally plow your car into a shiny
limousine and find that your auto policy just won’t cover the enormous damages. Umbrella insurance supplements
your other policies and kicks in only when their limits are exhausted. It isn’t terribly expensive — perhaps $250 a
year for a million dollars of added coverage — and it’s a good idea for anyone with substantial unprotected assets,
Pareto says. Generally $1 million is the minimum coverage for an umbrella policy. But if you’re very rich and very
nervous, you can get coverage up to many millions. Umbrella insurance will not cover professional liability, only
personal.
CANCER & HEART DISEASE/STROKE INSURANCE
Yes, you can buy cancer insurance. You can buy heart disease/stroke insurance, too. There’s nothing wrong
with such plans, but be aware of their limitations, says Leonor McCall-Rodriguez, president and founder of One
Voice Insurance Services in Redondo Beach, California. “These plans generally pay you a certain chunk of cash, up
to thousands of dollars, should you be diagnosed with a specific disease and need treatment. They are not health
insurance and can’t take the place of comprehensive coverage,” she says.
Such policies never cover pre-existing cancer or heart disease. And some policies will deny coverage if you are
later found to have had the disease at the time of purchase — even if you weren’t aware that you had it. Premiums
will vary according to your age, state, health history, and whether or not you smoke.
Always consult with a professional to determine what insurance plans and/or investments are appropriate for
you.
P A G E 16
A FEAST OF MAY FLOWERS
Delicate flower petals bring a special flavor to spring dishes -
B Y C AROL W ILSON
E
dible flowers are enjoying a well-deserved
culinary revival and are used by many chefs
in fashionable restaurants to add a new and
unusual dimension to their cooking. But the practice
of using flowers in cookery is nothing new. Medieval
monks cultivated flowers such as marigolds and
lavender in their kitchen gardens, alongside herbs
and vegetables and often included them in their
bland, rather frugal diet to add variety and a splash
of color.
Edible flowers include marigolds, carnations,
violets, elderflowers, lavender, geraniums and roses,
which flower profusely throughout the summer.
Their beautiful colors and unique flavors add a
subtle elusive fragrance to both sweet and savory
foods.
Marigolds were much valued in the past as a
cheaper substitute for expensive saffron and in fact
the flower was known as ‘poor man’s saffron’. The
striking golden orange color (calendulin) is soluble
in fat and was used extensively to color soups.
In Shakespeare’s time the dried flowers were put
into broths as they were believed to possess recu-
perative powers and there was a common belief
that marigolds ‘raised the spirits and cheered the
heart’. Because of this the bright orange petals were
scattered over salads and were also used to flavor
vinegar. Use Pot Marigolds (Calendula Officinalis)
— not the African or French varieties which are not
edible.
Carnations have a slightly spicy, clove-like flavor
and in the past were known as ‘clove flowers’ or
gillyflowers. Carnation petals are one of the secret
ingredients of Chartreuse, a liqueur created by
monks in France four centuries ago, which is still
made to a secret recipe. Add to salads, or to deco-
rate cakes and desserts. Sweetly scented violet petals
and they look pretty too!
are also delicious scattered over a green salad and
particularly complement the flavor of beef. Creamy
colored elderflowers impart a delightful Muscat
fragrance to summer desserts and cakes. Geranium
leaves are strongly scented with rose or lemon,
depending on type and impart a gloriously rich fra-
grance to creamy desserts and milky puddings.
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has
a superb fragrance and is specially cultivated for
its high quality essential oil. We can thank Queen
Elizabeth I (who spent lavishly on her favorite lav-
ender water) for the extensive cultivation of laven-
der in England.
The refreshingly scented deep mauve flow-
ers were scattered over tables at grand feasts to
sharpen appetites and perfume the air. Crush a few
flowers lightly in your hand to release their volatile
oil before scattering over salads and fruit dishes.
Lavender sugar is delightful — use it instead of
ordinary sugar when making cakes or custards.
Place ten flowers in a jar of sugar and seal tightly.
Leave for a few days before using, shaking the jar
occasionally.
Savory dishes too are enhanced by lavender’s
aromatic, almost spicy scent which has a particu-
lar affinity with lamb — in fact the French graze
their lambs in lavender fields whenever possible
so that the meat develops a unique flavor. Scatter
rosemary and a few lavender flowers over a leg of
lamb before roasting to impart an intriguing flavor.
Lavender is good for the digestion too, as it aids
the flow of bile.
Country lore decreed that lavender should be
pruned only when the moon was waxing— other-
wise the bush would wither and die. Country peo-
ple have long known that lavender repels insects
and slugs and planted it close to vegetables such as
cabbages and tomatoes. If you’re having a barbe-
cue throw some whole stems of lavender onto the
M 2009
AY
PHOTOS BY CAROL WILSON
Roast leg of lamb with lavender
coals where the fragrance will suffuse the food and
waft through the air to keep away flies. Incidentally
to enjoy an insect — free picnic, lightly crush a few
sprigs of lavender between your fingers and scatter
over the picnic cloth. This will keep insects away as
they hate the scent. When using lavender for cook-
ing use just a few lavender flowers — too many
will give a bitter flavor to food. You can use fresh
or dried lavender flowers — use the same amount
for both, as fresh lavender is actually stronger than
dried. Culinary grade lavender is also available
from herbalists.
Highly scented and colored foods were a feature
of medieval feasts and powdered red rose petals
were a favorite method of coloring both savory and
sweet foods, as well as imparting a delicate, fra-
grant flavor. Headily scented rose petals were often
scattered over cherries in pies before the top crust
was added. The petals were also usually included
in dishes containing almonds, as they helped pre-
vent the nuts from ‘oiling’. Red rose petals were
preferred — the flowers have a more intense and
longer lasting perfume, especially when dried.
Rose petals and dried powdered rosebuds are a sig-
nificant ingredient in Middle Eastern cookery today
where they are used to make a sweet sticky jam and
to flavor honey and sweetmeats and also add an
intriguing flavor to meat, poultry and rice dishes.
Rose petals should have the white part at the base
removed as this has a bitter flavor. Use only heavily
scented red or pink petals. The best are from Rosa
gallica or Rosa damascena
Flowers don’t freeze well on their own, but can
be frozen inside ice cubes where they make a pretty
addition to cooling summer drinks. Sweet sugary
crystallized petals are perfect for decorating cakes
and trifles. Dip some petals (or stems of lavender
flowers) into lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle
on both sides with caster sugar. Place on non-stick
 nyc
baking paper on a baking tray and dry
out in a very low oven for about ten
minutes until crisp.
When using edible flowers it is
essential that they are free from chem-
icals and pesticides (those bought
from a florist won’t be suitable) and
should be well washed. Gently shake
the stems of flowers to dislodge any
insects, before washing gently and
drying carefully and thoroughly. Dry
the flowers on kitchen paper imme-
diately after washing to preserve the
fragrance.
ROAST LEG OF LAMB
WITH LAVENDER
1 2-4 lb. leg of lamb
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced,
(optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons lavender flowers,
lightly crushed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Make slits in the lamb and insert a
sliver of garlic if using. Rub the lamb
with the olive oil, lavender and thyme
and salt and pepper, rubbing well into
the slits and leave to stand for up to
2 hours. Place the meat on a rack in a
roasting tin and cook for 20 minutes
at 425° then reduce the heat to 350°
and cook for 40-60 minutes until
the lamb is cooked to your liking.
Remove from the oven and allow to
stand for 15 minutes before serving.
POLENTA ELDERFLOWER
SYRUP CAKE
Polenta or corn meal is available
from most supermarkets. It produc-
es a delicious cake with a slightly
crunchy, grainy texture which soaks
up the fragrant syrup
SYRUP
1 cup sugar
2 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
8 elderflower heads
CAKE
3 eggs
1/2 cup golden caster sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup polenta
Half a tablespoon baking powder
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the syrup: In a medium pan
stir the sugar into the water and add
the lemon juice. Heat gently until
the sugar has dissolved completely,
then bring to the boil and boil for
2 minutes. Add the elderflowers;
remove from the heat, cover the
pan, and leave to stand overnight.
Next day heat the liquid and boil
until reduced and syrupy. Discard
the flowers.
For the cake: Whisk the eggs and
sugar until thick and mousse like. Beat
in the melted butter. Stir in the polenta
and baking powder, followed by the
lemon zest, salt and vanilla, beating
well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake tin
P A G E 17
Fresh cherry and rose ice cream
lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake Caster sugar a pan of simmering (not boiling)
for 30-40 minutes 325º until golden. water and stir until the mixture
Test with a skewer, which should come Put both the creams in a pan thickens enough to coat the back of
out clean. Remove the cake from the with the geranium leaves and heat a wooden spoon. Remove the gera-
oven and make holes in it with a skew- gently to boiling point. Remove nium leaves and pour the mixture
er. Pour over the hot syrup and leave to from the heat, cover and leave to into a greased shallow heatproof
cool until the syrup is absorbed. Serve stand for up to 2 hours to allow dish and leave until cold. Chill
with summer berries and/or cream or the flavor to infuse. Whisk the egg until ready to serve. Just before
ice cream. yolks in a large bowl. Reheat the serving sprinkle with a thin even
cream until hot but not boiling and layer of sugar and put under a very
FRESH CHERRY AND ROSE pour onto the egg yolks, whisking hot grill until the sugar caramelizes
ICE CREAM all the time. Place the bowl over into a thin sheet of toffee.
1/2 cup golden caster sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tbs. water
Juice of half a small lemon
1 cup cherries, stones removed
2 cups mascarpone
Few drops rosewater
Medical and
2-3 tablespoons red rose petals,
torn Cosmetic Dermatology
Heat the sugar, water and lemon
juice in a pan over a low heat until Comprehensive Dermatologic Care
the sugar has dissolved completely.
Bring to the boil and boil for 3 min-
utes. Reduce the heat, add the cher-
Skin Cancer Screening
ries and simmer gently for about 10
minutes until the cherries are soft. Botox
Remove from the heat and leave to
stand until completely cold. Beat the
mascarpone in a bowl to soften it. Dermal Fillers
Beat in the syrup, juice from the cher-
ries, and the rosewater until com-
bined. Gently fold in the cherries and Nathalie Q. Nguyen, M.D.
rose petals, swirling them through
the mixture. Spoon into a freezer NYU Assistant Clinical Professor
proof container, cover and freeze Board Certified Dermatologist
until required. Transfer the ice cream
to the refrigerator about 25 minutes
before serving, to allow the ice cream Eric Huang, M.D., Ph.D
to soften slightly.
Board Certified Dermatologist
GERANIUM CRÈME BRÛLÉE
A lusciously rich geranium scented
custard with a toffee topping. You
19 Murray Street
can use either lemon or rose gera- Between Church & Broadway near City Hall Park
nium leaves.
10 ounces double cream 212-233-2995
10 ounces single cream
4-5 geranium leaves, slightly
crushed Most Major Insurance Carriers Accepted
4 egg yolks
P A G E 18
Turning
Theater
Upside
Down
With the birth of Negro Ensemble
Company, New York City stages
would never be the same
B Y J ERRY T ALLMER
L
orraine Hansberry, who at 29
broke through insurmount-
able barriers as the first black
woman ever to write a play that
reached – burst upon – Broadway, did
more than even she knew with her
1959 “A Raisin in the Sun.”
It was in the road company of that
seminal drama about black American
existence in a white world that two up-
and-coming black actors first met who
would not long later push the door of
theater wide open to all black American
actors, directors, playwrights, designers
everywhere.
The names of the two pioneers
were and are Douglas Turner Ward
and Robert Hooks. Their creation was
the Negro Ensemble Company, which
for close to 30 years from its start in
1967 would provide a home, a seedbed,
a training ground, a showcase, and
a launching pad for some 200 plays,
almost as many playwrights, and liter-
ally thousands of black actors of all
ages.
“I was 35,” says the grizzle-mus-
tached old lion that Doug Ward is today.
“Bobby was five or six years younger,
and Gerry” – Gerald Krone, the third
(and white) founding father of NEC –
"was about my age.”
Almost every black actor or actress
who is now a bright star of the stage, the
large screen, or the small screen came to
it out of NEC. Just to give an idea, one
NEC show alone, Charles Fuller’s 1981
Pulitzer-winning “A Soldier’s Play,” gave
birth, so to speak, to film and televi-
sion’s Denzel Washington, Samuel L.
Jackson, and James Pickens, Jr.
It is that historic Negro Ensemble
Company to which James Houghton’s
Signature Theatre Company is devoting
an entire current season of readings of
various plays from the NEC canon, with
Douglas Turner Ward as curator and
Ruben Santiago-Hudson as associated
artist.
“We got blasted
for not being
up in Harlem
but down in the
Village – well,
okay, the East
Village. For the
third person
being a white
person.”
(Charles Fuller’s most terrifying play,
the 1980 “Zooman and the Sign,” was
reprised at Signature, 555 West 42nd
Street, last month.)
Robert Hooks, young as he was, was
in the middle 1960s conducting a work-
shop in Chelsea for even younger actors,
teenage kids, most of them black, who
wanted to become actors. He asked
his friend Doug Ward if he could use
another of Ward’s comedies, “Happy
Ending,” in which two back old ladies
go gabbing away, as a practice tool (two
black old ladies played by 17-year-olds).
And one fine day in 1965 this newspa-
perman came to see if there was a story
in what Hooks was doing.
And wrote it up.
“You gave me heart attack,” says
the Doug Ward of today. “I’m on the
Metroliner to Washington and I see this
headline: ‘A HILARIOUS PLAY,’ and
it’s my play. I had no intention of it ever
being done. But it gave Bobby the cour-
age to put the two plays together — and
the double-bill of “Day of Absence” and
“Happy Ending” opened in November
1965 at the St. Mark’s Playhouse, one
flight up over a Second Avenue movie
house, and would run there for 14 or 15
smash months.”
The opening-night casts included
Adolph Caesar, Lonne Elder, Frances
Farmer, Moses Gunn. Barbara Ann
Teer, Robert Hooks, Doug Ward — and
Arthur French, who just this season,
43 years later, was so wonderful to
behold on Broadway in Horton Foote’s
“Dividing the Estate.”
The St. Mark’s double-bill — espe-
cially “Day of Absence” — “created a
buzz, you know,” says Ward. “This was
in the days when we still had seven daily
newspapers, and Howard Atlee as our
[low-key but indefatigable] press agent.
Seymour Peck, the Arts & Leisure
editor of The New York Times, who was
alert to new trends and open to differing
points of view, invited Ward to write
an article saying anything he wished. It
appeared on August 14, 1966, under
the headline: “AMERICAN THEATER:
FOR WHITES ONLY?” a long, thought-
ful, angry piece — surprisingly angry
even today in rereading it four decades
later.
M 2009
AY
PHOTO BY GREGORY COSTANZO
Douglas Turner today
“Next thing I know,” says Ward, “I’m
at a cocktail party and Ray Lamontagne,
who’s now the president of City Center,
says to me: ‘The grapevine has it that
McNeil Lowry of the Ford Foundation
wants to talk to you. Call him.’”
So Doug Ward did.
“When we met, Mac [Lowry]
told me he had been interested in
supporting a black, Negro, ethnic,
whatever you want to call it, theater.
What had impressed him was that
we had done something ourselves,
independently. Earlier he had given
seed money to a group that had
never come through with a concrete
proposal — which made us all the
more attractive to him.
“This was all new to me. I had
never been in that world, the world
of grants and foundations,” says the
man whose only previous relationship
with corporate America had been in
articles he’d once upon a time written
for the Daily Worker.
The triumvirate of Hooks, Ward,
and Gerald Krone sat down one night
in the Orchidia restaurant, Second
Avenue and 9th Street — “later, one
of the first victims of gentrification” —
to formulate a concrete proposal.
And, to make a long story short, they
received from the Ford Foundation
something over $400,000 up front,
and around a million and a half over
three years, to bring forth the Negro
Ensemble Company.
“How did Gerry Krone get
involved? Very simply,” says Ward.
“When Bobby said he was going to
produce both those plays together, I
thought he was crazy. He didn’t have
a dime. We needed a manager.
“Gerald Krone and Dorothy Olim
 nyc
P A G E 19
– as Krone & Olim – managed 90
percent of all off-Broadway shows
in those years. Gerry got hooked on
my outline of what could be as a part
of black theater. He got hooked. It
became his own mission.
“Whereas I was the visionary, the
artist, the creative force – all of that
shit. But oh God, we got blasted on all
sides. Before all this, I was considered
the goodest guy. As soon as it was
announced that we’d got the money, I
became the chief villain.
“We got blasted for not being up
in Harlem but down in the Village –
well, okay, the East Village. For the
third person being a white person.
And for using the word Negro – you
may remember this was during the sea
change from Negro to black.
“Bobby and Gerry said: ‘Why don’t
we change to black?’ I said: ‘No, we’re
not going to change, that would signal
that we were vulnerable to outside
pressure about the content of our
work. Our work will define us. The
moment we do good theater, all that
stuff will go away.’ ”
Douglas Turner Ward is a tough
old lion indeed. Born May 5, 1930,
in Burnside, Louisiana, he grew up in
New Orleans, where his plantation-
worker parents became tailors “and
my mother a brilliant seamstress.”
It was at Wilberforce University, in
Xemia, Ohio, that he “got hooked on
theater for all the wrong reasons.”
Namely, girls. PHOTO BY GREGORY CONSTANZO
Lucky for all of us, black or white – Evan Parke as Reuben Tate, Rosalyn Coleman as Rachel Tate and (at back) Lynda Gravatt as Ash Boswell in Signature Theatre Company’s production of Zooman and
for all the right reasons. the Sign, written by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson. The production opens March 24 at The Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street.

Since Mom Moved to

Prospect Park Residence
We All Sleep Better At Night.

M
om is an amazing woman. She’s always making new
friends and learning new things. But I worried that it
was getting harder for her to take care of herself. What if
she needed help and couldn’t reach me? At Prospect Park Residence
she enjoys her own private apartment with plenty of room for visits
from her grandchildren. And she can choose from a full schedule of
stimulating daily activities. Most importantly, we have the peace of
mind of knowing that assistance is available to her 24 hours a day,
which helps us all rest a lot easier.

Call Desiree McNally

One Prospect Park West
Call now Brooklyn, NY 11215
about our 718.622.8400
Spring
Specials!
www.prospectparkresidence.com
 P A G E 20
The Zen Of Collecting
Save what you like and love what you have
and other secrets to the art of collecting
B Y J OHN G ROSSMANN
C
lassic cars. Jazz recordings.
Postcards. Baseball cards.
Barbed wire. Cereal boxes.
Barbie dolls. Playbills from Broadway
shows. Refrigerator magnets. Star Wars
toys and memorabilia. Star Trek toys
and memorabilia. Snow domes and
McDonald’s Happy Meal toys and...
Clearly, there’s no limit to what
people collect. But though their
desires differ and their pursuits take
them down very different paths, in the
end, passionate collectors share many
joys and satisfactions and similarly
enrich their lives. Sometimes mon-
etarily, yes, but that’s not the area of
interest here. As no less an observer
than Robert Louis Stevenson noted:
“It is perhaps more fortunate to have
a taste for collecting shells than to be
a millionaire.”
Stevenson, of course, alluded to
the collateral benefits of collecting, to
which we now turn, if you will, in the
collected thoughts and experiences of
four longtime hunters and gatherers
enthralled and enlightened by the
objects of their desire.
A MASTER OF PIECES
As her collection continues to grow,
the big puzzle for Anne Williams
is where to store everything. “They
used to be in basically one room,”
says Williams. “ But they’ve spilled
over. The whole house is bulging at
the seams.”
Little wonder, for her boxes upon
boxes of interlocking pieces, arguably
the biggest, most comprehensive col-
lection of jigsaw puzzles in the coun-
try, now number in excess of 8,000.
A puzzle lover as a girl, the recently
retired Bates College economics pro-
fessor offers a simple explanation for
why, after inheriting the family closet
of about 100 puzzles, she started
collecting all manner of wooden and
cardboard puzzles. It was to feed her
need. “I usually don’t like doing the
same puzzle twice,” she says, add-
ing that it wasn’t long before other
motives also propelled her to flea
markets and more recently to eBay.
“As a puzzle historian, one of my
goals is to get a good example by
every American manufacturer — and
I know of 5,500 manufacturers or
brands before 1970. I have a lot of
post 1971 puzzles, too.”
Perhaps because of her background
in economics, her favorites date to
the Depression, a heyday for jigsaw
puzzles. “It’s sort of an interesting
economics phenomenon. When peo-
ple were out of work they turned to
making puzzles to supplement their
income. Back then, people were rent-
ing puzzles, just like movies today
— for a nickel a night, or twenty-five
cents a week.” One of the great plea-
“Collecting is ...
about erecting a
bond between
yourself and an
object.”
sures of her hobby has been talking to
some of these Depression-era puzzle
makers, and more often their chil-
dren, who remembering helping out.
“That gives me a personal connection
with these objects,” she says.
Another satisfaction comes in pre-
serving the past. “I think collectors
are the original recyclers. Sometimes
M 2009
AY
I feel like a rescue worker. Besides
saving some puzzles from the trash,
I also restore puzzles. If they’re miss-
ing a few pieces, I will cut replace-
ments and paint them so that they
don’t shout at you when you look at
the completed puzzle.”
For a long time, Williams hid her
hobby from her colleagues at Bates,
fearing they might think it frivolous.
Her worrying days are long over,
having curated a museum exhibit
featuring the cream of her collection
and having written three books on
puzzles, the most recent, “The Jigsaw
Puzzle: Piecing Together a History,”
which includes a foreword by Will
Shortz.
Anne’s Advice:
Don’t expect to make any money.
“You’re generally buying puzzles at
retail and if you try to sell you’re selling
at wholesale. To get rich at this you have
to be very, very clever.”
Keep track of your collection.
Williams takes a digital photo of every
completed puzzle and fills out a detailed
data sheet on each. “Once you get more
than 50 or 100 of something, it’s help-
ful to remind you of what you’ve got.
Digital photography and data base pro-
grams now make this easy.”
 nyc
P A G E 21
THE GREATEST COLLECTION
ON EARTH
If collecting is a way to inhabit a
love, then Howard Tibbals has suc-
ceeded on a grand scale. To witness
his love, you need visit the Ringling
Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning
Center, in Sarasota, Florida, and
stare in wonder at what might
be called the greatest little show
on Earth: a 1/16-scale model of
a 1919 to 1938 vintage Ringling
Bros. and Barnun & Bailey Circus,
meticulously researched and rep-
licated down to the 7,000 colored
folding chairs inside the big top he
began sewing more than 50 years
ago when he began the project as a
college student.
Tibbals began as an inadvertent
collector. “I started primarily as a
model builder,” he says. “And in try-
ing to make the models mean more
and be more accurate, that lead
me to start collecting circus photo-
graphs.” He did this when visiting
relatives in towns and cities along
the old train routes, visiting the local
newspaper, checking back issues for
the location of the circus grounds,
and then knocking on the doors of
nearby houses, hoping residents in
their 50s and 60s would answer his
knock. Some did have photos they’d and posters, anything that cap- the family flooring business he cus posters, nearly one million
taken and actually parted with them; tured the spectacle of the travel- inherited, confesses that, indeed, photographs, plus newspaper fly-
others let him develop duplicates ing three-ring shows. In fact, one proved true. “It creates a fireball,” ers (among the first if not the
from the negatives. His knowledge such collector warned him: “Never he says. first advertising inserts) announc-
grew — right in step with his love get involved in collecting. It will His burning passion fueled an ing the arrival of the circus, and
of discovery. distract you from the model build- acquisition spree, if a spree can trade cards, early color lithographs
One revelation: plenty of circus ing.” Tibbals, who financed his be decades in duration, that has
buffs shared his interest in photos collecting jones with profits from seen him acquire some 5,000 cir- COLLECTING, continued on page 22 

On
PARK
PLACE
for 33 Years! 8SeSZS`a

Mother’s Day - Sunday, May 10th

7TbVS`SWaacQVObVW\UOaO@SQSaaW]\0cabS`Wb¸a[OYW\Uac`SbVOb;][USbabOYS\QO`S]TW\OdS`ga^SQWOZ
eOg]\;]bVS`¸a2OgAc\ROg;OgbV
/Pa]ZcbSZgTOPcZ]caRWaQ]c\baO`S[O\ROb]`gOb;WbQVSZZ¸a8SeSZS`aa]g]cQO\[OYS;][Q`gbSO`a]T
VO^^W\SaaeWbV]cba^S\RW\UZcRWQ`]caO[]c\ba]T[]\Sg

ESbV`WdSW\bVWab]cUV`SQSaaW]\O`g[O`YSbPgdW`bcOZZg\SU]bWObW\USdS`gRSOZeWbVg]cO\R\]e
Rc`W\U]c`\SeAS\aObW]\OZ>`][]bW]\(4]`O\g^c`QVOaSeVS\^WQYSRc^
g]cO`SS\bWbZSRb]QV]]aSOb]bOZZgQ]]ZQZOaag 4@33574B
;7B16979=3<=E<3@4=@
=c`XSeSZ`gO\ReObQV`S^OW`RWdWaW]\R]Sa]\Zg/_cOZWbge]`YBWTTO\g_cOZWbge]`YeWbVO_cWQYbc`\
!!G@A=<>/@9>:/<2/
G@0/BB3@G>/@917BG@3A723<B
O`]c\RbW[SO\RSfb`S[SZgTOW`^`WQSa
;=@35@3/B<3EA(7Tg]cQO\caSOZWbbZSSfb`OQOaVE3>/GB6367563AB>@713A
#>/@9>:/13 2=E<B=E<T]`O\gU]ZRXSeSZ`gg]c[OgeO\bb]aSZZ)U]ZRW\O\gQ]\RWbW]\Wa]Y]`RWO[]\RXSeSZ`g
0BE<0EG16C@16AB
B3:(   $%&#$ O\ReS^Ogg]c`WUVbOeOg=<B63A>=B/\]bVS`^`][]bW]\(7Tg]caSZZcaO\gU]ZR]`RWO[]\RaT]`
4/F(   $%""'
ObZSOabO `Sbc`\bVO\g]cO`SOZa]S\bWbZSRb]]\S]TbV]aSac^S`Q]]ZT`SSUWTba
ESeWZZPS]^S\AOb;Og
'bVO["(!^[ =c`T`WS\RZg\Obc`SOZ]\UeWbVOeSa][S_cOZWbgXSeSZ`gOZeOgaObQ][[c\WbgTOW`^`WQSaVOa[ORS;WbQVSZZO
T]`g]c`;]bVS`¸a2Og
aV]^^W\UQ]\dS\WS\QS ZSORS`2]e\b]e\eWbVO!! gSO`c\PZS[WaVSR`S^cbObW]\1][SaSSeVObbVSg¸`SOZZbOZYW\UOP]cb
P A G E 22
STEVE CUIFFO
WEDNESDAY | MAY 6 | 7 P.M.
Steve Cuiffo is Lenny Bruce
Q&A with Mark Crispin Miller, NYU
Cuiffo channels controversial comedian Lenny
Bruce, performing a selection of Bruce’s most
biting satires – verbatim – in this critically
acclaimed one-man show.
This program contains strong language and con-
tent. Audience discretion advised.
$10, $7 students/seniors, $5 members
Produced in association with Bisno Productions.
THURSDAY | MAY 14 | 12:30 P.M.
The Golden Willow: The Story of
a Lifetime of Love (Ballantine Books, 2009)
Salon conversation with author Harry Bernstein
The 99-year-old author and oldest person to
receive a Guggenheim Fellowship grant for his
third book, The Golden Willow, will discuss this
latest memoir, a tender reminiscence about Ruby,
his wife of nearly 70 years.
$5, free for members
M 2009
AY
TRADITION. EXPRESSION. REFLECTION.
THIS
IS Jewish Culture
Downtown
 STORY, continued from page 21 by gilding your pride with dollar
signs.
RUBY AND HARRY BERNSTEIN MARIE BRENNER featuring that year’s image of PT
Barnum’s show on one side and the SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
WEDNESDAY | MAY 20 | 7 P.M.
logo and address of a local mer- A quarter century into his hobby,
Apples & Oranges: My Brother and Me,
Lost and Found (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008) chant on the other. Don Roberts considers himself a for-
Author Marie Brenner interviewed by Tibbals, too, relies on eBay for tunate man. Not only blessed by the
Magee Hickey, WCBS-TV
most of his finds these days. A recent thrills and friendships his collection
Brenner’s heartbreaking yet darkly humorous
memoir is an account of her complicated favorite: an image of Jumbo the ele- has brought him, Roberts takes com-
relationship with her brother Carl, their tentative phant, among the most collectible fort in the logistical bonus it affords
reconciliation after Carl is diagnosed with cancer,
and her attempt to understand him posthumously. of circus poster images. “It was an him. “I can’t think of anything else
$10, $7 students/seniors, $5 members image I’d never seen before, from you can collect 10,000 of that fits
the 1880s, and in mint, mint condi- in a bookshelf,” says the 53-year-old
WEDNESDAY | MAY 27 | 7 P.M.
tion.” His enthusiasm undiminished, Oklahoma native.
Nextbook presents Benjamin Disraeli
(Schocken Books/Nextbook, 2008) Tibbals parried the obvious last ques- What stores so conveniently in
Author Adam Kirsch interviewed by tion thusly: “You might say you’re binders? And generally costs him
Gabriel Sanders, Nextbook
done, but you’re really never done only the price of a few stamps?
Kirsch looks at former British Prime Minister Disraeli
as a novelist and a statesman, recognizing that the collecting. You might just have closed Autographs. Roberts collects them
outsider Jew who became one of the world's most up your checkbook.” in several categories. He’s got movie
powerful men, was his own greatest character.
stars, country western singers, and
$5, free for members
Howard’s How-tos: all kinds of illustrators-comic book
artists, newspaper cartoonists, and
EDMOND J. SAFRA PLAZA 646.437.4202 Hone your quest. “Know what cartoon animators. Some 3,000 of
36 BATTERY PLACE WWW.MJHNYC.ORG you’re looking for. Otherwise you’re these signatures append original
Museum admission is free on Wednesday evenings 4 – 8 P.M. going to have a junkyard.” sketches and attract his ongoing
4 5 to Bowling Green W R to Whitehall St 1 to South Ferry J M Z to Broad St Speak judiciously of your collec- attention. His inventors binders
By Bus: M1, M6, M9, M15, M20 Discounted parking available one block north of the Museum tion’s worth. As your holdings grow capture the signatures of known
The Museum is closed Saturdays, and May 29 in observance of Shavuot
in size and value, don’t invite trouble (Edward Teller-H-bomb; William
 nyc
Shockley-transistor) and lesser-
known creators (John Houghtaling-
Magic Fingers bed vibrators;
Tony Haller-Chatty Kathy doll;
Ty Collings-V-chip; Charles Hall-
waterbed) — in all, a fascinating
composite of human creativity.
Part of the allure for Roberts, a
power plant CAD draftsman, is the
hunt — tracking down the address of
a potential autograph signer, drafting
a courteous and well — informed fan
letter, and enclosing what he wants
signed — for celebrities, typically a
glossy photo; for illustrators, often
a first issue postcard — along with
return postage. He tries to write a
letter a day on behalf of his collec-
tion. And generally receives two or
three replies a week.
“The arrival of the mailman every
day is like Santa Claus,” he says.
“I’ve gotten as many as a dozen auto-
graphs in a single day and occasion-
ally have streaks of a one a day for
weeks on end.”
His favorite collection within his
collection is aviation. These binders
feature the signatures of test pilots,
astronauts, and World War II aces,
the latter an increasingly endangered
species. Roberts savors their let-
ters, which typically share detailed
memories of their “kills” and passes
some on to military historians, occa-
sionally finding himself at “the cut-
ting edge of history.” But always, the
letters and signatures offer him a
tangible “connection with a piece of
history,” transporting him far from
present day, small town Oklahoma.
“Being able to concentrate on some-
thing for an hour — to me, that’s
fun,” he says. “When you come back
to reality, it feels almost like you’ve
been on vacation.”
Don’s Dos:
Collect what you like. “If you col-
lect what’s trendy, you’ll probably
get burned.” By zeroing in on your
favorite subjects, you’re certain to be
enriched — intellectually.
Research before you request an
autograph. In his letter to Gregory
Peck, Roberts explained how much
he enjoyed Peck’s portrayal of
Abraham Lincoln in The Blue &
the Gray and asked him to com-
pare that role to playing General
Douglas MacArthur. Above Peck’s
signature Roberts received a nice
note discussing the two roles. “It
was only later,” Roberts says, “that
I learned that Mr. Peck was con-
sidered a difficult autograph to
obtain. Having something to say in
your request pays off.”
IN FLAGRANTE COLLECTO
“My life,” says Maryilynn Gelfman
Karp, “is rife with giddy finds.”
Now in her sixties, Karp started
collecting at age three, reaching into
the dustbin at the corner store for
colorful caps from soda bottles when
she accompanied her father on cigar
buying trips. Soon it was on to Dixie
cup lids, which from 1930 to 1954,
the company issued with the images
P A G E 23
of actors and ballplayers and her
favorites, cowboys, on the under-
sides. Then on to a dizzying collec-
tion of collections: corkscrews, cast
iron mechanical banks, Art Deco
figurines, washboards, marbles, fruit
crate labels, and more.
“Rarely a week goes by without
adding something,” says Karp, a
professor of art at the Steinhardt
School of New York University and
the author of "In Flagrante Collecto"
(caught in the act of collecting). That
seems easily believable, for Karp also
collects various categories of found
objects. Other people’s shopping lists
— ”I find them in supermarket park-
ing lots. I’m not the only collector of
these. There are a lot of people who
find them fascinating.” Inspected by
number tags — ”These tags accom-
pany such a wide variety of products,
everything from clothing to cigars. I
keep them in numerical order. Only a
few have numbers in the hundreds, as
few products that require that large
an inspection staff. Sometimes there’s
a first name in place of a number —
even rarer a first and last name.”
Asked if literally, her collections
range from A to Z, she replies instant-
ly. “Airsickness bags.” A second later:
“Do not disturb signs with lots of
ZZZZs.
“Very few people know the extent of
my collections,” Karp continues, “many
of which are all about loving things that
are not universally valued, such as what
I call Poignant Repairs. These are things
that were ordinary in their first life, then
there’s a break, and somebody fixed it
in a way that makes it much better. Like
a 1890s pressed glass goblet, which
somebody repaired with a prosthetic
foot out of tin.”
Does she find it more satisfying to
file a known hole in a collection or
come upon something that launches
a whole new collection? “Opening
up a whole new category is like mak-
ing friends late in life,” she answers.
“We are very circumspect about who
we take to our hearts. My recent col-
lections have been conceptual, like
objects made to be destroyed, what
I call my Survivors, among them
fireworks in elaborate shapes like a
World War II tank or a pagoda.”
The World of Collecting According to Karp:
“Collecting gives a province of
absolute control, a domain. The
collector is a pharaohonic, a godly
king and absolute monarch of a sin-
gular and self — defined territory,
master of all he/she surveys.”
“There is a deep satisfaction in
organizing, inventorying, embrac-
ing, handling, and communing
with the booty. Touching material
objects connects us with the time/
place in which they were made and
places us in history.”
“Collecting is an intimate act
of very personal commitment. It’s
about erecting a bond between
yourself and an object. Collections
exclude the world, but are symbolic
of it. And they’re about recollec-
tion.”
P A G E 24
Those temperatmental,
difficult homosexuals
New work sheds light on Mattachine Society founders
B Y J ERRY T ALLMER
T
wo men who barely know one
another strike up a conversa-
tion — in a joint called The
Chuckwagon that looks like a John
Wayne hangout in the Wild West of the
late 1880s. But this isn’t John Wayne’s
Wild West of the late 1880s. It’s Los
Angeles, and the year is 1950.
You remember 1950. Well, I do.
Joe McCarthy. J. Parnell Thomas.
HUAC. The blacklist. Korea.
Eisenhower. Don’t make waves. The
Silent Generation. The slip of a lip
can sink your own ship.
One of those two men in the
Chuckwagon is large, aggressive,
bluff and blustery. He is 39 years old
and his name is Harry — Harry Hay.
He was born in London, England,
though you’d never know it.
The other man, 10 years younger,
is slender, handsome, graceful, quite
charming, and speaks with a slight
Viennese accent. His name is Rudi
Gernreich.
As they are discussing, of all things,
the carving of cameos, Rudi suddenly
says: “Your foot, Harry.”
HARRY: What?
RUDI: Is on top of mine.
HARRY: And therefore protecting
you.
RUDI: Almost crushing me.
HARRY: Should I stop?
RUDI: Don’t be ridiculous. I said:
“Almost.”
These two anonymous men will
go on to give history a small but tell-
ing shove as co-founders — almost
20 years before Stonewall— of the
first stand-up, unashamed organiza-
tion of homosexuals in this country.
It was called the Mattachine Society,
and its story (or an imaginative
dramatic riff on its story) is told in
“The Temperamentals” — a play by
Jon Marans that’s in previews at the
Barrow Group Studio Theater on
West 36th Street, toward its May 4
world premiere.
In those days as in these days,
there were a lot of code words, and
“temperamentals” was a code word
for those who were soon to be fur-
ther coded as gays.
It was an assignment from San
Jose Rep to write a stage adapta-
tion of Studs Terkel’s “Coming of
Age” that led playwright Marans to
explore the birth of the Mattachine
Society.
“That book is about a bunch of
radicals and anarchists all more than
70 years old but still kicking and
screaming and loving a good fight.
One of them was Harry Hay. When
the play was done under the title
‘Legacy’ — a terrible title,” Marans
says with a grimace — “every time
the Harry Hay character came on, he
stole the show.”
Had Marans, himself gay, ever
before researching the subject heard
of the Mattachine Society?
“Nothing. Zero. Nothing.”
Jon Marans, whose “Old Wicked
Songs” was a big hit in the mid-1990s
— first at the Jewish Repertory, then
at Promenade, then around the world
— needed a hook for the Mattachine
play, and found that hook in Harry
Hay (1912-2002).
“He was a very difficult human
being, who alienated a lot of people.
He had been a Communist in the
1940s, and nobody wanted to work
with him. They thought his whole
idea of a homosexual organization —
that unless ‘temperamentals’ defined
who they were, the world would
define them — was lunacy.
“And then he met and fell in love
with this young guy, Rudi Gernreich
[1922-1985] — a young Jewish guy
out of Vienna,” says Jon Marans,
a startlingly youthful 52-year-
old Jewish guy out of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and Silver Springs,
Maryland.
“Rudi had left Vienna when he
M 2009
AY
PHOTO BY YURI SIVO
Michael Urie as Rudi Gernreich, left,
and Thomas Jay Ryan as Harry Hay
was 16 years old, his family had
been wiped out in the Holocaust,
and here he was, in Hollywood” —
on track to becoming world famous
as the fashion designer who created,
among much else, the women’s top-
less bathing suit (one of which is
now immortalized behind glass at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art).
“When Rudi started to become
successful, he realized that he was
going to have to go back into the
closet. And he stayed in the closet,
kept his secret, for the next 35
years.”
That, too, is drama.
Somebody who is not in Studs
Terkel’s’ “Coming of Age,” but ought
to be, is Nelson Marans, organic
chemist, husband of Rhoda Marans,
father of Jon Marans.
“My father is the most angry pub-
lic letter writer in the Washington,
D.C., area. He has letters in The New
York Times a lot. My parents,” says
their son, “are alive and delightful.”
He says the same about
“Temperamentals” director Jonathan
Silverstein — “such a smart, col-
laborative guy. He went to a Quaker
school, which was all about com-
munity and family. That’s what this
play is all about,” says the man who
wrote it. “Forming a family.”
 nyc
All
hail,
Bette
Gordon
Film fest gives
pioneering Tribeca
artist her due
B Y T RAV S.D.
T
hose thumbing through the catalog for this
year’s Tribeca Film Festival may note the
recurring name of indie theatre pioneer and
long-time Tribeca resident Bette Gordon. This is a
big year for Gordon, who figures in no less than
three films in the festival. “Handsome Harry,”
which she directed, will have its world premiere,
as will “Blank City,” a documentary about the
indie film and punk rock scenes in New York in
the late 1970s-early 1980s. The Festival will also
be showing Gordon’s landmark 1984 debut feature
“Variety” — often hailed as a feminist classic.
If you don’t know Gordon’s work, “Blank City,”
directed by Celine Danhier, might be the film to
see first. It provides a context for the movement
Gordon was a part of, which also included people
like Jim Jarmusch, John Lurie, Amos Poe and Nick
Zedd — a generation of filmmakers that has come
to be dubbed “No Wave.”
“In those days there was a lot of overlapping
between film, bands, the art world, and perfor-
mance [art]…all coming together,” says Gordon.
“Every generation has its own revitalization. We
came too late for John Cage or John Lennon, so
we made our own scene a roundabout way, you
could say that Gordon is partially responsible for
the fact that a film festival would even take place
in Tribeca — she was one of the neighborhood’s
pioneering artists.
“I first came here back when I still lived in the
Midwest,” says Gordon, “and I happened to visit
this amazing bar called the Lower Manhattan
Ocean Club. Julian Schnabel was the cook. ‘I want
to live in this neighborhood!,” Gordon said. She
moved to a loft on Greenwich Street when she
was midway through making her first experimental
film: “Empty Suitcases.”
“Nobody lived in Tribeca then,” she says. “The
streets were empty. There was grass growing in
the empty lot across the street from my house. At
night, you could hear crickets. The whole neigh-
borhood looked like a Hollywood set of a New
York City warehouse district.”
It was then that she got involved with the
Collective for Living Cinema, the neighborhood’s
first cinema, which was located in a loft on White
Street. She did her part as ticket taker, projection-
ist, and educator, and got an NEH grant for a series
of panels called “Towards a Living Cinema”. She
also finished her 16mm experimental short “Empty
Suitcases,” portions of which are excerpted in
“Blank City.”
“I could never line up the same actress to play
the main character, a woman,” says Gordon, “So
we got several actresses to play it, making the
character seem to represent some sort of collective
experience.”
Critical acclaim for this innovative film made
possible what is (to date) her best known movie,
the 1984 feature “Variety.” More “Taxi Driver”
than Stan Brakhage, “Variety” tells a noir flavored
tale of a young schoolteacher (Sandy McLeod)who
takes a job selling tickets at a Times Square porn
theatre, gradually becoming drawn into the life a
gangster (Richard Davidson) who is a customer.
The film is a sort of Who’s Who of downtown
street cred: music by John Lurie, cinematography
by frequent Jarmusch collaborator Tom de Cillo,
script by former sex worker and Pushcart Prize-
winning feminist novelist Kathy Acker, and roles
played by Spalding Gray, Luis Guzman, Mark
Boone Junior and photographer Nan Goldin (who
also took production stills).
The material comes to her naturally, claims
Gordon. “When I moved here I wanted to go to all
the places where you’re not supposed to go, all the
places that were supposed to be dangerous. Times
Square, Avenue D, the Fulton Street Fish market.
My friend Nan Goldin used to tend bar at this bar
on 49th Street called Tin Pan Alley, where we used
to hang out, where artists used to hang out, but
it also served real Time Square types; strippers,
gangsters and so forth. Some of them actually have
lines in the film.”
Gordon joins feminist critics like Laura Mulvey
and others in extending that attraction to danger
to the art of cinema itself. “I love Hollywood as
much as experimental film,” she says, “In noir, or
in Hitchcock, female sexuality possesses this kind
of danger, a stepping across the threshold. The
whole act of seeing this film which first took shape
in your head projected on the big screen and then
sharing it with other people feels seductive, taboo.
The pleasure of watching a film is slightly sexual. I
love that moment just before the film starts, when
P A G E 25
room goes dark and everyone becomes quiet. In the
age of video, people are getting to have that experi-
ence less and less.”
Her new film, “Handsome Harry,” heads in a
surprising new direction: an exploration of male
sexuality. The film, penned by Gordon’s Columbia
University colleague Nicholas Proferes, is both a
gripping realistic drama and a sort of whodunit. It
concerns a 50-ish Navy vet (James Sheridan) who
is contacted by a dying war buddy (Gordon’s old
friend Steve Buscemi, who also figures in “Blank
City”). The vet honors his friend’s dying wish to
uncover the truth about a bias incident they and
their friends had participated in 30 years earlier,
in which the bunch of them gay-bashed the hero’s
best friend. The all-star cast also includes John
Savage, Aiden Quinn, and Campbell Scott.
“Jamie Sheridan was the key,” says Gordon.
“He’d starred in my earlier feature “Luminous
Motion,” and I gave him the script to look at.
Without my even asking him to do it, he jumped
aboard and he turned out to be perfect. He has this
male energy that’s absolutely right for the character
and he helped raise money and bring people like
Campbell Scott aboard.”
The film is not only about closeted sexuality, but
about how male sex roles have changed since the
Vietnam era. “I think one of the things that came
out of that war was a perceived failure of masculin-
ity. I’m attracted to a kind of male sexuality that is
represented by actors like Steve McQueen or Lee
Marvin. Where is that now? I look at these movies
by people like Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen about
these grown-up boys and I wonder ‘Where are the
men?’”
Despite working with a cast full of big names,
as in times past, Gordon maintains a bit of the
same spontaneity that characterized the old days.
“I love working with whoever’s around!,” she says.
“When we did “Empty Suitcases,” we had the X
Ray Specs do the music because they were around.
In “Handsome Harry,” we needed a trumpet player.
We knocked on the door of a neighbor we some-
times heard practicing. I love working with my
friends. I guess I’m just blessed.”
P A G E 26 M 2009
AY

TAKE A WALK
You can gain mental and spiritual benefits, simply by adding
a mind-body element to your regular walking routine
B Y N ANCY M ONSON

Y
ou walk to lose weight, improve your
health and boost your energy. But did you
know that you can also gain mental and
spiritual benefits, simply by adding a mind-body
element to your regular walking routine?
The technique is easy: Instead of zoning out
and thinking about nothing (or worse, stewing),
turn inward. Give your mind a steady focus by
gently pushing away all mental distractions
and repeating a “mantra” — a word or series
of words or a short prayer. “A walk is ben-
eficial no matter what you think about,” says
Alice Domar, Ph.D., head of the Domar Center
for Complementary Healthcare in Waltham,
Massachusetts, and author of "Self-Nurture:
Learning to Care for Yourself as Effectively as
You Care for Everyone Else" (Penguin, 2000).
“But how often do you go for a walk and
you’re ruminating and stormy the whole time?
Instead, try taking a mindful walk, where you
look, listen and feel, where you focus on you’re
breathing and the cadence of your feet.” In the
process, you kill two birds with one stone, she
says, relaxing and renewing both your mind
and body.

“... it is easier to get a

good workout if your
mind is working with
your body...”
Using meditative and prayer techniques while
exercising gives your brain a much-needed break
from the stresses and distractions of the day,
agrees Carolyn Scott Kortge, author of "The
Spirited Walker: Fitness Walking for Clarity,
Balance, and Spiritual Connection" (Harper San
Francisco, 1998). Mindful walking works on
three levels, she notes, soothing the body, mind,
and spirit. “It benefits the body because it is easi-
er to get a good workout if your mind is working
with your body instead of against it. There is an
athletic component that comes from being mind-
ful,” she says. Spirited walking also brings on
psychological benefits in the form of stress release
— a state that Harvard Medical School Professor
Herbert Benson, M.D., has dubbed the “relax-
ation response.” Benson’s studies have found that
repetition of a word, sound, phrase, prayer, or
activity such as walking combined with a commit-
ment to passively blocking out everyday thoughts
and returning to the repetitive activity calms the
mind and body in the short term (for instance,
reducing blood pressure and slowing heart and
breathing rates). When practiced regularly, the
relaxation response may even garner long-term
health benefits, such as a reduced risk of heart
disease, anxiety and depression. Finally, mindful
walking has a spiritual benefit that is both pro-
found and subtle, notes Kortge. “When the mind
 nyc
and body work in harmony, there is
a kind of wholeness that emerges
that we rarely feel,” she says, since
we spend most of our lives feeling
pulled in many directions. Mindful
walking can help to heal this frag-
mentation, so we can hear the wis-
dom of a higher power or simply our
own intuitive knowing.
WALK THIS WAY
At first, admits Kortge, it may
seem awkward to take a mindful or
spirited walk. “But if you practice it,
it will become familiar and will help
you settle down quickly,” she says.
Here’s how to start on your journey
to a better kind of walking, whether
you do it in 10-minute spurts or 30-
Walking Mantras
Your mantra should be empowering and keep you firmly grounded in
the present. Here, some affirmations, poems, and words you might like
to try on your next spirited walk, courtesy of Domar and Kortge:
“Right here, right now”
“Left” as you put your left foot down, “right” as you put your right
foot down
Say “in” on the in breath and “out” on the out breath
“I am here and I am walking”
“I am here, I give thanks”
“I am walking, I am happy”
“I am strong, I am powerful”
“I am happy and confident”
“I am fit and healthy”
“I do my best”
“I accept myself”
“I’m going to get there”
“I can make it”
P A G E 27
in your head. If thoughts invade, more you do it, the easier it will get,”
go back to your mantra. “You’re she says.
never going to be able to just focus 5. Be aware of your breathing.
on your mantra while you walk,” Relax your abdominal muscles and
assures Domar. “It is human nature allow yourself to breath deeply,
that your mind is going to wander, advises Domar.
you’re going to trip over a log, you’re 6. Cool down and stretch again.
going to see a neighbor. You’re going “A mindful walk is a lovely thing
to get distracted. That’s normal and that will give you a sense of peace,”
healthy, and it’s going to happen.” concludes Domar. Besides, adding
But instead of getting frustrated or a relaxation component to walk-
chastising yourself for not being able ing may help to reduce boredom...
to do the exercise “right,” simply go which just may get you to stick
back to repeating your mantra. “The with exercising regularly, she says.
Labyrinth Walking
A wonderful way to walk mindfully is to do so in a labyrinth — a single,
circular path that you slowly and contemplatively follow to the center and
then back out again. “I have done a lot of labyrinth walking,” says Kortge,
“and what I love about it is that it’s a set path, not a maze, so there’s noth-
ing to figure out: You just follow the path to the center and take the same
way out. It’s a little escape and a metaphor for your life’s journey.”
According to Melissa Gayle West, author of "Exploring the Labyrinth:
A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth" (Broadway Books, 2000),
the labyrinth has been “used for centuries for prayer, ritual, initiation,
and personal and spiritual growth.” While walking a labyrinth, you can
always see the center and know your destination is assured; therefore,
“the mind can be stilled and attention paid to the body, the wisdom of
the heart, and the graces of being rather than doing,” she writes.
One of the most famous labyrinths is found at San Francisco’s Grace
Cathedral (actually, there are two at this location, one indoors and one
outdoors); another famous labyrinth is located in France at Chartres
Cathedral. Others can be found throughout the world, and can be
located by visiting the following websites: www.labyrinthsociety.org
and www.verditas.org.
to 60-minute bouts...
1. Select a mantra to say silently
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
while walking — one that you can
repeat in rhythm to your steps and
breathing. (See “Walking Mantras”
for ideas.) Use simple words you
can easily remember to replace the
“negative swirl that automatically
goes on in your head,” says Kortge.
2. Do a gentle warm-up (for
RESTAURANT
example, walk slowly and gently
pump your arms) and then do some
light stretches to loosen up muscles
and joints and boost blood flow.
A tradition in the making.
3. Gradually pick up your walk-
ing pace. Observe good posture, but
keep your eyes focused on the path.
4. Silently, start to repeat your
chosen mantra over and over again
French contemporary cuisine in the
1891 Landmark Building
451 Washington Street, N.Y.C.
Just south of Canal Street
(212) 966-4900
capsoutofreres.com
P A G E 28
Marci’s Medicare Answers
Dear Marci,
Does Medicare cover screenings
for heart disease?
— Luther
Dear Luther,
Yes. Medicare covers blood tests
every five years to screen for cho-
lesterol, for lipid and triglycer-
ide levels, and for other signs of
cardiovascular disease (or indica-
tions that you are at high risk for
it). Medicare will pay 100 percent
of its approved amount for these
tests, even before you have met the
Part B deductible.
The American Heart Association
estimates that over 80 million
Americans have one or more forms
of heart disease, including high blood
pressure, coronary heart disease and
stroke. Heart disease and stroke are
the first and third leading causes of
death in the US. Heart screening can
save your life and improve your qual-
ity of life by treating the condition
before it results in more severe health
problems.
— Marci
Dear Marci,
I received something in the mail
called a Medicare Summary Notice.
Is this a bill?
— Sam
Dear Sam,
No. The Medicare Summary
Notice (MSN) is not a bill. When
Original Medicare processes a claim
for health care services you received,
the claim is detailed in a MSN. The
MSN is a summary of claims for
health care services Medicare pro-
cessed for you during the previous
three months. MSNs are mailed four
times a year and contain information
about submitted charges, the amount
that Medicare paid, and the amount
you are responsible for.
The most important fields on your
MSN explain:
• The total amount your doctor
or other provider may bill you. The
“You May Be Billed” field indicates
the total amount that the provider is
allowed to bill you (balance billing).
It deducts the amount you already
paid.
• Non-covered charges, if any. The
“Non-Covered Charges” field shows
the portion of charges for services
that are denied or excluded (never
covered) by Medicare. A $0.00 in this
field means that there were no denied
May 2009
or excluded services. If you disagree
with a non-covered charge you can
appeal. The MSN will have instruc-
tions for how to appeal.
Try to save your MSNs for about
seven years. You might need them
in the future to prove that payment
was made if a provider sends you a
bill or that services were received if
you claimed a medical deduction on
your taxes. If you have lost your MSN
or you need a duplicate copy, call
800-MEDICARE.
— Marci
Dear Marci,
I have Original Medicare. Over
the last year I have been feeling more
and more depressed, so I started see-
ing a psychiatrist a few weeks ago. I
just received my Medicare Summary
Notice and I’m confused. For the
first visit, Medicare paid the normal
80 percent of the cost, but after that,
it looks like Medicare paid only 50
percent. Doesn’t Medicare pay 80
percent for all doctor visits
— Lindsay
Dear Lindsay,
Medicare covers outpatient men-
tal health services differently than
M 2009
AY
it covers other types of doctor ser-
vices. Medicare will pay 80 percent
for your initial outpatient mental
health visit so that your doctor can
determine your diagnosis. However,
Medicare will pay only 50 percent
of its approved amount for future
visits. The same payment rate applies
to other mental health providers that
you see as an outpatient, such as psy-
chologists and social workers.
There are a few other outpatient
mental health services that are
covered at 80 percent by Medicare.
These include brief office visits
used to monitor or change your
prescription and psychological
testing to establish a diagnosis.
— Marci
Medicare Rights Center (www.
medicarerights.org) is the nation’s
largest independent source of infor-
mation and assistance for people
with Medicare. To speak with a
counselor, call (800) 333-4114.
To learn more about the servic-
es that Medicare will cover and
how to change plans, log on to
Medicare Interactive Counselor at
the Medicare Rights Center’s web-
site at www.medicareinteractive.
org.
 nyc
How To
Make A
Part D
Appeal
A step-by-step guide
to appealing Part D
Medicare coverage
I
f you get your drug coverage from a Medicare
private drug plan (Part D), there may be times
when the drug that you need is not easily acces-
sible through your plan. This may be because the
drug may not be on your plan’s formulary (the
list of prescription drugs that your plan will pay
for either in part or in full); or it may be on your
plan’s formulary but with restrictions, such as prior
authorization (you must get your plan’s approval
before it will pay for the drug) or step therapy
(your doctor must show that you tried a less expen-
sive medication before your plan will cover a more
expensive one). In some cases you may have diffi-
culty getting the dosage or amount of a medication
your doctor has prescribed if the drug is subject to
quantity/dosage limits.
In these and a few other cases, you will have
to make an appeal to your drug plan to cover the
drugs that you need. To file an appeal with your
drug plan, follow these steps:
STEP 1: REQUEST AN EXCEPTION TO THE
PLAN’S FORMULARY.
To ask for an exception, get a written support-
ing statement from your doctor certifying that the
drug prescribed is medically necessary and that no
other covered drug will work for you. Call your
plan or look at your plan’s web site or Evidence
of Coverage booklet to find out where to fax or
mail your request and your doctor’s supporting
letter and whether you need to submit any other
forms. Send a copy of your doctor’s letter and any
medical records that support your request, such
as medical histories or lab reports, to your plan.
The plan must decide within 72 hours of receiv-
ing your request (24 hours if it is an expedited
appeal).
STEP 2: IF YOUR PLAN DENIES YOUR
REQUEST FOR AN EXCEPTION, APPEAL!
Before you can begin the appeals process, you
must have already asked for an exception and
been officially denied in writing. A “no” at the
pharmacy is not an official denial. If your excep-
tion request is denied, your plan should send you a
written denial titled “Notice of Denial of Medicare
Prescription Drug Coverage.” The notice should
clearly explain why the plan is denying coverage for
your prescription. You have 60 days from the date
on the “Notice of Denial” to submit your appeal.
By appealing, you are asking for a redetermination
from the plan.
• Send the same materials from Step 1 to your
plan’s Appeals Department. Your doctor’s letter
should address the reason given for the denial—
this may require updating the original letter. For
example, s/he should confirm that other medica-
tions on your plan’s formulary have not worked
for you or why you require the prescribed dosage
of the drug.
• If you have to pay for your drug out of pocket
since your plan denied your exception request, be
sure to submit receipts and request reimbursement
from your plan in your appeal.
The plan must respond no later than seven
calendar days from the date it received the request
(72 hours if an expedited appeal). If you receive a
denial at this level, move on to Step 3.
STEP 3: GET AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW
FROM THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW ENTITY
(IRE).
If your plan denies coverage again, get an inde-
pendent review from the IRE, Maximus Federal
Services, the private contractor that handles
Medicare prescription drug appeals.
Appealing to Maximus is no more difficult or
complicated than appealing to your plan. Appeal
within 60 days of the date on the second “Notice
of Denial” from your Medicare private drug plan.
Send all your documents—including any receipts
for out-of-pocket expenses for the denied prescrip-
tion—to the Independent Review Entity. Include
your 10-digit Medicare number, date of birth and
contact information on the appeal.
• If your plan raised new reasons for denying
coverage for your prescription in its second denial
notice, your doctor may want to update the letter
of medical necessity to address those new reasons.
Maximus must return a decision within seven days
for standard appeals and 72 hours for expedited
appeals.
P A G E 29
• If your doctor submits this appeal on your
behalf, you will need to appoint your doctor as
your representative by signing an “Appointment
of Representative” form (available at http://www.
cms.hhs.gov/CMSForms/downloads/cms1696.
pdf). Have your physician submit the form along
with the letter of medical necessity. A signed
“Appointment of Representative” form allows
your doctor to represent you throughout the
appeals process. A signed form also allows your
doctor to represent you in any other Medicare
prescription drug appeals over the course of the
calendar year.
OTHER STEPS: ALJ, MAC AND JUDICIAL
REVIEWS
If you disagree with Maximus’s decision, you
can request an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
hearing within 60 days of Maximus’s decision if
the annual cost of the drug meets the minimum
amount that Medicare sets each year ($120 in
2009). Multiple appeals can be consolidated to
meet this amount, and you can project the cost of
the drug to include all refills you will need for the
calendar year. Maximus has 90 days to respond to
your appeal.
If you disagree with the ALJ’s decision, you
can appeal within 60 days of the date on the ALJ
decision to the Medicare Appeals Council (MAC).
The MAC can also review the ALJ decision on its
own initiative. MAC decisions are due within 90
days.
If you disagree with the MAC’s decision or
if the MAC denied your request for appeal, and
the annual cost of the drug meets the minimum
amount ($1,220 in 2009), you can request review
by a federal court.
For help with your appeal, call the Medicare
Rights Center’s appeals hotline at 888-466-9050.
To learn more about the appeals process, go to
Medicare Interactive Counselor at www.medicare-
interactive.org. Medicare Interactive Counselor is
a resource provided by the Medicare Rights Center,
the largest independent source of health care infor-
mation and assistance in the United States for
people with Medicare.
P a g e 30 M 2009
ay

To A Happy Longer Life

Simple steps to add years and enrich your days
B y J eanette M oninger

W
omen today are living longer than ever
before with many of us celebrating 80
birthdays or more. Although it’s impos-
sible to predict how many parties are in your
future, a quick look at your family tree offers
some clues (Did your ancestors die young or live
to a ripe old age?). Still, simply because great-
aunt Myrtle didn’t make it to age 65 doesn’t
mean that you won’t. Only about one-third of
the aging process (how long you’ll live and how
well you’ll age) is influenced by hereditary and
biological factors. The rest depends on your
lifestyle choices and health behaviors-Are you a
smoker? A couch potato? While you can’t prune
your family tree, you do have the power to add
years to your life-and life to your years-with
these simple changes.

+1 years
Play with Fido.
Blood pressure and stress hormone levels drop
— and the happy hormone oxytocin increases
— when you pet and play with animals. And a
happier, less stressed heart is a healthier one. Dog
owners reap the most benefits because they tend to
walk more often, more consistently and cover more
ground. And one study found that heart attack
victims who own dogs are eight times more likely
to survive the attacks than non-pet owners because
their hearts handle stress better.

+2 years
Make love often.
Getting lucky two to three times a week can
add close to 2 years to your life. In addition to
emotionally connecting you and your loved one,
sex relieves stress, lifts spirits, induces sleep
and counts as exercise. Plus, a Scottish study
found that adults who made love at least three
times a week looked 10 years younger than their
lower libidoed counterparts. But proceed with
care: Unprotected sex with multiple partners
makes you more susceptible to sexually trans-
mitted diseases, a health risk that ages you 5
to 8 years.

+3 years Being overweight (a BMI of 25 to 29.9) takes 3 + 7 years

Exercise.
People who work out — even doing something
as simple as walking a half-hour a day — can add
3 years to their lives, according to data from the
Framingham Heart Study. By helping you burn
calories and maintain a healthy weight, regular
physical activity helps ward off chronic diseases
like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood
pressure, stroke, and colon cancer. Weight train-
ing two or three times a week also is important.
“Your muscles and bones weaken with age, but
weight lifting can reverse that trend and keep you
strong well into your 80s and 90s,” says Michael F.
Roizen, M.D., co-author of "You: Staying Young."
Lose the flab.
Your body mass index or BMI (a measure of
how much body fat you’re carrying based on your
height and weight) can affect how long you’ll live.
years off your life, while obesity (a BMI of 30 or
higher) takes 7. Extra pounds up your risk of heart
disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other
life-shortening ailments. A BMI range of 18.5 to
24.9 is healthiest. To calculate yours, take your
weight in pounds, divide it by your height in inches
squared and multiply by 703 or go to http://nhl-
bisupport.com/bmi/.
+ 6 years
Practice good oral hygiene.
The same bacteria that cause periodontal
diseases like gingivitis also trigger an immune
response that causes your arteries to swell, con-
strict blood flow and collect plaque-all of which
increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Routine daily flossing combined with regular
brushing after meals and periodic dental check-
ups gets rid of the bacteria that’s bad for both
your gums and heart.
Look forward to the future.
A rosy outlook in middle age increases life span by at
least 7.5 years — even after accounting for age, gender,
socioeconomic status, and physical health, according to
Yale University researchers. A glass-is-half-full attitude
boosts the body’s immune system enabling it to better fight
off infection and handle the destructive effects of stress,
explains Gary Small, M.D., author of "The Longevity
Bible" and director of UCLA’s Center on Aging.
+ 8 years
Kick the nicotine habit.
A study in the American Journal of Public Health
found that female smokers who quit by age 35 live an
average of 8 to 9 years longer than people who con-
tinue lighting up. Kicking the habit lowers your risk of
death from lung cancer and other diseases, including
heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema,
and at least 13 other kinds of cancer.
nyc
P A G E 31

Introducing the world’s simplest cell phone experience – with service as low as $10 a month*

It doesn’t play games, take pictures,

NEW or give you the weather
No The Jitterbug® developed with Samsung®.
Contract It’s the cell phone that’s changing all the rules.

For people like me, who want a cell phone that’s easy to use. Over the years,
cell phones have become smaller and smaller with so many complicated features.
They are harder to program and harder to use. But the Jitterbug® cell phone has
simplified everything, so it’s not only easy to use, it’s easy to try. No crowded
malls, no waiting in line, no confusing sales people, or complicated plans.
Affordable and convenient cell phone service is only a toll-free phone call away.
Questions about Jitterbug? Try our pre-recorded
Jitterbug Toll-Free Hotline 1-800-230-9045
The new Jitterbug® cell phone makes calling simple!
• Large, bright, easy to see display and buttons
• Comes pre-programmed and ready to use right out of the box
• No contract required
• An operator is always available to help you, and will call you by name
• Push “Yes” to call directly from your personal phone list
• Soft ear cushion and louder volume for better sound quality
• Separate Volume Up/Down button on cover of phone
• Hearing aid compatible
• Familiar dial tone confirms service (no other cell phone has this)
• Service as low as $10 a month*
• Access help wherever you go Available in a simple
12-button Dial phone
and an even simpler
3-button OneTouch
phone for easy access
to the operator, the
number of your
choice, and 911.
12-button Dial Phone
available in
Graphite and White.

Service as low as $10 a month and a friendly 30-day return policy**. If you’ve ever wanted the
security and convenience of a cell phone, but never wanted the fancy features and minutes you don’t
need… Jitterbug® is for you. Like me, you’ll soon be telling your friends about Jitterbug®. Call now.
47303 All rights reserved. © 2007 TechnoBrands®, Inc.

Jitterbug® Cell Phone Item# BU-4722

Call now for our lowest price.
brought to you by Please mention promotional code 36048.
1-866-540-0297
www.jitterbugdirect.com

IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Customer Agreement, select calling plans, and credit approval. Other charges and restrictions may apply. Screen images simulated. Coverage and serv-
ice not available everywhere. Copyright © GreatCall, Inc. Jitterbug and GreatCall are trademarks of GreatCall, Inc. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics America, Inc and its related entities.
*Not including government taxes, assessment surcharges, and set-up fee. **Applies to phone and monthly service charges only, provided call time usage is less than 30 minutes and phone is in like-new condition.
Usage charges may apply. ✝All plans require the purchase of a Jitterbug phone. In addition, there is a one time set up fee of $35. ✝✝Jitterbug will work almost everywhere in the U.S. where cellular service is avail-
able from most of the major carriers.
P A G E 32 M 2009
AY