Today’s New York Times details a backlash against the philanthropy of the drug-dealing Sackler clan, best known here in New York as the donors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur (above), Sackler Wing and Sackler Galleries. The back story of the current controversy is told in Rogues’ Gallery, my book on how the super-rich have used that museum–and other causes–to launder their reputations and in the words of the book’s epigraph from Bernard Mandeville, turn “Private Vices…into Publick Benefits.”  The story begins in 1963, and includes the family’s invention of modern drug marketing (Sackler made Valium the first … Continue reading →

Expect Gripepad to come alive again, as I’ve left Avenue Magazine after just under two-and-a-half years as its Editor-in-Chief. It was fun while it lasted. Next!

Holders of American Express Platinum cards can read my cover story on the rebirth of St. Barth post Hurricane Irma in the new issue of Departures.  Less privileged folk (like me, for instance) will have to wait until it is unlocked.

And now comes the news that the owners of Calvin Klein, the brand, are closing its high-end collection business following the departure of designer Raf Simons, who failed to be its savior.  Calvin Klein, the man, lives on, both in the world and in my archives, thanks to my second-ever cover story for New York Magazine. It appeared in summer 1988, shortly after Calvin reappeared in New York to launch his scent Eternity following a much-publicized stint in drug rehab. Fun fact:  When I started reporting the story, the company pulled its advertising from New York, and didn’t return to … Continue reading →