No simple words exist to say Godspeed to Sen. John McCain.
Having known him, I only report what he once told me. November ’08 we talked of the heroic years he has known, and the someday experience he might know. His answer to me: “I would like Matt Damon to play me as a prisoner of war.”
Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., is Detroit’s first public viewing for Aretha Franklin. How many times did I write about her? — Let me count a few ways.
In 1999, she told me: “On the road, this Queen of Soul lives like a king.”
2003: “My bus driver knows to make stops for hamburgers.”
2007, at Charlie Rangel’s party: “When the fried chicken’s finished, so is this interview.”
1997, she raved about somebody’s “great grits.”
Besides food, other conversational topics were her wardrobe.
2004, she grabbed a Grammy goodie bag.
2005: “The UN should move into my closet.”
She once told me: “I’ll cut back, but I’ll never give up singing. And if there ever is a last show, I’ll wear Valentino.”
She introduced me to her hairdresser while she flashed a floor-length lynx coat.
1998: “I keep my outfits a while, then I give the stuff to the Salvation Army.”
2015 she said, “I was arrested in the past.”
At Obama’s 2009 inauguration: “A dozen guards frisked my hairdo.”
A Hawaiian vacation from hell
My New Jersey friend Kevin owns Pompton Plains’ high-end camera/electronics shop Deals All Year. His family always wanted to see Hawaii. So they went. Last week. Headed for Maui, a landslide headed them off. The Category 4 hurricane flooded out Oahu. Wind shears closed the pool, furniture was removed, its beach was awash, the hotel ordered everyone away from windows, and workers shook coconut trees so falling fruit didn’t bean anybody. Two restaurants stayed open, but no leisurely dining. One did a box lunch to-go. Its $40 price lowered to $20. Horseback tours, cancelled. Sightseeing limited to the lobby. Check-out was 11 a.m., but they couldn’t check out the other islands, so they scavenged for rooms. All hotels were full. Where Kevin takes his family next summer, who knows. Maybe Newark?
Retros Back
The Cowsills just released an “a cappella” version of their hit “The Rain, the Park and Other Things” (“Flower Girl” song). The days of “Hair” are back. Retro is returning. More retro. TV’s Mo Rocca — who roccas interviews on “CBS Sunday Morning” — is off to “half a mountain someplace in Oregon for Kim Novak,” the 18-karat, golden age of moviemaking’s top star for three years. Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” “Picnic,” “Pal Joey” — she retired in 1992, and seldom allows interviews.
Scam Alert
My cell and computer received so-called alerts from Trump’s leaky lawyer Michael Cohen. Be alert. Better he take his leak elsewhere. I didn’t open these messages, which said “Michael Cohen wants to connect with you via LinkedIn.” Lotsa luck. Just warning you. A new scammer’s out there.
Out & About
Katie Holmes and Suri, 12, at Serendipity, inhaling three sundaes . . . Michael Cera at charming Ugly Baby eatery in charming Brooklyn . . . Soho Chipotle’s line monitoring Chris O’Dowd barking brogue into his cell phone . . . Tables of Hamptons sunburnt burnouts at TBar restaurant, 73rd & Third, where 55 percent ordered fish, 45 percent did steak.
Two Third Avenue bikers: “The lawyering in DC? Enough with these legal types. I had a parking ticket, and my genius got it reduced to second degree manslaughter.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.