Morsels on Rye 2-8-13

Engagements

Goodenough – Kantarian

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Goodenough of Rye are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Kathryn Louise, to Brian Haig Kantarian, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arlen Kantarian, also of Rye.

The future bride and groom both graduated from Rye High School. Ms. Goodenough graduated from the University of Virginia and is currently employed at Siguler Guff & Company, a multi-strategy private equity firm.

Mr. Kantarian earned a BSBA from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. He works in the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan.

A September wedding is planned.

The Community Comes Out for Carly

By Janice Llanes Fabry

Despite frigid weather, hundreds of fans flocked to Mamaroneck Avenue for the parade for singing sensation Carly Rose Sonenclar on January 27. Families cheered for X-Factor’s 13-year-old runner-up as she waved to the crowd from an open convertible she shared with Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum. 

Accompanying her on the parade route were the local fire, police, and EMS departments, the Saints Brigade Drum and Bugle Corps of Port Chester, and the Boy Scouts of America. While the County Executive presented Sonenclar with a proclamation declaring January 27 Carly Rose Sonenclar Day, the Mayor gave her the key to the city.

At a reviewing stand, she greeted the crowd. The humble Rye Neck eighth grader admitted that although she was overwhelmed by the thought of a parade in her honor, she embraced the opportunity to express her gratitude.

Fans came from far and wide. After learning about the parade on Facebook, diehard fan Sheila Brown and her family came all the way from Virginia. “We came to New York to see ‘Spiderman’ and Carly,” she shared. 

At a private reception at Molly Spillane’s, she was joined by kids she has worked with as an ambassador for the Starlight Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic illnesses or severe injuries. She also posed graciously with “Carly’s Angels” and signed plenty of autographs.

“I’m very appreciative of the support my town has given me. This whole experience has been amazing,” said Sonenclar. “X-Factor was fun, but all good things come to an end and, hopefully, this is a new beginning.”

Indeed, this is only the opening number for the rising star. She and her family are currently weighing all their prospects before signing on to a record deal.

Legally Local

Random Farms Kids’ Theater recently staged the musical production of “Legally Blonde” at the Tarrytown Music Hall. The theater group’s multiple casts brought the story of Elle Woods, a Malibu sorority girl turned Harvard Law Student to life. The production featured local talent, including Hadley Durkee, starring as Elle Woods, and Allison Pearle, both of Rye, and Emma DePaola, Samantha Gibbs, and Emily Kitchin, all of Rye Brook.

“Our amazing performers worked tirelessly to bring audiences this exciting, high-energy Broadway musical,” said Random Farms Director Alexis Grausz.

DeMille At RFRR, Ready For His Close-Up

By Tom McDermott

If your idea of a best-selling author, one who has 30 million books in circulation, is a stuffy, pipe-smoking, tweedy poobah, you haven’t met Nelson DeMille. Anthony Mason, a Rye Free Reading Room Trustee and CBS News’ senior business and economics correspondent, interviewed the popular novelist at the library in front of a packed house January 27.

DeMille is a self-deprecating, witty, regular guy from Long Island, which is the backdrop for a number of his books. His latest novel, “The Panther,” was published by Grand Central in October and is the sixth in the John Corey Anti-Terrorist Task Force series. The action in the new book takes place in Yemen, where Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have managed to get themselves sent to find the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, an Al Qaeda operative known as, you guessed it, The Panther.

Did DeMille, whom his father named after Lord Nelson, actually go to Yemen? “No!” the author laughed off the question, but he spent over a year researching the story.

DeMille was a decorated Vietnam vet in the mid-70’s, newly armed with a degree from Hofstra, when he began writing paperback NYPD police procedurals.  His first major book was “By The Rivers Of Babylon,”  which appeared in 1978, “because I knew people in the publishing business, who told me what might sell.” The result was a Book Of The Month Club main selection, and, according to DeMille, “earned $300,000, but it was not only about the money; I was being read!”

The author was asked about his “clairvoyance” regarding events he writes about before they happen in the real world, as he did with “The Lion’s Game” in 2000, which presaged the September 11 tragedy. He answered that clairvoyance has nothing to do with it, and that it’s all about research and having great sources, people who already knew something like that would happen one day.

What would DeMille’s Plan B have been, if his books had not sold? “Maybe archeology. I was always interested in that.”

Those in the audience seemed pleased that his Plan A worked out so well.

The interview followed the Rye Library annual meeting, at which three new trustees – Ted Burdick, Sarah Wise-Miller, and Amee Sheldon – were elected.