“Hello – I’m Johnny Cash.”
That’s how Debra Winger started her speech Thursday at the CHOICES 2006 luncheon for the Allied Jewish Federation. More than 1,000 women and a few guys showed up for the annual funder at the Colorado Convention Center.
Winger whizzed through a short speech on “close calls” and their meaning. She was surprisingly composed – especially after overhearing a woman in the ladies room before her talk predicting she would bomb. She just laughed it off.
The memorable moment of the luncheon came when co-chair Elin Robbin-Geman shared the news that she needed a kidney transplant last year – and her daughter’s fiancé, Brian Cersie, gave her one of his. Holy smoke. Talk about meet the parents!
The real McCoy
I heard this week with great sadness that my pal Joan McCoy died in Boulder on Feb. 18. She was travel editor at the Rocky when I first worked there as a freelancer and tricked editor Ralph Looney into hiring me full time.
She suffered a head injury in Mexico while on assignment in 1985 – and was never really the same. She took to shouting obscenities out loud in restaurants, which brought some hilarious moments to our lunches with fellow newsmen Joe Rassenfoss and Joe Verrengia.
She started in the newsroom in the ’60s, when there weren’t many women on staff. But she could swear with the best of ’em and drink more scotch than most of ’em. She quit drinking years before I met her, but often talked of her tippling days.
One of my favorite exchanges with Joan went something like this: “You know, Bill, I quit drinking 13 years ago,” she said. “But some days, I swear, I walk out of the paper and still want to have a drink.”
“Well, you get to do the next best thing,” I told her.
“What’s that?”
“You get to watch me drink.”
And she did. Cheers, Joan.
Sitting and driving
John Elway heads to Bassett Furniture on Thursday for a VIP reception to introduce his furniture line, Elway Home. Guests will get a gander at his New American Retreat living room, dining room, bedroom, Elway Home Theater and Elway Home Game Table and Bar.
He’ll probably have more fun April 8 at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Calif.. He’s in a celeb race in a spiffed-up Toyota in a field of 19 that includes Frankie Muniz, Mark Spitz, William Shatner and Martina Navratilova.
City spirit
Beringer Denver Restaurant Week started Saturday night and runs through Friday. $58.20 for two multicourse dinners. Such a deal. Check out restaurants and menus at
denver.org. It’s going to be one crazy week … Sightem: Gwyneth Paltrow reading out loud to her daughter, Apple, and a few other kids at the Children’s Museum last Sunday … Tix on sale for David Sedaris at the May 1 Pen & Podium series at the Newman Center at DU. Tix at Ticketmaster and 303-871-7720. Local best-selling author J.R. Moehringer has been signed for a November appearance … Sez who: “I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” David Sedaris
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-820-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com.
