The Crowd

B.W. Cook

You’ve heard of Sunday in the Park with George? In Newport Beach this

past Sunday, it was a late afternoon in Belcourt with Irv. Just as much

fun, but a bit more highbrow and literary.

Irv is our one and only Irwin Gellman. Known to friends and locals as

Irv, Gellman is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author, residing in Corona Del

Mar with his bride, Gloria Gae Gellman, known in very select circles as

‘the Glam.’

Together, the socially prominent couple joined forces with the very

special Newport Beach Public Library Foundation for a Sunday soiree at

the posh Belcourt residence of Carolyne and Gerry Johnson.

Life does not get much better when you combine interesting people with a

great cause in a beautiful setting. Add great food, fine wine, perfect

weather and the Johnson’s lovable fur person, (a.k.a. dog) Frasier, who

had been bathed and groomed for the party so that he could mingle with

the guests, and you have the makings of a memorable afternoon on the

social circuit.

First, a bit more on the people. Gellman has been making news lately with

the release of his hardcover historical investigation of the early years

of Richard Nixon. The book, titled ‘The Contender: Richard Nixon, The

Congress Years 1946-1952,’ has garnered favorable criticism from some of

the nation’s harshest reviewers.

In the Wall Street Journal this month, Daniel Silver praised Gellman’s

approach, and Richard Bernstein of the New York Times calls the book ‘a

full-scale political biography, with an overall effect that is persuasive

enough to cause some reflection on the entrenchment of images in American

political life.’

Why even the Daily Pilot, in a front page story several weeks ago,

compared the meteoric rise of attention focused on Gellman to a certain

singer named Ricky Martin.

The author is flabbergasted by the comparison. His wife jests, ‘We’re

livin’ La Vida Loca,’ referring to Martin’s Top 40 pop single that is

making teens scream.

In actuality, the Nixon biography is the result of years of research by

Gellman, who reports that he received unprecedented access to files at

the Nixon Library and at other scholarly depositories.

Gellman, who is a Republican, claims that his work is nonpartisan.

‘I am a historian. My job is to report the facts and let the truth, for

better or for worse, speak for itself,’ said the author, who will write

future volumes about the Nixon legacy before and during the Watergate

scandal.

‘The Contender,’ supported by Gellman’s documented research, dispels many

widely held myths about the former president.

Among the most controversial aspects of the book are commonly accepted

reports of early Nixon-attributed redbaiting and other anti-communist

tactics and propaganda are challenged.

‘I am not a Nixon apologist,’ insists Gellman. ‘Rather, I challenge other

historians to seek and write the truth in the political realm.’

Gellman tackled the subject at the suggestion of his wife and partner,

Gloria.

‘She reminded me that we live in Nixon country. His political base was

here. His library and his memorial are here. Many of his surviving

friends and associates are here. Why not study a man who had an enormous

impact on later 20th century world history who lived, worked and began

his career right here in our own backyard?’

Gellman was convinced by his wife’s logic and with her very able

assistance (Gloria has served as sounding board, editor, and press

relations maven), the result is the first of a multivolume historical

review Gellman hopes will set a new standard concerning the historical

biography.

The hosts of the Library Foundation gathering featuring Gellman were

Carolyne and Gerry Johnson. They opened their chic residence with support

from fellow friends of the library, Alison and Bud Frenzel and Patricia

and Carl Neisser. The generosity of the triad of hosts made possible an

exquisite afternoon repast of delectable indulgence of mind and palate.

Beverly and David Carmichael, Dee Higby, Elizabeth and Tom Tierney, Hedda

Marosi, Twyla and Chuck Martin, Elizabeth and John Stahr, and Robin and

James Turner, were among those in attendance to support the foundation

and to hear Gellman speak.

After a hour of mingling, the guest of honor proceeded to the landing on

the Johnson staircase as the crowd -- which also included Lois Stovall,

Diana Martin, Rosalie Eastman, Barbara and Bill Adams, Steve Christensen,

Tracey Keys, Nora Lehman, and Barbara and Victor Klein -- gathered in the

spacious entry alcove to hear the inside scoop.

Sharing a childhood story, Gellman endeared the crowd, relating that as a

child in the inner-city neighborhoods of Baltimore, he sought refuge from

the hostile cold of winter in a city library not far from his family’s

apartment. Recognizing that the master Gellman was hiding out in the

library rather than using the facility, the librarian, a man named

Wozenetsky, insisted that Gellman’s passport to remaining was to be found

on the shelves. As long as he read he would be welcome.

In time, Gellman, a young teen, would go from reading one book a week to

many, and his love for reading, for knowledge, for the truth, would be

born and nourished.

‘I’ve looked everywhere to find this man without luck,’ Gellman told his

silent audience. ‘I want to thank him for changing my life,’ added the

author who shared his most personal memory. ‘Mr. Wozenetsky told me that

one day I should do the same for somebody else.’

Today Irv and Gloria Gellman are completing the circle, supporting

students doing research at the National Archives.

And finally, a little focus on the Newport Beach Library Foundation,

which has raised in excess of $1.5 million largely due to the efforts of

John and Elizabeth Stahr.

Considered one of the finest libraries of its size and scope, given the

size and demographics of this community, the Newport Beach Public Library

is a valuable trust open to the entire populace.

The foundation seeks to ensure the stability of the library and have

funds for its growth without dependence on the winds of financial change

that sweep the public sector from time to time.

Library trustees Jim Wood, Bob and Penny Knox and librarians Susan

Warren, Susie Lamb and Marianne Yesk with her husband, Al Yesk, were in

the crowd to witness the community support for the foundation.

Gellman shared his insight on the Nixon research, fielded questions and

signed books. All proceeds from the Sunday afternoon with Irv in Belcourt

go to the foundation.

‘You’ve gotta love the library. It’s the very best,’ Gellman said.

Indeed it is.

* B.W. COOK’S column appears every Thursday and Saturday.