SO there I was at dinner, seated between the son of a former U.S. president and a woman for whom sex is a way of life. Dreaming, you say? Projected somehow into JFK Jr.'s honeymoon with his new bride? Not in the least. While attending the dinner held in connection with the celebrity-filled weekend of fun, frolic and fund-raising on behalf of the United States Olympic Committee fund, I found myself with Ron Reagan on my left and Dr. Ruth Westheimer on my right. Both were quite charming with Dr. Ruth telling me I reminded her of a "thin Raymond Burr" and Reagan checking in with "a very thin Raymond Burr." Reagan and I spent quite a bit of time chatting on several occasions and he seemed to relish not having to mingle, appearing surprisingly ill at ease in such a crowd. The diminutive psychologist (who is shorter than you'd think, but otherwise larger than life) could have been teaching a class in Schmoozing 101. "I'll always be back," she confided at dinner, "but I have to work the room." I countered with "This room could use a lot of work," and from that moment on we got along famously ...THE scene of the function was the elegant Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina, which has all the earmarks of a luxury neighbor island hotel except, if you choose, it's a relatively short drive home. At one point as I was lunching with local attorney Rick Fried, tennis pro Ashok Amritraj with wife Chitra,and April and Al Masini, the creator of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," Fried said, "I'm off to watch the Punahou game." I asked if it was on TV. "No," he replied, "I'm going to the game." Seems I'd forgotten we were indeed on Oahu ...
THE Masinis' $10 million home was featured in a Star-Bulletin story last week and Al was something of a star at the resort, too, since Robin Leach, who's worked for him for 14 years, emceed most events and the participants were some of the self-same rich and famous people you see profiled on "Lifestyles" ...
THERE were familiar faces, some of which you could attach names to, everywhere you looked around the Ihilani. You might spot Jay Thomas (of "Mr. Holland's Opus" or, better yet, "Cheers,"), Alan Thicke, Hal Linden or Robert Stack. There were former pro athletes like Walter Payton, Willie Gault and James Worthy. Plus local Olympians and such visiting medal winners as Matt Biondi, Bruce Jenner, Jair Lynch, Lisa Leslie and Karch Kiraly ...
THE auction, which raised many thousands for USOC Hawaii, was presided over by event organizer Marjoe Gortner, a former child evangelist turned showbiz impresario, who doubled as auctioneer. Beginning with "Hallelujah!", he proved to be a kind of amalgam of local auctioneer Marty McClain and Al Sharpton who knew how to put the touch on people ...
THE celeb probably having the most fun was Peter Fonda, who was dancing so intensely to the music of Clarence Clemons (late of the E Street Band) that he nearly slipped off the stage. Still, wildest dancer award went to Richard Dean Anderson, and who would have thought "MacGyver" was such a party animal. Dr. Ruth even got me out on the dance floor, which might have been the topper until I found her around midnight on stage doing a kind of personalized boogaloo with Clemons. It was a wild couple of days, and all for a good cause ...
