Adult Illiteracy Is Barbara Bush’s Topic

Adult illiteracy--and there’s more of it in the United States than you may suspect--is Barbara Bush’s special interest. It’s the subject she’ll tackle Sept. 12 when she appears as guest of honor at the Club 100’s luncheon session in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s Blue Ribbon Room. The vice president’s wife is on a tight schedule so she’ll skip lunch and arrive just in time for her talk. Joyce Rosenblum, Club 100’s new president, and Judy Ruderman who is coordinating the event, will be around for the whole time. Club 100 is the Music Center support group that holds training sessions for volunteers.

Vive la France! That’s the rallying cry for La Belle France, a black-tie dinner dance hosted by Mrs. Harry Wetzel, Mrs. Harold Keith and Bullocks Wilshire on Sept. 6 for the benefit of KUSC-FM, the classical music and arts station.

The party will also help launch Bullocks Wilshire’s celebration of all things French--fashion, designs and cultural creations. The evening’s guest of honor will be Pierre Letocart, executive director of the Board of French Trade. And the evening’s star attractions will be fashion designer Bernard Perris, shoe designer Maud Frizon and Verney Joailliers’ designer Michel Ermelin showing their glorious creations.

The dinner committee includes Wallis Annenberg, Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Ayres, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Evans, the Simon Ramos, Joan Palevsky, French Consul General Francois Mouton, French Cultural Attache Alexandre Tolstoi and French Trade Commissioner Alain Galliano and his wife. Also Bullocks Wilshire president Jerome Nemiro and his wife, Dolores; the Thomas Vreelands; the Andre Lamberts, and a host of others who appreciate the finest France has to offer. The veritable shower of truly French food served that night will be prepared by Rococo. D’accord!

The Zekman-Weisman clan held a giant reunion this weekend organized by art patron Fred Weisman, grandson of David Zekman and Fanny Gottlick. To keep family lines straight (and to help some of the far-flung clan realize where they stand in the scheme of things), Fred had a scrolled family tree for every one of the assorted Weismans, Frankels, Briskins, Nadels, Oxmans. The guests ranged in age from 93 (Bessie Kohn) to 3 months (Natan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Shmulik Etziony) and came from as far away as New York, Chicago and Fort Smith, Ark. The gathering included Marcia Simon Weisman, Fred’s former wife and a knowledgeable art collector and lecturer; their son Richard and his children, Abby and Robin; Fred’s brother Ted and his daughters--Judy with her husband, Dr. Jay Nadel, who is doing research on cystic fibrosis, and Sharon and her husband, Noel Frankel, who live in New York; and from Chicago Pam Zekman, a television investigative reporter, and her husband, Rick Soll. And lots more.

The night before Neiman-Marcus opened its new Palo Alto store with a big, black-tie bash, Denise and Prentis Cobb Hale gave a much cozier little party honoring N-M chairman Richard Marcus and his wife, Heather. The place was L’Etoile, still one of San Francisco’s classiest restaurants, and, as she always does, Denise brought the tablecloth and the accessories from home and filled the private party room with flowers. The carefully culled guest list included Paris’ Princess Ghislaine de Polignac with her beau, Viscount Philippe du Rasquier; Angelenos Mary and Phil Hawley (he’s chairman of Carter Hawley Hale, which owns Neiman-Marcus), Architectural Digest’s Paige Rense, Patti and Tommy Skouras; and among the top drawer San Franciscans, Mrs. Francis Martin, Mrs. John Ward Mailliard III (she’s the city’s whirlwind party planner), Mrs. John Rosekrans (she’s S.F.’s fashion forecaster), Adolphus Andrews, Sally Jordan of the Jordan Vineyards, interior designer Michael Taylor and Sandra Mosbacher.

Every woman’s dream came true the other night at David Jones’ party for Houston’s Lester Rutledge. There, in full view, was Rutledge’s collection of fabulous jewels--a 200-karat carved emerald turtle with pave diamond head and ruby eyes, a 62-karat emerald necklace, salmon-colored coral nestled amid coral-colored begonias--and no one said “No” to touching and trying on. The jewelry was in Jones’ La Grenouillere, his Sunset Boulevard floral and antiques boutique. The partying went on under a tent in the parking lot where a giant steel chandelier was decorated with clouds of baby’s breath and begonias. It was hard not to ooh and aah.

The mob under that chandelier included Matilda and Harold Stream, Virginia Milner, Kalef Alaton, Jack Lowrance, Contessa Cohn, Paul and Joan Selwyn, William and Cornie Farrer, Gus Tassell, Paige Rense, Tamara Asseyev and Jan Kobler, who flew in from Santa Fe for a look-see.

The Social Scramble: Aida Grey and Doug Behrend, who still act like lovebirds after 30 years of marriage, and former I. Magnin vice president Van Venneri are back from a cruise to Alaska. A day or two after the ship brought them back to L.A., Van was spotted holding hands at the Bistro Garden with Robert Hicks, who has sold his automobile agencies for plenty of bucks.

On the dinner scene at Le St. Germain--Tiffany’s Arlette Brisson with Line Renaud, whose French play will definitely go on the stage in Palm Beach early next year; Don Ameche and his family; Tom and Ruth Jones celebrating a wedding anniversary; John DeLorean who obviously likes good food; Stevie Wonder; Houston columnist Maxine Messinger with Alexis Smith and Craig Stevens; Myles Lowell. And in for lunch--Estee Lauder’s Philip Greibe with Lucy Zahran Bonorris whose table-top accessories shop opens at the Beverly Center next week, just a few days off schedule; Bea Arthur; Phyllis Kirk; “The Jeffersons’ ” Molly Gibbs; Paramount executives Arthur Baron and Frank Mancuso.

Earlier this week Leonard and Ruth Gross, who are off to Europe for a month, gave a little bye-bye dinner at L’Orangerie.

Strolling through the lobby of Paris’ Plaza Athenee--Larry and Sachi Irwin and son John; Kathy and Chris Matsumoto with son Michael; Roz and Henry Kramer; Janice Levin, who was on her way to Monte Carlo.

Red Letter Days: Saturday for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital gala at the Century Plaza Hotel. That’s the night Barry Manilow entertains, and hosts Rose Marie and Danny Thomas give out special awards. Manilow will receive the Entertainer of the Year plaque. Joan Kroc, owner of the San Diego Padres, receives the Woman of the Year citation and Beverly Hills philanthropist Hal Gershman the Man of the Year award. Mrs. Kroc is the largest single contributor to St. Jude’s. (The top floor of the Memphis, Tenn., hospital, the intensive care unit, is named for her late husband, Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonald’s restaurant chain).

Sept. 6 when Bullock’s honors 18 women executives from Southern California with its first Portfolio Awards at a Chasen’s lunch. The award is a beaut--a wearable piece of art by jewelry designer Tulla Booth.

Sept. 7 when Sybil Brand presents the Jeffrey Foundation’s special awards to “PM Magazine” and “Mid-Morning Los Angeles” during the foundation’s Annual Celebrity Outreach Picnic at the Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey.

Sept. 8 when Jack Elliott’s Foundation for New American Music holds its seventh annual invitational Garden Musicale and Buffet at the home of Margo and Irwin Winkler.

Isn’t it romantic: Marvena Jones, who’s in the public relations business, and William Herbert McIlhany II, a documentary film producer from Newport Beach, met on a cruise to Mexico in May. Love blossomed and on Aug. 14 they were married by Capt. Ricardo Sicre aboard Sicre’s yacht Piropo off the coast of Monaco. Carol Welles Doheny was matron of honor and Count Hilaire du Bernier was best man. After honeymooning in Paris’ Georges V, the couple will live in Beverly Hills and Newport.