Investors’ Message: Social Awareness Pays Dividends
PUTTING THEIR MONEY . . . The conference has a rather conservative title--”Socially Responsible Investing.” But when the 200 participants--who are in charge of investing an estimated minimum of $100 million--get together on Nov. 15, what is on the agenda is economically revolutionary.
Sponsored by the Liberty Hill Foundation--the progressive group whose board includes folks like movie producer-heiress Sarah Pillsbury and producer Lisa Weinstein--the daylong meeting at the Century Plaza is expected to attract both individuals who invest their own money and people who manage large investment portfolios. The invitation states that “chances are your money is financing enterprises that violate your social ethics--ventures like nuclear power, missiles and warheads, South African apartheid, environmental destruction or unfair labor practices.”
“Investment is a hot topic,” Liberty Hill executive Mary Jo Mach said, “but no one knows how to divest. They can debate it all they want, but no one knows how to do it . . . . We are bringing in the people who know how to do it.” Mach was clear that the conference “wasn’t pushing divestiture. It’s truly an overview. All positions.”
SECURITY--The streets surrounding the Beverly Hills home of the late Rock Hudson will be closed Saturday for the 5 p.m. memorial service. Don’t try to crash. The only ones admitted will be those bearing the invitation telegram sent by Elizabeth Taylor this week.
BLUEPRINT FOR CURE--That’s the theme of the Oct. 29 dinner honoring William Robertson, county chairman of the AFL-CIO, and chaired by MCA’s Lew Wasserman, department store head Philip Hawley and Mayor Tom Bradley (who’ll be in Japan, because the original date of the dinner was switched). The money from the $150-a-head dinner will go toward the $7-million pledge from Pat Campbell, national president of the Carpenters’ Union, to build the Diabetes Institute Building, a research facility at the University of Miami. Many national labor leaders will be at the Century Plaza in conjunction with the biannual AFL-CIO national convention being held in Anaheim. . . . On another diabetes front, “Days of Our Lives’ ” Gloria Loring is chairing the Gordon’s Diamond Walk to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Set for Oct. 29 on the Westside, the walk will feature actors like Emma Samms and Pierce Brosnan and scads of folks from the daytime soaps.
OHMIGOSH--Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner will at last try to retire the remnant of his $600,000 campaign debt at a $150-a-head dinner at the Century Plaza Dec. 3. . . . It came in the mail--an announcement that there would be a “history-making Mississippi Queen Steamboat Cruise to forge new partnerships between businesswomen and political leaders.” You’ll no doubt want to save the date--Feb. 14-17, 1986. It’s set to feature Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, former V.P. candidate Geraldine Ferraro and Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.).
BUT WHO IS IT, REALLY?--Get ready for next year’s big guessing game, featuring the roman a clef, “Power City,” written by 29-year-old publicist Beth Herman when she left Rogers & Cowan last year. Bantam brings it out in the spring and the former Bostonian is getting ready to sign for a miniseries. It’s one of the first novels to go behind the scenes in P.R. land--and although there are strong rumors that some famous flacks will get their comeuppance, Herman insists that “my characters are composites.” What fun sorting out one evil trait from another. . . . British author Pat Booth’s soon-out sizzler, centered on the East Coast rich, “Palm Beach,” is dedicated to who else but Roxanne Pulitzer.
STAR CITINGS--At the dinner honoring ABC’s Gary Pudney, chaired by Wallis Annenberg and Tony Thomopoulos, which raised more than $225,000 for the Devereux Foundation: Scads of celebs, including Carol Burnett, John and Julie Forsythe, Gloria and Jimmy Stewart. . . . Not just once, but two weekends in a row, Madonna and Sean Penn, at Helena’s in Silver Lake (that’s the dance club at the site of the old Intersection). . . . Lots of famous faces at the opening last Saturday of Andrea Marcovicci’s Torch Songs at the Gardenia in Hollywood. At last--something to do at midnight on a Saturday night. Just like N.Y.C.
