Q & A / BETTY GOODWIN : The Hip Parade

Question:

Who’s the hippest person you know?

Ron Meyers, interior designer, Atlas Bar & Grill, Club Lux, Tryst:

“Oh that’s very easy. Richard Rouilard, the editor of the Advocate. I’ve known him for, like, four or five years. I’ve lived all around the world and known an awful lot of hip people and I’ve never met anyone so consistently on the pulse. I don’t mean that in the visual sense. He’s not in the fashion 500. It’s an emotional thing. He definitely has a sense of what’s going on in the world, whether it’s a party or a dinner, or a political or emotional situation. There’s nobody more exciting to be around.”

Kathie Gordon, co-owner, Toscana, Rosti and OliOla restaurants:

“I think it’s (movie producer) Sherry Lansing. She’s probably not hip in a classic sense. But the work she does both professionally and personally is really very hip. Her movies are right on with the times and her involvement with charities--particularly cancer and AIDS--is so vital.”

Jennifer Joanou, fashion designer and retailer:

“Does it have to be someone I know? When I think of actresses, I think Anjelica Huston is one of the hippest--the way she carries herself and lives her life. She’s very classic, but still in. She knows what’s going on without being trendy. That’s too hip to me. The hippest person I know is my father. His name is Phil Joanou, and he runs an advertising agency called Dalley Associates. He’s very up on everything. He’s smart and well-informed and reads avidly. He keeps up with politics, the film industry; he’s very into art; he watches MTV. And when I went into this business, he started reading Women’s Wear Daily.”

Glenn Goldman, owner, Book Soup:

“I’d have to say Larry Silverton. He’s the father of Nancy Silverton, the chef at Campanile. He operates real freely without a lot of preconceptions. He’s a great listener and a great talker. To me, hipness is a quality of relating to people and things in an honest and un-preconceived way, and he embodies those notions of hipness. What does he do? He’s a lawyer, which makes it extraordinary because I don’t think I’ve ever met a hip lawyer, aside from him.”

Joan Quinn, host of “Joan Quinn Etc.,” a talk show on Century, Continental and BHTV cable television:

“Besides my husband, Jack, it’s (artist) David Hockney. He doesn’t care about being hip, yet he’s creative, well-read and spiritual. He knows opera and he loves talking about substantive things. He has his own opinions and isn’t afraid to state them, even if they run against the grain. I could say the same about my husband, except he doesn’t know opera.”