Booking Authors for a Cause

Mayor Richard Riordan, his wife, Nancy, and their Yorkshire terrier Molly headlined an epic civic adventure in Brentwood on Monday, as the Riordans and 62 other hosts across metropolitan Los Angeles opened their homes for parties to raise money for the Los Angeles Public Library.

From San Marino to Santa Monica--on hilltops, in canyons and valleys--caterers bustled, champagne corks popped and hearths crackled as guests arrived at opulent homes to dine with celebrity hosts, famous authors and residents who had paid from $300 to $2,500 for the evening.

“You really get a lot out of doing this,” said Susan Niven, who with husband Michael was hosting her second library dinner bash. (The first was held two years ago.) Economist Paul Erdman was “their” author for the evening; the theme was “The Color of Money.” The table was set in green, silver and gold, and guests were dressed to match.

Wolfgang Puck cooked for the Riordans, whose guest of honor was Buzz Bissinger, Pulitzer Prize-winner who cataloged the trials of Philadelphia’s mayor in “A Prayer for the City.”

Down the road, the strains of Beethoven wafted through the windows of Noel and Gordon Hentschel’s 1929 home, where authors Shirlee Taylor Haizlip and Harold Haizlip (“Memoirs of a Marriage”) dined with Eli and Edye Broad, George Fenimore, Dr. Carol Bennett and her neurosurgeon husband, Dr. Keith Black. In Hancock Park, the flowers were not eaten off the cake of hosts Dean Hansell and Jason Murakawa--because the petals were real. John Rechy (“The Coming of the Night”) was guest of honor at this white-themed table.