Events & News
The 2012 Gala: Raining down good cheer
Rain or shine, the Anglo-American Press Association’s Annual Gala is one of the year’s highlights. This year it was definitely rain. But the inclement weather dampened no spirits. This year the hosts were U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin--who along with the British Ambassador is an honorary AAPA co-president-- and his wife Susan Tolson. The Ambassador welcomed members and guests to…
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Fellow Members, The new AAPA committee held its first meeting November 28 and rapidly got down to work drawing up an exciting and challenging programme for the coming year. The well-attended meeting compiled an eclectic list of events covering potential guests from political, economic, industry, banking, culture, defence and media backgrounds inFranceand…
AAPA Mourns Peter Stephens
Peter Stephens, a long-time Daily Mirror Paris bureau chief and one of the towering figures of the post-World War II foreign press corps, died at his home in the 16th arrondissement on Sept.30. A former president of the AAPA, he was 92. Born inEnglandin 1919, Peter first became fascinated byFrancewhen he arrived with the British Army during World War II. He had been training to be a doctor when…
John D. Panitza
We are sad to announce that John D. Panitza, former Managing Editor of Reader’s Digest and a long-time member of AAPA, died in Paris on July 28 at the age of 80 after a long struggle with cancer. “Dimi,” as he was known to all, worked for the Digest for 42 years, most of them as head of its European Editorial Office in Paris, which produced articles for the magazine’s numerous editions around…
Sun Shines For AAPA's Annual Gala
Our annual spring gala held at the British Embassy residence this year on June 1 had all the necessary ingredients for a successful event: a wonderful setting, a brace of top-level diplomats, fantastic weather, high-caliber guests and great catering. Nearly 100 members and their guests listened as our host and honorary co-president, British Ambassador Peter Westmacott made us feel at home with…
The Association's Author's Night
The Association's Author's Night on March 28 filled John Morris' loft with people eager to learn what inspires authors and how they get their books published. The speakers were a brochette of AAPA member-authors, including Christopher Dickey, Peter Gumbel, David Pike, John Morris, Don Morrison, Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, Alan Riding, Harriet Welty Rochefort and Gerry Dryansky, with a collective…
Farewell to Pat Thompson
We gathered for the burial mass under a gray, damp sky on the morning of December 28 at the Eglise Saint Thomas d'Aquin in the 7th to remember and reflect on the life of longstanding AAPA member Pat Thompson, amid prayers, music and a sense of great loss among some one hundred fifty attending relatives, friends and colleagues. Conducted in English by the American priest Francis Finnigan, the…
The President’s letter
Dear Association Member, Our Annual General Meeting at John Morris’ home on Nov. 24 was a convivial and productive evening. We discussed a number of topics including: our healthy finances, a recap of the many varied guests we received and events which were organized during the past year, our membership tally, and our ever-evolving website. And, of course, we voted for our officers who will serve…
Joanne and Gerry Dryansky's books
Gerry Dryansky and his wife Joanne, who began writing together doing screenplays, have had two of their three novels out now, nearly at the same time, SATAN LAKE and FORTUNE’S SECOND WINK/LA DEUXIEME VIE DE FATIMA. The first is with the prestigious literary houses of Actes Sud in France and McArthur &Co. in Canada and the second with the French Les Editions Héloïse d’Ormesson. Each is in a…
Peter Gumbel's new book
“On achève bien les écoliers” (Grasset) Back in 2002, we moved to Paris from Los Angeles, in part because we wanted our children to have a great European education. French schools, with their high academic standards, seemed to offer just that, at least from a distance. It didn’t take long to discover that the reality of school here is far removed from the magnificent ideal of a great…