BHL meets the AAPA
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy met with the AAPA on April 6th. Levy, better known by his initials, BHL, strode casually into the Bloomberg conference room… dressed in his usual attire – a black suit and collarless white shirt. He was very relaxed throughout the meeting, or perhaps it was jetlag. He had just returned from New York that morning. Levy is quite the statesman these days. He…
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…
World Could Dodge Oil Shock - IEA Chief
The global economy would suffer from sustained oil prices of $100 a barrel, but the current output of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members is reducing the risk of a real oil shock like the one in 2008 when the price of oil spiked to nearly $150, the head of the International Energy Agency told a group of AAPA members on Feb. 18. If today's oil prices endure, then "the…
Rohatyn Speaks Out
Felix Rohatyn touched only briefly on his recently-published memoirs. When we met with him on Feb. 8 in an informal meeting at Member John Morris' apartment. Rohatyn, a longtime investment banker and former AAPA honorary co-president from the time when he was U.S. Ambassador to France, spent most of the evening airing his views on a wide range of issues in the news, ranging from the need to…
Supercop Grilled by AAPA
Ronald Noble, the head of international crime-busting organization Interpol, gave a rare insight into the group's workings when he was grilled by more than 30 AAPA members on Feb. 3. Noble has headed the Lyon-based organization since 2000 and was recently re-elected to a third five-year term. He told us how Interpol is grappling with the ever-increasing workload of international cooperation among…
A Preview of My Fair Lady
Days before it opened to raving critics and enthusiastic audiences, more than 30 AAPA members and guests enjoyed a sneak preview of the popular musical "My Fair Lady" at the Chatelet Theater on Dec. 3. The show's lively, creative director, Jean-Luc Choplin spent nearly an hour with us, answering questions about challenges of presenting a musical in English with French subtitles . He…
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…
ESA Explores The Final Frontier
People don’t realize how much their daily lives depend on space technology, according to the head of the European Space Agency. “To help EU citizens understand how much they rely on space in their daily lives,” ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain told AAPA members on Dec. 1, “I would like to have a ‘Space Day’ every year when I turn off all the satellites. Then they will see how important…