Vanity Fair articles from December 2003

Vanity Fair archives from December 2003

Hall of Fame 2003.(photoessay on celebrities, heroes, famous events, and figures of note)(Illustration)
December 1, 2003... Photographs by annie leibovitz, with jonas karlsson, helmut newton, mark seliger, and art streiber Poster girl for the 200,000 american soldiers who served in iraq this year, private jessica lynch leads the lineup, while her former boss,...

"Somebody hung my baby".(death of Ray Golden and trial to determine whether his death was suicide or murder)
December 1, 2003... The death of Ray Golden, found hanging from a tree in his grandmother's yard on May 28, was ruled a suicide. Ray's mother is among the many black residents of Belle Glade who believe he was lynched. Had he been dating a white police officer's...

Mickey Spillane's pulp sensation.
December 1, 2003... With the 1947 introduction of Mike Hammer, his private-eye hero, Mickey Spillane sent America into a pulp-fiction frenzy. The critics savaged him. His work was deplored in the Senate. And the public couldn't get enough. CLIFF ROTHMAN tracks down...

Postcards from paradise.(photographer Slim Aarons chronicles the life of the wealthy and the famous)(Illustration)
December 1, 2003... When Slim Aarons published A Wonderful Time, his photo album of the rich at play, in 1974, the book fell flat. Three decades later, it's essential inspiration for top designers, art directors, and interior decorators; copies go for up to $2,000;...

Crimes and connections.(coverage of celebrity trials)
December 1, 2003... A link between Kobe Bryant and the Moxley murder, says Robert Kennedy Jr. No link between the Sansum-gallery scandal and Dennis Kozlowski's trial, says the Manhattan D.A. The author investigates both possibilities as one of the most admirable...

Bush's court advantage.(George W. Bush's influence on federal judgeships)
December 1, 2003... With 164 of the president's choices for federal judgeships already confirmed, Americans can expect a future of far-right activism in the courts. Senate Democrats have finally said "Enough," but the stories of three Bush nominees-Priscilla Owen,...

Code of dishonor.(sexual assaults of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy)
December 1, 2003... After Beth Davis told the U.S. Air Force Academy she'd been raped by another cadet, she was punished. But she and her classmates Lisa Ballas and Jessica Brakey, who'd also reported sexual assaults, decided to fight the system. The air force is...

How the poor live now.(Americans at or near the poverty line)
December 1, 2003... Many of America's poor can't find a job. Others work two or three. Then there are the children. The number who live below the poverty line continues to climb. If we decide this is unacceptable, writes a leading presidential candidate, we can do...

Small is beautiful.(Todd McFarlane's celebrity action figures)
December 1, 2003... Thanks to obsessions such as Latrell Sprewell's scalp and Adam Sandler's teeth, Todd McFarlane's adult-oriented action figures are more than just plastic replicas of pop-culture stars or characters-they're sort of art! The man who once showed...

The mogul of city hall.(Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York, New York)
December 1, 2003... Credit Michael Bloomberg with steering New York through a fiscal crisis, calming racial tensions, and taking control of a hopeless school system. Yet he's been less popular than any New York mayor in the last 25 years. After deftly handling...

The Smithsonian's big chill.(political issues surrounding exhibit of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge photography at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)
December 1, 2003... Impressed by Subhankar Banerjee's photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's vibrant ecosystem, the Smithsonian planned a high-profile exhibit. But when those images became part of a fierce Senate debate over oil drilling, the museum...

Florentine mischief.(ownership debate over historic Italian villa La Pietra, formerly owned by of Harold Acton)
December 1, 2003... Sir Harold Acton bequeathed the 15th-century Italian villa where he entertained artists, writers, and British royalty to New York University in 1994. But Princess Dialta Alliata di Montereale, whose mother's claim that she was Acton's...

The president? Go figure.(George W. Bush's political track record)(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)
December 1, 2003... As we near the three-quarter mark in the current president's eventful run, it's probably as good a time as any to assess his achievements to date. There's lots of ground to cover here, so let's do it scorecard-style. Ambitious Warrior ...

Portrait of Passion.(Girl with a Pearl Earring)(Movie Review)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Bruce Handy With 14 pictures under her belt, Scarlett Johansson has established a career nearly as chaste as Sidney Poitier's. Her new film, Girl with a Pearl Earring, is set in 1665 and boasts vivid scenes of pre-Maytag...

Hearts and Minds.(The Fog of War)(Movie Review)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Bruce Handy The Pentagon screened The Battle of Algiers last summer in an effort to gain a handle on Iraq. Couldn't hurt, right? And here's a nomination for the brass's next movie-appreciation night: The Fog of War, an astonishing,...

Guilty Pleasure ELF.(Movie Review)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Jim Windolf Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen. Directed by: Jon Favreau for New Line Cinema. Find your seat and grab your Milk Duds: November 7. Fade in: A naive human being raised by elves...

Hot Type.(new books)(Bibliography)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Elissa Schappell While Freudians beat a retreat with their cigars between their legs, Jung-the father of analytic psychology and master of the collective unconscious-has seen his popularity rise. In Jung (Little, Brown), Deirdre...

Snapshots from the Edge.(by Wim Wenders )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: A. M. Homes Given his father's Leica camera as a child, Wim Wenders began to practice the art of seeing, making images in his mind's eye. Best known for his finely crafted films-Wings of Desire, Buena Vista Social Club, and Paris,...

Cafe Society.(Sant Ambroeus)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Matt Tyrnauer Well-heeled New Yorkers and the city's vast diaspora of Eurotrash have been in mourning for two years, since the closing of the Madison Avenue coffee bar Sant Ambroeus, a bastion of Italian civility (and...

Remote by Design.(Marfa, Texas)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Roman Alonso And Lisa Eisner How the hell did Donald Judd find Marfa, Texas? It's so remote it takes almost a day to get there. Marfa is in the high Chihuahuan desert, more than a three-hour drive from the nearest airport, in El...

Let It Snow.(snow polo)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Krista Smith Arguably the world's sexiest sport, polo has been played for centuries by members of the ruling class-people like Prince Charles and his sons, William and Harry (they say Harry is the stronger player of the two), or...

Access Old Hollywood.(Thank Your Lucky Stars)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Byline: William Claxton Celebrity can be a metaphor for privacy. Many people who become celebrities, especially actors, spend most of their lives seeking recognition and fame. Then, by the time those lucky few obtain their...

Follow the Lido.(Lido de Paris)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Amy Fine Collins What has 44 bare breasts, 116 long legs, and more colorful, quivering plumes than Cecil B. DeMille's peacocks? The Lido de Paris, of course-for 57 years as beckoning a fixture on the Champs-Elysees as the...

Jeeves Takes Charge.(concierge services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Dany Levy When you start looking after someone, it's like an addiction," explains Ben Elliot, co-founder of Quintessentially, the New York- and London-based service that bills itself as a "high-profile members' club... focused on...

A Rare Gem; Tiffany & Co.(Temple St. Clair Carr)(Brief Article)(Biography)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Elissa Schappell The distinguished Louis Comfort Tiffany would certainly have approved of his company's decision to back the dazzling new line of jewelry from Temple St. Clair Carr, the latest design darling of Tiffany & Co. "Show...

Meyer Power.(Gene Meyer)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Amy Fine Collins For two decades, Gene Meyer has been that rarest of fashion creatures, the designer's designer, influencing taste from the sanctuary of his studio. Apprenticed to Geoffrey Beene for 11 years, he learned to...

Feminine Mystique.(Because I'm Worth It: A Celebration of Women)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Punch Hutton L'Oreal's 1973 "Because I'm Worth It" campaign empowered women across the country to embrace their unique beauty and personal strength. This month the company commemorates the groundbreaking slogan's 30th anniversary...

Laureate of dreams.(Love)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Byline: John Leonard Watch out for her," Denver told her ghostly sister about their mother in Beloved: "she can give you dreams." Giving us dreams has been Toni Morrison's business from the beginning, from Not Doctor Street and No Mercy...

LUDIVINE SAGNIER.(Brief Article)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Michael Hogan age and occupation: 24, actor. provenance: La Celle-Saint-Cloud, Yvelines, France. talent pool: Got her break acting alongside Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Virginie Ledoyen in Francois...

THE FOOD SNOB'S DICTIONARY Volume 1; Do you have a friend who scoffs at your enjoyment of Emeril and Nigella but natters on incomprehensibly about people named Fernand Point and Richard Olney.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Compiled By David Kamp And Marion Rosenfeld Part groupie, part aesthete, part stark raving loon, the Food Snob is someone who has taken the amateur epicure's admirable zeal for eating and cooking well to hollandaise-curdling...

The Evil Mastermind's Diaries.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Jim Windolf ay 12, 1986 How weary I am! Weary of exams, weary of dorm life, weary of the pizza place down the road from campus! What will become of me? Am I doomed to join the silent, suffering horde? Oct. 17, 1988 ...

Jessica Lynch; because, as krista smith discovers, she symbolizes the innocence and heroism of america's young soldiers in iraq even as controversy swirls around the reports of her capture and rescue.(Biography)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Krista Smith For a few tense weeks last spring, Jessica Lynch was the war in Iraq's most famous soldier. Captured near Nasiriyah on March 23, she spent 10 days behind enemy lines before being rescued by a team of army rangers, navy...

Gay-per-view TV; With Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Boy Meets Boy, prime time has come out.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Ned Zeman In this year of Gay TV, with at least nine gay-centric shows in prime time, the real question is: Which show is the gayest? Is it the obvious choice, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? Or is it that old standard-bearer,...

OMAR SHARIF; Omar Sharif appeared in two of the 20th century's landmark films, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago.(Brief Article)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... What is your idea of perfect happiness? Not desiring what I don't have. What is your greatest fear? Dependence on anybody else. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Gandhi. Which living person do you...

2003, take a bow.
December 1, 2003... Every year, V.F.'s editors produce hundreds of potential candidates for the Hall of Fame, out of which fewer than 20 are selected. Then it's up to the magazine's illustrious photographers to make magic. Annie Leibovitz visited Iraq-war poster...

Bush's Jet Set; The president's good ol' Saudi boys; Sin City bites back; where has Mr.(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... The thought of the Bush administration assisting members of the bin Laden family and numerous Saudi citizens in departing the U.S. days after the 9/11 attacks, without any regard to gathering intelligence, is an outrage ["Saving the Saudis," by...