Diana Nyad, the iconic swimmer turned author, found herself immersed in this world of words and authors. Her book, “Find a Way: One Wild and Precious Life,” resonated with the crowd, her spirit as buoyant on land as it is in water. There were long lines to meet her and buy her book.

Then there was Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist who is a constant at this event. Even in a room full of literary stars, he manages to shine a bit brighter. His wit and wisdom were as much a draw as the pages he signed, and he never stopped smiling.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (P hoto Eugene Gologursky/Getty)

The event wasn’t only about established stars; it was a stage for new voices and fresh stories.  Julia Phillips was here with her second novel, ‘Bear,” published in June by Penguin Random House. It got reviews that used words like “mesmerizing” and “haunting.” Her first novel, “Disappearing Earth,” was a finalist for the National Book Award.  Lucky the shoppers who stumbled upon her table.

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin, soon to be stars a reality TV series (Photo Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images)

There were varying political orientations represented as well. Alec Baldwin was there, briefly, with his wife, Hilaria, to shop for books.

A.M. Homes was at her table. She writes transgressive novels include the 2022 book “The Unfolding,” about a Maga cult determined to take over the country by enslaving women. Brian Stelter was signing copies of his book “Network of Lies” about Fox. But Wilbur Ross was here as well, with his first book. He was the former Commerce Secretary under Donald R. Trump. If you recall, Ross tried to get citizenship added as a category on the 2000 census, something that set liberals’ hair on fire.

Still, all is well under the big tent of authors. Ross, 86, captivated people with his insights on business and life. (Or perhaps his descriptions of living in the Dakota.) His “highly readable” memoir, “Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life,” showed that it’s never too late to add author to a long list of his accomplishments, which include “king of bankruptcies.”

Stephanie Krikorian, who helped curate the event, made sure that the lineup reflected the diversity of the literary world. The mix of local authors, celebrities, and debut novelists makes Authors Night exciting, both for visitors and for authors. Writers love to be invited, and to meet each other.

Just because the evening is over does not mean you have missed your chance to make a donation to the library. There are multiple ways to make a donation,  all of which are outlined on this page.

The library has a rich program that includes not just loaning book-books but CDs, DVDs, streaming movies, lectures, audiobooks, TV shows, graphic novels, and more though their library system. Librarians are eager to guide you through various distribution systems. This is to say that there is a world beyond the shortcuts of Google and Wikipedia.

Consider Robert Caro’s book on Robert Moses, relevant after 50 years.

Google is wide, Books can be deep.

We know her as Ed Burns’ wife. Mother of a budding model, Grace Burns, 20. Someone with a strapping teenage son who plays basketball. Founder of  the charity Every Mother Counts, after the difficulty she had after giving birth to Grace.

She and her husband (the actor-director Ed Burns) have a place in Montauk. They lead fairly normal lives with their two almost grown children.

Grace Burns, daughter of Christy Turlington and Edward Burns (Instagram)

Almost normal considering that sometimes he makes a micro-mini-budget film that gets shown at a festival, or gets cast in a television series, or a movie, as some kind of Irish mobster in a fedora.

She, meanwhile is one of the Fab Four: Did we forget? She was a supermodel.

A four-part series last year– crowning Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Turlington as 90s glamour queens — brought all four back to attention.

Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington from the series “The Supermodels” (AppleTV+)

Now Christy Turlington of Montauk has been chosen to  be one of the models in Donna Karan’s fall line. The other models range from 27 (the Dutch model Imaam Hammam), to 33 (the Chinese model Liu Wen), to the older models, Karen Elson (45) and Amber Valetta (50).

Christy Turlington is the senior model, at age 55, and she looks great. She is soignée, with the sophistication we used to think only Europeans had.

The women in Donna Karan’s ad are grown women. Not baby dolls.

I remember, growing up in France, when the ideal was a knowing, mature woman. Not some coquette trying to look 16.

The Hamptons Concours

This is a chance for people to treat cars like poodles or race horses. It all happened on Maria and Ken Fishel’s estate in Bridgehampton, the polo grounds on August 10 and 11 The prize ponies in this case are Porsche and Ferrari super cars, none of them newer than 14 years old, all maintained (or restored) with loving care.

Except for a few other luxury cars that Bradford Rand and his team orchestrated: new Ferraris, Porsches, Aston Martins, McLarens, and Rolls-Royces. Altogether it was, Rand announced, an assembled group of automobiles worth more than $100 million. The event combined the concours (a car beauty competition), lots of high-end sponsors (free drinks, a company eager to show off custom-built $20-million personal helicopters) a brunch, and women dressed in every kind of outfit imaginable, from short shorts to nap dresses to cocktail dresses to something dresses worthy of the Kentucky Derby.

Bradford Rand hands out a “best in class” on August 10, the first day of the Concours (Photo PMC / Michael Ostuni)

Some 20 percent of ticket sales went to the Southampton Animal Shelter. Not only that, but the animal shelter had a major presence at the Concours. Four dogs were there (with humans) to encourage people to adopt them.

Jordan Lippner, chair of the board of directors of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (Photo PMC / Michael Ostuni)

Nearly 2,000 Ferraris and Porches were accepted into the various Concours categories. Applications required a $395 deposit, paperwork and photographs. Cars were accepted based on their age, unique qualities, paint and interiors. At the highest level, these cars are not family cars. They are pampered pets, never driven. Or rarely ever driven.

Once accepted, which granted owners two VIP tickets to the open bar and luxury brunch, the cars are submitted to a microscopic examination. There were several judges, each with specific areas of expertise, under the chief judge Glenn Simon, known for his winning Ferraris in various Concours around the country.

Want to know what goes into a win? It is excruciatingly technical. Simon says he looks for “The originality of the car. Is it a matching numbers car? Does it have all its tools and books? Are all parts correct?”

Ruth Miller, Louise Braver, Maria Fishel, Carolyn B. Maloney, former U.S. Representative, Katlean de Monchy, Representative Rebecca Seawright; at rear, Ken Fishel and Jane Rothchild.

This is like the old rules for hunter classes for the snootiest horse shows, which used to require a watercress or white-meat turkey sandwich with crusts cut off, cut diagonally, wrapped in a linen napkin, in a sandwich case attached to the saddle, to qualify for proper “attire.”

But that’s what it takes to have a winning car in a certain classes in the concours. For everyone one else, it’s a day to ooh and ah at a shiny new Rolls Royce, sit in a $400,000 car, drink a Remy Martin, smoke a Cohiba, look at jewelry, and spend a day gossiping with friends.

For once women had no trouble convincing the guys in the house to go to an event that was not a football game.

The event sold out far in advance.