Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Rolling Stone founder and Us Weekly owner Jann Wenner is finally being sued for divorce by his estranged wife Jane Wenner -- 16 years after he sparked a sensation by leaving her and moving in with his gay lover, former Calvin Klein model Matthew Nye. Jane Wenner filed for divorce in New York State Supreme Court on June 20, The Post’s Keith Kelly exclusively reports. The couple’s separation in 1995 raised fears the rift would imperil Wenner’s media empire, which also includes Men’s Journal. The divorce filing is raising similar speculation. 'It can only mean they are selling,' said­ a source when informed of the divorce. 'In the past, it was always too complicated.' Funds from Jane Wenner’s dentist father helped Jann start Rolling Stone in the late 1960s, and she has remained a substantial partner in the business ever since -- meaning the divorce will be costly.The Wenners never formally filed for divorce even as they lived separate lives for nearly two decades, and Jann and Nye eventually had children by a surrogate. 'He’s 65 now. What’s the point of keeping [the empire],' mused one ex-associate of a possible sale. 'None of the kids are going to run it. I know he still enjoys Rolling Stone, but he spends a lot of time at his home in Sun Valley.' And the price? 'Jann can’t get that $700 ­million figure out of his head,' our source added." (PageSix)

"I love books. I love having them. Sometimes I stand and look at the shelves, at the titles, sometimes removing one to take a look, and I’m filled with awe of all the lives, all the history, all the stories filling my room.  Sometimes I’ll buy a book for its cover. David McCullough's A Greater Journey, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, was one. I wouldn’t have cared if the book weren’t interesting: the cover was a beauty. A Renoir. It turned out to be a great book, good to read in this maelstrom of a world of ours. McCullough turns life into a garden, a beautiful garden; no matter what. We can all use a little of that right now.  Books are in fashion, oxymoronic as that sounds. The book business isn’t good and bookstores are either starving or strangling. Borders closed their doors. But they are the greatest gift. Like Manna from Heaven. I was reminded of all this by an email I got yesterday afternoon about the authors event at the East Hampton Public Library last Saturday. What started out as a tiny get together with one author a few years ago now had more than 150 authors and over 1,000 people attending. Authors and readers intermingled and had a spectacular time." (NYSocialDiary)