Richard Johnson: Famed photographer Harry Benson still shooting at 96

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Richard Johnson: Famed photographer Harry Benson still shooting at 96
NEW YORK — Photographer Harry Benson is a living legend. At 96 — having shot Winston Churchill, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammad Ali and every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower — he's still shooting.
Benson was standing right next to RFK when he was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in 1968.
'I still remember Bobby Kennedy's last words moments before he was shot,' recalled Benson.
''See you in Chicago,' he said to me. It was the Democratic National Convention where his official nomination for the presidency would never happen.'
'Out of nowhere, a gun comes out. … Next thing you know, Bobby's on his back looking up at me. It's an image in my head I can never fully let go of.'
Benson was there with The Beatles to capture their famous pillow fight.
'At first, John [Lennon] didn't want to do it,' Benson recalls. 'But that didn't last very long. In a way, he was really the instigator of the whole thing.'
Benson has mounted the largest retrospective of his career. Steve Hartman of Contessa Gallery in Southampton has been representing Benson in this colossal undertaking since 2013.
'You'd think at age 96, Harry would slow down,' says Hartman. 'He's always impeccably dressed. Loves dogs. And he cusses like a sailor.'
While Benson has photographed some of the greatest icons who ever lived, he has never photographed himself.
'I look like a jerk,' Benson laughed. 'Why would I want to photograph a jerk?'
His wife, Gigi, has a higher opinion of her husband.
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Jason Mitchell Kahn, who's been planning weddings for 15 years, knows why he gets paid the big bucks.
'People hire someone like me to avoid catastrophes,' Kahn told me.
Kahn started out at SoHo House where he threw parties for Beyoncé and Madonna.
The job took him around the world, from Oscar parties in Los Angeles to chateaus in Cannes, and even an underground subway station in Toronto.
Now he's written a book 'We Do: An Inclusive Guide When a Traditional Wedding Won't Cut It.'
The demand for his services remains strong. 'People are getting married. They're getting divorced. They're getting remarried. It's a sustainable industry.'
There are surprises. 'People are not accustomed to a five-hour open bar,' said Kahn, who lives on the Upper West Side with his terrier, Barnaby. 'It can bring out some interesting behavior.'
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Cal Hoffman got naked to promote his new novel, 'Easy to Slip.'
The author took his clothes off at The Jane's Street Art Center in Saugerties and posed nude for three hours as he read his book to the participating artists while they sketched his parts.
It was just one stop of a 13-city book tour that kicked off in Greenville South Carolina, and headed to Pittsburgh. The final stop is Aug. 13 in Seattle.
The author, married to Victoria Leacock Hoffman, recently packed the Mercer Hotel with such fans as Emma Snowdon-Jones, Eric Rudin, author Michael Gross and singer Dylan Hundley.
Hoffman, fully dressed, is getting ready to publish his next novel 'Judah Can't Tell,' a political family drama set in 2019 in Washington, DC.
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Bobbi Brown wasn't born a makeup genius.
'When I started doing makeup, I was really bad at it,' she told me. 'I worked with girls who looked better when they washed their faces.'
So Brown perfected a more natural look, and developed her own line of cosmetics. It was such a success, it was bought by Estée Lauder in 1995.
After her non-compete elapsed, she founded a new company in 2020, but she couldn't use her own name. 'I was driving out to the Hamptons. I saw a sign for Jones Road. It was available.'
Jones Road is now estimated to be worth almost $1 billion.
Brown has written a memoir 'Still Bobbi' and will meet her fans at East Hampton Library's Authors Night on Saturday.
Charlamagne Tha God blurbed, 'Bobbi Brown proves that growth doesn't require reinvention, just the courage to be yourself— loudly, proudly, and unapologetically — at every stage of the journey.'
She's done makeup for Whitney Houston, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Obama and even Mike Tyson.
'Mike said, 'You're not touching me.' So I showed him a mirror, and he let me powder his face.'
Brown, a mother of three sons with her husband, Steven Plofker, said: 'After all these years, I'm still the same girl I was growing up in Chicago. I'm still Bobbi.'
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Joseph Hernandez, who is running for New York City mayor as an independent, is hoping he can save the city from electing the Democratic Party's frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani.
Hernandez, who marched Sunday in the Bronx Dominican Day Parade, told me, 'I'm really a business guy. I have no business in politics, but I felt an obligation to do something.'
The Cuban-born biotech entrepreneur is suing the city to have ranked choice voting in the general election, as well as the primary.
'A two-tiered election system is fundamentally unfair,' said Hernandez. 'Every New Yorker deserves a vote that counts, and every candidate deserves a level playing field—regardless of party affiliation. Ranked choice voting ensures majority support and real choice. Without it, the system is rigged in favor of political insiders.'
Hernandez, who calls himself a 'centrist,' wants to hire 10,000 new police officers with the $15 billion he will cut from other programs.
He says he would not raise taxes. 'I signed a pledge that I would never raise taxes on New Yorkers.'
Hernandez points out that the city has 300,000 employees, while Google has 180,000 and Microsoft has 120,000 in the U.S. 'And we don't keep our streets clean, or fix our potholes.'
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Alexa Ray Joel knows how horrible depression can be from her father, Billy Joel.
'My father has struggled with depression his entire life, which led to his drinking,' Alexa told me. 'And I myself have struggled with depression in my teens and twenties. It's really personal for me.'
Alexa was the Celebrity Grand Marshal for Audrey Gruss' Hope For Depression Research Foundation's Tenth Annual 5K Race hon Sunday in Southampton.
She also was interviewed for four hours for the two-part HBO documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes,' which revealed two suicide attempts in the Piano Man's past.
Alexa's mom, Christie Brinkley, provided lots of footage from their decade together.
'She used to bring her video camera to every show,' Alexa said.
Alexa is releasing the music video of her song 'Riverside Way' this month co-starring her fiance, Ryan Gleason. 'He's really good, and handsome.'
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Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland and sister of Liza Minnelli, was brunching on lollipop pancakes and French toast with her grandchildren at Carnegie Diner & Cafe … Nightlife impresario Vito Bruno, who ran for State Senate five years ago, is hosting Beatstock 2025 at Jones Beach on Aug. 16 featuring Boy George, Right Said Fred, C&C Music Factory and more … Luann de Lesseps played bongos to the music of the Gypsy Kings at Calissa in the Hamptons and shared a Greek feast with her boyfriend Michael Riemerschmid.
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