Barbara Walters' book came out this week and it's not just for those of you interested in a behind the scenes look at the catty infighting over at The View, though rest assured, Julian Robertson, there is plenty of that (as Babs tells it, "Star Jones was so obese she could barely walk onto the...set"). Apparently while Walters was dating Alan Greenspan, she was also seeing former Bear chairman Alan "Ace" Greenberg. (Ironic enough for you? Well try this one for size-- though it's not included in the autobiography, we hear the lady of the night additionally had a standing appointment with Jimmy Cayne ever week, which ultimately resulted in the birth of Ben Bernanke.) Before you go writing BW off as a harlot, keep in mind that the men served two distinct purposes-- Greenberg bought her a show dog, and Greenspan doled out terrible investment advice.* It wasn't all fun and games, however. Babs notes that lots o' confusion would ensue when her maid would take messages and report that "Alan called." Since she refused to refer Greenberg by his nickname-- like Cayne, she thought the handle "Ace [in the hole]" was stupid and, in her words, "hypocritical, considering the number of times I had to shout, 'No, Alan, no! You're not even close!'")-- Walters and the cleaning woman came to differentiate the two as "loud Alan" (Greenberg) and "soft Alan" (Greenspan). Though he rarely identified himself, Walters says it was readily apparent when Cayne was calling, because "you could hear the the announcer's voice over the loudspeaker at the tracks in the background."
Barbara Walters On Greenspan [National Economist]
*Such as telling her not to buy a 4-bedroom co-op on Fifth for $250,000 in 1977.
Posted by guest, May 09, 2008 10:53AM
What's the difference between Evil Kneivel's longest motorcycle jump and Barbara Walters? Evil's was a cunning stunt.....