2018 THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS
Esther B. O'Keeffe Speaker Series
About The Esther B. O’Keeffe Speaker Series features notable speakers from the fields of politics, culture and the media. Lectures take place January through March on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. Book signings, when offered, are held in the O'Keeffe Gallery Building following the lecture, and are available to the public at no charge.
History The Society of the Four Arts was founded in 1936 with a mission of providing the best cultural programs to the Palm Beach community. Part of the diverse programming included guest lecturers, and through the years these programs evolved into a prestigious speaker series. In 1995, a significant gift was presented to The Society of the Four Arts by Dr. and Mrs. Arthur O’Keeffe. In recognition, the building in which the gallery and auditorium are located was named the Esther B. O’Keeffe Gallery Building in honor of Dr. O’Keeffe’s first wife. The O’Keeffe family’s generosity continued in 1999, when they established a sizable endowment to create and sustain the "Esther B. O’Keeffe Speaker Series.” Thanks to their interest and support, the Four Arts is able to bring world-class speakers to share important ideas with our audience.
Dr. and Mrs. Arthur O’Keeffe. Dr. O’Keeffe was an accomplished surgeon and philanthropist. The Esther B. O’Keeffe Charitable Foundation supports health and medical research causes, along with many arts and cultural programs.
The Memorial Lectures We are grateful to the following families for their vision and leadership.
The John R. Donnell Memorial Lecture The John R. Donnell Memorial Lecture was established in 2001 by long-time Four Arts trustee Maureen Donnell, in memory of her late husband. John Donnell was a great supporter of the arts and a member of the Four Arts board of trustees. He was a graduate and trustee of Case Western Reserve University and a graduate of Harvard Business School. He was president of international relations and a senior vice president at the Marathon Oil Company. Mr. Donnell served 25 years as president and chairman of the First National Bank of Findlay, Ohio. He was a board member of the Boy Scouts of America and The World Boy Scout Foundation.
The Esther Elson Memorial Lecture Mrs. Susie Elson is chairman of the board of trustees, and Ambassador Edward Elson is a former vice chairman of the Four Arts; both have a long history of service and generosity to the Four Arts. Ambassador and Mrs. Elson created the memorial lecture in 2005 to honor Ambassador Elson’s mother, Esther, who was a gifted and exhibited artist, and a long-time member of the Four Arts. Each year a speaker is selected from the arts, and past speakers have included Twyla Tharp, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming and actor Jim Carter from "Downton Abbey."
The Walter S. Gubelmann Memorial Lecture Walter S. Gubelmann was president of the board of trustees of The Society of the Four Arts for 25 years. Two memorials mark his contributions. First, funds were raised to establish the Walter S. Gubelmann Memorial Lecture each year, in honor of the former president’s many years as chairman of the lecture committee. Two years after his death in 1988, the “Silver King” by sculptor D.H.S. Wehle was installed in the fountain at the entrance to the O’Keeffe Gallery Building.
Sally Bedell Smith Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life” The John R. Donnell Memorial Lecture Drawing on her extensive access to the Royal Family’s inner circle, Sally Bedell Smith delivers unprecedented insights into Prince Charles, a man who possesses a fiercely independent spirit, and yet has spent his life in waiting for the ultimate role. Smith is the author of the best-selling biographies of William S. Paley, Pamela Harriman, Princess Diana, President John and Jacqueline Kennedy, President Bill and Hillary Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1996, she previously worked at Time and The New York Times, where she was a cultural news reporter. She was awarded a Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982 and was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in 1986. She received the 2012 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence, an award presented by the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. "Elizabeth the Queen" won the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for best book in history and biography, the only major book award decided by readers. Smith lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Stephen. They have three grown children.
The New York Times best-selling author's new book is the first major biography of Prince Charles in more than two decades, with new insights on the man who will be King.
Steven Pearlstein Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 3 p.m.
"The Myth of Market Justice" Steven Pearlstein is a Pulitzer Prize-winning business and economics journalist. In 2003 he was named The Washington Post's business columnist, from which perch he has been offering edgy and unpredictable opinions twice a week on local, national and international topics. He received the 2008 Pulitzer for Commentary for "his insightful columns that explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity" and explain the recent financial crisis and global economic downturn. In 2011 he won a Gerald R. Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award. Pearlstein joined The Washington Post in 1988 as deputy business editor, and since then has been defense industry reporter, economic correspondent and Canadian correspondent. In the fall of 2011 he became the Robinson Professor of Political and International Affairs at George Mason University. While at Mason, he has focused on teaching economic principles to non-economic majors and helped to launch the interdisciplinary Politics, Philosophy and Economics concentration for majors in those departments. Pearlstein grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, and graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Wendy Gray.
The Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and economist argues that greed is not good, opportunity is not equal and fairness won’t make you poor!
Delia Ephron
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Creativity and Collaboration” Best-selling author and screenwriter Delia Ephron began her writing career when she published a 500-word humorous essay in The New York Times Magazine entitled “How to Eat Like a Child.” The piece would become a best-selling book, television special and musical revue. Since then, she has written 14 books and has been published in The Wall Street Journal, O the Oprah Magazine, Vogue and New York Magazine. She is now a frequent OpEd contributor to The New York Times. Ephron has also regularly worked in screenwriting and producing. She co-wrote "You’ve Got Mail" (1998) with her sister Nora and "Hanging Up" (2000), directed by Diane Keaton. She was a co-screenwriter on "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (2005) and an associate producer on "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993). For the first time since "You’ve Got Mail," she is reteaming with Meg Ryan, who will direct "The Book," based on a story by Ephron. Ephron would argue that collaboration is the most important life skill, because we need to collaborate in our careers as well as in friendship, marriage and parenting. Our professional and personal lives can be enriched by understanding the nature of cooperation. In her most recent nonfiction book, "Sister Mother Husband Dog (etc.)," Ephron writes extensively about collaboration, drawing from 20 years working in the movie business as well as in theater, and as a writer and producer. Her newest work of fiction is "Siracusa."
Beloved writer Delia Ephron talks about collaboration: when it works, when it doesn’t, how it can go on the rocks, and how to make yourself a better team player.
Ben Macintyre
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Rogue Heroes” The Walter S. Gubelmann Memorial Lecture
He is the author of 11 books, his latest being "Rogue Heroes," the engrossing history of Britain’s secret special forces unit that sabotaged the Nazis and changed the nature of war. This incredible untold story of World War II's greatest secret fighting force is told by an author who is considered to be the modern master of wartime intrigue. Bringing his keen eye for psychological detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to SAS archives to shine a light inside a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy. The result is not just a tremendous war story, but a fascinating group portrait of those whom history and country asked the most. Macintyre's other titles include "Agent Zigzag," shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award and the Galaxy British Book Award for Biography of the Year 2008, and the number one best-sellers "A Spy Among Friends," "Operation Mincemeat" and "Double Cross."
Photo: Justine Stoddart
Ben Macintyre is a British author, historian and reviewer. He is a columnist and associate editor for The Times (U.K.), covering subjects ranging from current affairs to historical controversies, and has worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington.
Get a glimpse of how the special forces world started, and discover the little-known story of the brave unit that changed the nature of war.
James B. Stewart Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author James B. Stewart combines the skills of an investigative reporter with the style and sensibility of a novelist, examining events in finance, law and politics that shape American society. The San Francisco Examiner called him "the journalist every journalist would like to be," and The Daily Beast named him one of the 15 "most important writers on business and economics." Stewart's New York Times column, “Common Sense,” appears weekly in the Business Day section. He provides skillful coverage of corporate America and Wall Street, often exploring the use and abuse of power at the highest levels. A former Wall Street Journal reporter and front-page editor, Stewart received two Gerald Loeb Awards, the George Polk Award for financial reporting, and a Pulitzer Prize with his deputy editor during his time at the paper. A regular contributor to The New Yorker, Stewart's acclaimed cover story, "Eight Days: The Battle to Save the American Financial System," captured behind-the-scenes dealings that prompted unprecedented government intervention following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. He is the author of 11 books including "Den of Thieves" (1991) and "DisneyWar" (2005), which won the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book. "Heart of a Soldier" (2002) was named the “Best Book about 9/11” by Time magazine.
From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff, America’s perjury trend is symptomatic of an ethical breakdown, compromising the country’s judicial system as well as business, government, academia and medicine.
Marlene Strauss Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Peggy Guggenheim: A Life Well Lived” A colorful character who was not only ahead of her time, but also helped to define it, Peggy Guggenheim was an heiress to her family fortune who became a central figure in the modern art movement. As she moved through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but also artists. Her colorful personal history included such figures as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp and countless others. While fighting through personal tragedy, she maintained her vision to build one of the most important collections of modern art, now enshrined in her Venetian palazzo. Marlene Strauss lectures annually at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the 21st Century Club in Cleveland. She has spoken at the Smithsonian Institution and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the French Embassy (of Cultural Affairs) in New York and at many museums, town halls, women’s clubs and organizations throughout the United States. She is a former board member of the National Academy of Design in New York and IFAR (International Foundation for Art Research), and served as secretary-treasurer of the Archaeological Institute of America. In 1978, as an officer of the AIA, she was appointed diplomatic courier to Christos Doumas, director of excavations on the Greek Island of Santorini.
"Having plenty of time and all the museum's funds at my disposal, I put myself on a regime to buy one picture a day. " - Peggy Guggenheim
David Ignatius
Tuesday, February 20, 2017 at 3 p.m.
“A Writing Life: What I’ve Learned as a Journalist, Novelist and Librettist” Best-selling author, Washington Post foreign affairs columnist and frequent guest on Morning Joe, David Ignatius has been making sense of the world for over 40 years. He has covered nearly every Washington beat, from the Pentagon to the CIA to Capitol Hill, as well as global politics, the Middle East and economics. He turned his experiences with the CIA into nine thrilling best-sellers, because, as Bob Woodward said, “few understand espionage culture as well as Ignatius.” For more than 15 years, Ignatius has published his twice-weekly column for The Washington Post. With his work appearing in scores of newspapers around the world, his column won the Overseas Press Club Award, the Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Center for Journalists. "Agents of Innocence," his first novel, is a classic of espionage fiction, drawing on his experiences covering the CIA’s early 1980s campaigns in the Middle East. Director Ridley Scott adapted his 2007 best-seller, "Body of Lies," into a feature film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. His other books include "Bloodmoney," "A Firing Offense" and "The Sun King." The film rights to his novel "The Increment" were acquired by Jerry Bruckheimer. His first opera libretto, entitled "The New Prince," is an adaptation of Machiavelli’s "The Prince." It premiered at the Dutch National Opera in March 2017. He is also regular foreign-policy consultant for NBC and MSNBC.
David Ignatius is one of the most respected journalists and sought after political speakers who, in a twist of fate, suddenly found himself doing "the most exhilarating creative work" of his career, an opera based on Machiavelli's "The Prince."
Lanhee Chen
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 3 p.m.
"The Current State of Play in U.S. Healthcare" Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. is the David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University; and an affiliate of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also a Counsel at the law firm of Arent Fox LLP. A veteran of several high-profile political campaigns, Chen has worked in government, the private sector and academia. Most recently, Chen was an adviser to Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. In 2012 he was the policy director for the Romney-Ryan presidential campaign, as well as Governor Mitt Romney’s chief policy adviser; a senior strategist on the campaign; and the person responsible for developing the campaign’s domestic and foreign policy. A 34-year-old economist and former think tanker, Chen was responsible for developing the blueprint for a Republican administration. In 2015 Chen was named one of the POLITICO 50, a list of the “thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics.” He earned a similar honor in 2012 when he was named one of POLITICO’s “50 Politicos to Watch.” Chen is also a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed member of the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent, bipartisan panel that advises the president, Congress and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.
"Perhaps it's his ability to critique fellow Republicans while staying true to the conservative message that makes Chen such a sought-after adviser." -POLITICO
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure after 50” Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociologist, has made a lifelong mission of understanding and improving education. She has explored complex cultural dynamics during her more than 40 years as a Harvard professor and researcher. For her book "The Third Chapter" she spent two years traveling the U.S., interviewing men and women in their 50s, 60s and 70s who have changed their lives and, in doing so, are redefining our views (and their own) on aging. In one inspirational story after another, they tell passionate and poignant tales of risk and vulnerability, failure and resilience, wisdom and new learning, proving that the years between 50 and 75 may, in fact, be the most transformative and generative time in our lives. Her numerous honors include a 1984 MacArthur fellowship and Harvard’s 1993 George Ledlie Prize for research that makes the “most valuable contribution to science” and “the benefit of mankind.” She has written 11 books, among them “The Art and Science of Portraiture,” which put forth a new social science methodology poised between rigorous empiricism and literary narrative. Her most recent, "Growing Each Other Up: When Our Children Become Our Teachers" was published in the Fall of 2016. Lawrence-Lightfoot received the Emily Hargroves Fisher Endowed Chair at Harvard University in 1998. When she retires, it will become the Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot Chair, making her the first African-American woman in Harvard’s history to have an endowed professorship named in her honor.
"We must develop a compelling vision of later life, one that does not assume a trajectory of decline after 50 but recognizes this as a time of potential change, growth, and new learning, a time when our courage gives us hope."
Peter Gelb
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“Grand Opera: Past, Present and Future”
Now ending his 11th season at the helm of the Met, Gelb has overseen the launch of a number of initiatives aimed at revitalizing opera and connecting it to a wider audience. One of his fundamental goals has been to recruit the world’s great singers and theater directors to enhance the theatricality of the Met’s productions and complement the extraordinary musical standards established by Music Director Emeritus James Levine. One of the most successful and trailblazing of his new initiatives is The Met: Live in HD, a Peabody and Emmy Award–winning series of live performance transmissions shown in high definition to select theaters in 70 countries, including the Four Arts, which was one of the first organizations to screen the telecasts. Similarly, SiriusXM launched Metropolitan Opera Radio, and the Met Opera On Demand streaming service, with more than 550 performances available with a subscription. The Met also presents free, live streaming of performances from its website once a week. Gelb has the herculean challenge of overseeing both the artistic and the administrative aspects of one of the largest performing arts institutions in the world, yet his leadership continues to raise global awareness of opera, and inspires other institutions throughout the world.
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
Peter Gelb’s career has followed a singular arc that began with his teenage years as an usher at the Metropolitan Opera and led to his appointment in August 2006 as the storied company’s 16th general manager.
At one of the largest performing arts institutions in the world, Gelb's priorities have focused on talent, technology and revitalizing the repertory with new productions of both classic operas and modern masterpieces.
Simon Schama Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“The Power of Modern Art”
Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University and a Contributing Editor of the Financial Times. He is the author of 16 books and the writerpresenter of more than 40 documentaries on art, history and literature for the BBC. His art criticism for The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for criticism in 1996. His Emmy-winning films include the 15-part series "A History of Britain," "Rough Crossings" and the "Power of Art," first broadcast in 2006. His other programs include "Murder at Harvard," based on his novella "Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculation" a fivepart series based on "Landscape and Memory" and a film on Tolstoy’s "War and Peace." He also won acclaim for his documentary "The American Future: A History," which aired at the time of the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections, and "The Story of the Jews" for the BBC (2013). Schama's highly acclaimed books have been translated into 16 languages. He won the National Book Critics Circle Prize for non-fiction for “Landscape and Memory” (Harper Perennial, 1995); “Rembrandt’s Eyes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999); “Power of Art” (Bodley Head, 2006); and “Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution” (Vintage, 2005). He writes regularly for the Financial Times and The Guardian on American politics, music and art. He has taught at Cambridge (1966-76), Oxford (19761980) and Harvard (1980-1993).
Photo: © Oxford Film and Television
The Esther Elson Memorial Lecture
A renowned art historian discusses seminal art works of the modern era and how they influenced our understanding of the meaning of art.
Linda Fairstein Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 3 p.m.
“From Law to Literature”
Linda Fairstein was chief of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney’s office in Manhattan for more than two decades, and is America’s foremost legal expert on sexual assault and domestic violence. Her 19 crime novels featuring the character Alexandra Cooper are international best-sellers and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. As America’s foremost expert on crimes against women and children, Fairstein brings her four decades of legal experience to the issues of economic and social empowerment for those most disenfranchised by our society. A role model for legal professionals, women and public servants, she is credited with changing case law to provide the equitable distribution of justice for victims of violent and sexual crimes. From 1972 until 2002 she supervised the investigation and trial of every Manhattan case involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and homicides from these crimes. She has directed or been the lead attorney in all major litigation in these specialties, ranging from the homicide prosecution of Robert Chambers – “the preppy murder case” – to the trial against the offenders charged with the riot in Central Park following the Puerto Rican Day parade in 2000. In 1993 she was named “Woman of the Year” by both New Woman Magazine and Glamour. Fairstein is a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Fairstein's role at the Sex Crimes Unit of the D.A.'s office in Manhattan was the model for the popular TV Series "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit."
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