I very much enjoyed looking at
some of the photos on her website,
particularly the photo of a younger
Martha Stewart taken in 1976, standing
in front of a butcher block with a
beautiful Caprese salad on the table
next to her.
There’s also a photo of the late
Chef Paul Prudhomme taken in 1981.
Seeing the chefs sparked even more
interest in conversation, and Susan
told me how she enjoyed them, and
always loves to take photos of food.
We got to talking about restaurants
in New York, and I think she’s been to
just about every one I named that I was
familiar with. She told me about eating
at The 21 Club, and all the famous
people who dined there. I asked her if
she ever saw Salvadore Dali there, and
Susan doing a speaking engagement in her home for the Boca
Grande Photography Club in March of 2018. Photo by Caroline
Clabaugh.
she said she hadn’t, but he dined there regularly.
She said she had heard he even brought a cheetah
into the dog bar that is part of the lounge at the club
there.
Susan still has showings of her work and does
them all over the world, with the latest one being in
Glasgow, Scotland. Susan released her latest book
called “Women: Portraits 1960-2000” that features a
cover shot of Cheryl Tiegs in 1976, and few shots of
Monica Vitti from 1966. Susan was quoted as saying,
“Monica Vitti told me that I took the best pictures of
her that she’d ever seen.”
By the time this publishes, Ms. Susan will be back
in the Hamptons for the summer, and I’m sure she
is having fun there, too. She told me she has
another sailboat up in Long Island, so I’d imagine
she is getting her sailing fi x up there. We will be
waiting for her to return to Boca Grande so we can
sail with Ms. Susan once again.
Ralph Lauren,1977
Norman Mailer
& Rip Torn,1966
52 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • September/October • 2020