South O' the Highway (and the North too)

Amagansett's Kathleen Turner discussed her memoir, Send Yourself Roses, last Saturday at BookHampton. The actress/author recently settled a lawsuit with her Peggy Sue Got Married co-star Nicolas Cage, who claims statements in the book about him being arrested for drunk driving and stealing a Chihuahua are false.

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Philip Schultz of East Hampton was awarded the prestigious 2008 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his fifth collection of poems, Failure, which was released in November.

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North Haven resident and devout Buddhist Richard Gere is encouraging a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The close follower of the Dalai Lama recently said he is grieving for his "brothers and sisters" in Tibet.

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Casting for Paris Hilton's new reality show "My New BFF" took place at Nikki Midtown restaurant in New York City last week. Insiders say fewer than 40 potential BFFs showed up, but the hotel heiress denied these reports on her MySpace page, saying that it was invite only. That's hot!

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The 2008 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards have announced that their annual Lifetime Achievement Award would be renamed The Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of the revered writer and longtime Southampton resident. Honorary chairs Ava Astaire McKenzie, Richard McKenzie and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps will host a cocktail reception for friends and supporters of the June awards gala at Elaine's on April 24.

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Amagansett's Gwyneth Paltrow attended the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's "Hottest Pink Party Ever" benefit at the Waldorf Astoria last week. Fellow Estée Lauder spokeswoman Elizabeth Hurley accompanied Paltrow on the pink carpet.

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It was recently reported that several Hamptons businesses have decided to accept euros this summer. Now, on the flipside, Cipriani's Venice location, Harry's Bar, whose famous literary customers include the late Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles, is offering patrons with U.S. passports a 20-percent discount in hopes of attracting those affected by the weak dollar.

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Patrick Christiano, Katie Meckert, David Lion Rattiner and Bill Rosen will read Nicky Silver's Fit to be Tied, an outrageous little gem about the power of love, for the Naked Stage at Guild Hall in The Boots Lamb Education Center on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. The New York Post said, "Silver strikes gold when he's being funny. Here he is very funny indeed, and the more outrageous he becomes the funnier he gets."

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It was reported in this month's issue of InStyle magazine that Bridgehampton resident Kelsey Grammer's must-stop for breakfast and coffee is Hampton Coffee Company in Water Mill.

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The Queen of Soul is coming to the East End this summer. Aretha Franklin has rented a home in Westhampton for two weeks in July.

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A big thanks to Rosemar Construction, the firm hired to widen County Road 39, for wrapping up the project more than a month ahead of schedule. At a press conference held last week to announce the completion, Suffolk County officials said, "the bottleneck is broken."

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Southampton producer Patricia Watt organized two evenings of new one-act plays at Manhattan's Neighborhood Playhouse last week to benefit the World Wildlife Fund. Contributors for the evening included Alvin Leveinstein and Bonnie Lee Sanders.

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Film Aid International, whose films help heal and rebuild communities for displaced persons, presented East End veteran actor Danny Glover with its annual humanitarian award at its 2nd annual Power of Film Gala Benefit held at Capitale in Manhattan.

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Sterling R. Churgin of Sterling Tree & Lawn in East Quogue recently became the only owner of a Long Island-based tree company to complete the Board Certified Master Arborist examination.

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