Going, Going…Still Going

Christine Baranski leads the HVA auction

  Christine Baranski sits in a white Adirondack chair overlooking the glistening Lake Waramaug. “This lake is part of the Housatonic Valley. All of this gorgeous land and water that we revere around here, it’s all part of the corridor that we need to work harder than ever to protect,” Baranski says. Svelte and energetic [...]read moreGoing, Going…Still Going

In Daryl’s House

Sitting down with a rock and roll legend

Daryl Hall is a rock-and-roll legend. He is most famous as part of the duo Hall & Oates, who have sold more albums than any duo in history. Their songs include “Rich Girl,” “Private Eyes,” and “Man-eater.” While playing with friends in the 18th-century house he renovated in Sherman, Hall got the idea for a [...]read moreIn Daryl’s House

The Queen of Kind

At home with Lisa Lampanelli

Most people who have heard of Lisa Lampanelli know her as a comedian with a penchant for insults and crude jokes, earning her the moniker “The Queen of Mean.” Watching some of her past routines on YouTube, I wondered, should I prepare myself to be offended? Not a chance, it turns out. After being greeted [...]read moreThe Queen of Kind

Rockin’ a Country Road

James Taylor, at peace in the Berkshires

The simplicity is what is so profound about James Taylor, who sits comfortably on his plush, rose-colored sofa in front of a slow-burning fireplace on this chilly afternoon in May. He serves me coffee (“No sweetness?” he asks again, ever so casually), his wife, Kim, carries a platter of freshly sliced fruit arranged in tidy [...]read moreRockin’ a Country Road

Down the Line

On the road with Keith Richards

I was sitting beside Keith Richards on the Rolling Stones’ plane to New York after a show. When the plane banked over Long Island Sound, he looked out the window and smiled. “That’s my home down there,” he said looking in the direction of Fairfield County. “When I see those lights, I know I’m close to [...]read moreDown the Line

Drama Queen

At home with one of the Real Housewives of New York City

Dorinda Medley—entrepreneur, homeowner, mother, and one of the “Real Housewives of New York City”—is our girl. Our Berkshire girl. She belongs to us. Unlike many other prominent Berkshire women, Medley was born, raised, and educated here. She went to Brownies on Bridge Street, attended the old Searles School, and then the Berkshire School in Sheffield. [...]read moreDrama Queen

Worth the Weight

John Frey’s Life-Changing Experience

John Frey has spent most of his life in Ridgefield—and wants to continue living here even longer. When he was eight, his dad died, so John and his two sisters were raised by their mom, but the town became a second parent. “I could walk around Main Street and people looked after me. They knew [...]read moreWorth the Weight

Ten Minutes with the CEO/Founder of Benchmark Senior Living

Tom Grape founded Benchmark Senior Living in 1997 and the company now has nearly 60 residences in eight states, employs 6,200 associates, and has about $2.5 billion in assets under agreement and $425 million in annual revenue. Benchmark’s latest residence is Sturges Ridge near Fairfield Ludlowe High School. Grape grew up in Fairfield, and although [...]read moreTen Minutes with the CEO/Founder of Benchmark Senior Living

Memories of “The Kid”

A Long Friendship and Love of Baseball

One never knows when or where a story may materialize. In this case, it began on a winter morning in the baked-goods aisle at ShopRite on Black Rock Turnpike. A casual conversation between a congenial elderly gentleman wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and a certain Fairfield-based writer led to this revelation: said elderly gentleman, [...]read moreMemories of “The Kid”

Showtime

Performing artists glam up locally to take on the town

Yuga Cohler is the conductor of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra and the creator of Yeethoven, an orchestral concert comparing the works of Kanye West with Beethoven. By day Yuga is a computer engineer at Google in Boston. Yuga wears a sportcoat by Albert Nipon, $7; cashmere blend sweater by Mitchells of Westport, $25; Gavin Flat [...]read moreShowtime