A Salute to Patricia Towers

New York, NY (Updated May 15, 2012) - Patricia Towers, a beloved figure from the world of publishing who has had a transformative impact on Yaddo, will be the guest of honor at our May 16th New York City Benefit, which this year celebrates the creative process.

Towers has been a Member of The Corporation of Yaddo since 1995, served for many years as Vice Chair of our Board of Directors, and has devoted her time and energy to important committee work on behalf of Yaddo. She began her editorial career at Time magazine and was a founding editor of Vanity Fair and of the weekly magazine Seven Days, which won a National Magazine Award for General Excellence. She has held a number of highly regarded positions in book publishing and journalism, at Harcourt Brace, Mirabella, Elle, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She also was an editor at The New York Times Book Review.

Throughout her career, Towers has championed writers, both established authors and emerging talent and promising newcomers, the latter her particular passion.  Many writers, agents, and publishers refer to Towers as the finest editor with whom they have ever worked.

Performance artist Mike Albo - the man The New York Times called "the ultimate satirist of the downtown New York social landscape" - will emcee this special celebration honoring Towers and Yaddo. The program is also set to feature Albo's fellow Yaddodians Jonathan Ames, Noah Baumbach, Michael Cunningham, Amy Hempel, Walter Kirn, and Rosemary Mahoney.

One of the highlights of the May 16th event will be a benefit auction, "Paper Trails", curated by painter Alexi Worth, that follows the creative process theme by offering a wealth of unique manuscripts, sketches, notes, and drafts from selected artists that are primarily focused on germinating an idea - sketeches for a painting, a page from an author's notebook, the handwritten first bars of a musical score, a draft copy of a chapter from a novel-in-progress.  Artists whose work is represented include Maurizio Cattelan, Carroll Dunham, Rochelle Feinstein, Mary Frank, Suzan Frecon, Ellen Lanyon, Alfred Leslie, Melissa Meyer, Tom Nozkowski, James Siena, Amy Sillman, Trevor Winkfield, Jennifer Egan, Allan Gurganus, Jonathan Lethem, Philip Roth, Irving Sandler, Andrew Solomon, Gary Shteyngart, David Del Tredici, Daron Hagen and Gardner McFall, John Kelly, and Doug Wright.

The evening’s program is under the direction of the Benefit Chairs, best selling author Janice Lee (The Piano Teacher) and her husband, Joseph Bae, Managing Partner of KKR Asia and a Member of The Corporation of Yaddo. The event promises many surprises for Towers, who is herself a renowned hostess, fierce poker player, and a firm believer in the social Wild Card.

Please join us in saluting Patricia Towers Wednesday, May 16^th,  at the Angel Oresanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street, New York, New York . The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails, followed by dinner and a program at 8 p.m. Purchase reservations here.

For additional information, please contact Jennifer Rajotte in our New York City office.