The import of 40 is as old as the Bible. Noah took his entourage on a rain-soaked cruise for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses spent the same time up the mountain top. And Englishmen in the Middle Ages would place 40 pence on a sure bet.
When it comes to a force of nature like Bryan Rabin, celebrating such a landmark birthday is nothing short of epoch. Some 90 of his dearest and nearest came together last week at the high-rise Hollywood flat of grand dame Annie Flanders (a mentor to many of us there that night, since most of us consumed her once-influential magazine Details, among other pubs). We came to toast the man who has served as social director, provocateur, tastemaker, and the most loyal friend possible to all of us over all these years.
Joining Annie, Andy and I in cohosting this fabulous evening were Lisa Edelstein, Arianne Philips, Kathy Jeung and TC Conroy. Like so many others there, we all entered Bryan’s colorful life at totally disparate moments, but he’s the catalyst that has extended our circle of kindred spirits.