MAGEN DAVID ADOM
Barbara Walters Reveals
Her Choice For Mate
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TIM BOXER
ARBARA WALTERS was thrilled to accept
a humanitarian award from Michael Bloomberg at the annual
dinner of American Friends of Magen David Adom in December at the
Chelsea Piers Lighthouse in New York. "As another Barbra
would say, I’m kvelling."
"He was my choice for a husband," she
added.
That remark amused Diana Taylor,
who’s been Bloomberg’s companion for the last 14 years.
Walters explained that once on her ABC-TV
talk show, The View, her female co-hosts were given a choice
of three men to marry. Walters settled on Bloomberg, the New York
mayor.
Her reason? "This man is so brilliant, so
much fun, he can make things happen—and he’s filthy rich!"
Bloomberg said Walters was a tough
interviewer. But he was a tough guest: "I didn’t cry once."
Attorney Mark Lebow, AFMD national
chairman, praised Bloomberg as the major donor of the Magen David
Adom in Jerusalem. "We believe in saving everyone’s lives," Lebow
said.
More than 400 guests came to the AFMD
benefit, which raised $4.5 million. That will help relocate Israel’s
national blood center near Tel Aviv to a new facility to be built
underground, safe from rockets and earthquakes.
The event also honored five others:
Michael Strongin of Credit Suisse and his wife Nicole
Strongin of Novartis Consumer Health; the Packin family
consisting of Alexandra and David Packin, Itabella
and Eugene Packin, and Judy and Joseph Packin;
Noah E. Rockowitz, a legal consultant in the airline
industry; philanthropist Haina Just-Michael; and the Leona
M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, represented by
trustee Sandor Frankel.
