Nan Kempner gives Ed Victor
a kiss. | ED VICTOR’S DIET BOOK
You Can Never Be Too Thin
(or Too Rich) Story by Roger Webster
Photos by DMI  HE House of Harry Winston’s president, Patricia Hambrecht, hosted a champagne Veuve Clicquot reception, in the jeweler’s Fifth Avenue salon, for her pal, Ed Victor, in honor of his new book, The Obvious Diet: Your Personal Way to Lose Weight Fast Without Changing Your Lifestyle.
In his book Victor, a prestigious English literary agent as well as an author, reveals some hilarious diet secrets of friends famous for being in good shape. Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft: “We keep our upper bodies in good shape by having a terrible fist fight everyday. (Don’t take that seriously, please!)” 
Candice Bergen and
Marshall Rose. | They were there with their son Max and his fiancé. Max won an Emmy Award a few days later as part of the Saturday Night Live writing team, indicating that there is truly a funny gene. Nan Kempner: “Convince yourself that you are not hungry and you won’t be. Do not eat everything on your plate. Having said that, cut out bread and potatoes and fattening foods. Have self-control and exercise regularly.” Tina Brown, who is now a London columnist based in New York: “I trained myself to cut the portion size and after two weeks my stomach had shrunk.” GQ Editor in Chief Art Cooper: “Before attending cocktail or book parties, I stuff my pockets with slices of radish and cucumber and baby carrots to nibble on instead of those fattening canapés. It is well worth the pressing bills for all those damp suits.” 
Serena Williams shows off her
lucky bracelet. | Other guests included Erica Jong, who is thrilled that Victor just sold Norton & Company her new novel about the life of bisexual poet Sappho, Australian art critic Robert Hughes, Winston’s communications director Carol Brodie and her husband Stuart Gelles, publisher Jane Friedman and journalists Gary Shapiro, Tom Gates, Cj Satterwhite and Christopher Mason. Everybody seems to love this guy. The following week, Ms. Hambrecht flew to France where Winston was the only American jeweler at the Paris Biennale in the Carrousel du Louvre. Among those stopping by to see its display of over 100 million dollars worth of diamonds, including the new Twelve to Twilight collection which was first introduced on Venus Williams just before her triumph in the US Open, were French President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette, the American Ambassador Howard Leach and his wife Gretchen, Catherine Deneuve, Hubert de Givenchy, Empress Farah Pahlavi, 
Max Brooks with fiancée
Michele Kholos, and his parents,
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. | Joanne and Roberto de Guardiola, Ronald Lauder, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis, Elie de Rothschild, Veronica Hearst, Susan Gutfreund, Bunny Williams, Carol Mack, Kirat Young, Frannie Scaife, the Zilkhas: Ezra, Cecile and Bettina, Lee Radziwill, Peter Marino, Robert Couturier, Juan Montoya, Tom McCarter and Herve Aaron. |
