THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD OUT.

Purchase a copy of Ina Garten’s newly-released memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens with a signed book plate. Books with bookplates are limited.*

In a live moderated conversation with co-writer Deborah Davis, Ina Garten will discuss and elaborate on the themes of her new memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens —from childhood to becoming an author of bestselling cookbooks and a celebrated television host.

Ina Garten will present an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.  

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, DC to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it, you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens. 

Please join Stan Herman, author of the widely acclaimed memoir Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion for a thoughtful, engaging and fun-filled conversation with longtime friend and fellow fashion icon Fern Mallis.

On any given day, more people will be “wearing” Stan Herman than any other American fashion designer. Having recently celebrated his 96^th birthday, he is the most acclaimed uniform designer of our time – and that’s just part of his remarkable, well-lived and well-loved life. Herman reflects on his background as a Brooklyn born, Passaic, NJ-raised young man, his Army service in Europe during the Korean War and his burgeoning fashion career a young freelance designer in the fashion hothouse of the Garment District. Later, he served for 16 years as head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, where he was instrumental in bringing New York Fashion Week to Bryant Park – all the while continuing his thriving corporate uniform and, popular leisurewear design businesses.

The book is also a deeply moving and insightful memoir, following personal triumphs and tragedies, including his nearly 40-year relationship with novelist Gene Horowitz, who tragically suffered a heart attack and passed away in 1992. Together they lived their lives in the shadow of the AIDS crisis that decimated their personal and professional worlds. They also shared a beloved poodle named “Mozart,” who helped fill the void when Herman found himself suddenly alone. Herman writes with good humor and direct compassion, recalling the cruel and casual racism he witnessed in the military, his focus on animal rights within the fashion industry – as well as encountering the indignities and joys of his nearly 10 decades. Learn the history of the man whose vision has dramatically helped forge and transform American style and fashion.

Following the event, copies of Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion will be available for purchase and signing.

 This program will take place in Guild Hall’s Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan Theater.