Greg in the Afternoon: A fun lunch at Spago; Orman blasts Bush; meet the NYC Subway hero

My friend David Beckwith invited me to lunch at Spago today and it made for a very fun afternoon in Beverly Hills. Spago is among the big-name clients David’s PR firm handles so we had a table right in the middle of the action. Wolfgang Puck was working the room as we sat down and soon came over. We talked about, what else? President Barack Obama’s appearance with Jay Leno last night!

Just a table away was Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and near him was a very lovely Melanie Griffin lunching with what looked like an agent or director. Then there was this nice scene: Norman Lear was sitting down with friends and in walked Rob Reiner, the director who rose to fame on Lear’s classic sitcom All in the Family. The two men embraced and chatted then each went to their respective tables. David and I were chit-chatting away and he found out what a huge I Love Lucy fan I am as I began to do lines from the Hollywood episode when Lucy, Fred and Ethel sit in a booth at The Brown Derby next to William Holden. Thankfully David was familiar with the episode so didn’t think I was completely insane!

Then a really nice surprise: co-owner Barbara Lazaroff (she was married to Puck for decades) dropped by and sat with us for awhile, even taking a few bites of my chocolate dessert. I was completely enchanted by her. A lovely woman. We talked Prop. 8 (she thinks it’s appalling) and a little bit about her kids. Very nice end to a wonderful meal. It was, as always, great to see David who gives a lot of himself politically as a board member of the Human Rights Campaign. He and husband Dietrich Nelson were among the married couples featured in a group photo in a historic issue of The Advocate last fall. They, like thousands of others, are awaiting word from the Supreme Court over whether Prop. 8 was illegal and if their marriage is binding.

*** Former President George W. Bush has kept a low profile since leaving office in January (wish we could say the same for Dick Cheney!) but financial guru Suze Orman – now one of the most famous lesbians in the country, had some choice words for the former chief executive in a profile in the current WWD Magazine. Here’s an excerpt

“Commander in Chief?” she says of George W. Bush, with a mix of disbelief and scorn. “You blew up every single financial vessel we had and if you think you aren’t personally responsible, well, the blame starts at the top. There is no higher top than you, SIR! If I were you, I would feel so absolutely horrific that I would take every penny I had and distribute it to anybody and everybody to help them in whatever way I could. You owe the American people every penny of your fortune and your family’s fortune.”

*** We have Spider-Man, Batman and Superman so it seems inevitable that one day there would be: Subway Man! Oh God, did I really just write that? Thank God it’s Friday. Anyway, Chad Lindsey went a long ways toward proving that Tom Cruise is not the only actor who can come to people’s rescue. Lindsey was among those who saw a 60-year-old man fall off of a platform and onto the subway tracks this week but he’s the only one to heroically come to the man’s rescue. The gays are gaga over Lindsey and if you watch his appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show, yesterday you will see why!