The Charming Mr. Passman

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Passman. Mr. Passman is the only certified black coral Master Sculptor in the world. Black coral is extremely rare and in very limited supply. Pieces made from this material are among the most exclusive on the planet. One look at his work and you know that he easily deserves such an honor.

Well, somehow I got invited to this lunch at Cipriani's in NYC by the Park. This is the place of the $32 rigatoni bolognese. In attendence were the German ambassador to the UN, a wealthy NYC financier and their respective staffs. I think I was an after thought because I didn't get the invite until the night before while I was already out and about. Not really realizing what I was in for, I spent a debauched evening at Lotus with all the mingling and imbibing that implies. I must have puked a half a dozen times in the Cipriani bathroom waiting for my lunch companions to show up. I'm probably the only person besides Lindsey Lohan who's ever done that.

Mr. Passman and I hit it off quickly. I think it's probably we were unimpressed by the folks around us. He, because of his stature. Me, because I was viciously hung over. Anyway, we got along well enough that he gave me his personal lapel pin. He had only made two. One for his wife and one for himself in tribute to the heroes of 9/11. Clearly I did not deserve such an honor but avarice is among my many vices and I accepted his gracious gift.

This story was remarkable enough for me and I told many people about it. No big deal right? Anybody would remember such an event. But that's not what's remarkable here. Over Christmas, I stopped by the Passman Gallery in Wailea to see if I could leave a note for Mr. Passman. It was there that I learned that Mr. Passman remembered meeting me too. In fact, the GM of the gallery told me that he recounted the story to the staff during the opening with tears in his eyes.

That an artist such as Mr. Passman who sees the world through such a beautiful lens and creates more beauty out of nothing with his hands and heart would remember a brash, young nobody like myself says amazing things about that man. I feel better and "purer" for his remembrance. Please check out his site. You can link to it from this site.