The Buckleys Three

My heavens, it was 90 degrees today in New York City. It must be a record for April the 27th. And I loved it. I rode my bicycle over to the Hudson River and ran along the park. The river park was packed with New Yorkers, pale-skinned, emerging from a hard cold winter.

Then I bicycled to the Chelsea Piers gym and went swimming. I love summer weather, I really do.

Another pleasure of the day was reading an excerpt in The New York Times Magazine from a new book by Christopher Buckley about life with his parents, Pat and William F. Christopher was their only child, and the book, called Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir, will be published in May.

Christopher Buckley, age 4, with his parents.

Christopher's mother Pat Buckley, a legendary figure in New York society, died in April, 2007. After that, I wrote an article about her great style for Bergdorf Goodman magazine. For that piece I talked to Christopher on the phone and his daughter Caitlin who spoke at her grandmother's memorial service; father and daughter were both charming. Eleven months later William F. Buckley died, and my heart went out to Christopher who lost both parents within one year. Now Christopher, an accomplished writer, has authored a book about his parents and The Times excerpted it today. It's a fascinating portrait of two complicated people. I loved the part about how Pat used to tell fibs, like claiming that the Queen and King of England stayed at her family's home in Vancouver. You can read the story here, and listen to an audio slide show of Christopher talking about his parents -- don't you love the internets? Here is the story I wrote about Pat Buckley, below (click to enlarge). Her style was her art and she was truly an original.