Book party

Strong cocktails and sparkling conversation were the order of the evening at The Spectator's first event in New York City at Palo Gallery. Author Rachel Cockerell spoke about her fascinating book, Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land. Cockerell’s radical debut tells the story of the Galveston Plan: a forgotten episode in US history in which ten thousand Jews fleeing the persecution and brutality of the Russian Empire set sail for Galveston, Texas.It was standing room only for Speccie subscribers for the conversation between New York editor Orson Fry and Cockerell. Afterwards, the author mingled with guests and answered their questions. The evening nicely lubricated with white wine, beer and sake, graciously provided by the event sponsor SOTO SAKE.

It would have been dereliction of duty for Cockburn to pass up a party for Marty, as the invitation cheerily put it. Marty is, of course, Martin Peretz, the former panjandrum of the New Republic, lecturer at Harvard, and champion of Israel, not to mention a host of other worthy causes. A revolving door of staffers and editors not only ensured a constant swirl of attention during his decades-long tenure at the helm of the magazine, but also kept it at the forefront of political debate about race, culture and foreign affairs. On Thursday night, Peretz greeted numerous well-wishers and offered brief remarks about his scintillating new memoir, The Controversialist, whose publication was overseen by Adam Bellow.