Diary Prequel Package — page 145

Osterhaus of the University of Rotterdam, Marie-Paul Kieny from WHO, Jaap Goudsmit from Crucell. It was moderated by a Dutch TV anchor. I gave the Opening Ceremony Keynote lecture on the evening of Aug. 28 and provided a "provocative" talk on "An AIDS Vaccine: Will It Ever Fit the Classical Paradigm?" It was extremely well-received by an audience of about 1000. Others that took part in the Opening Ceremony were Job Cohen (Mayor of Amsterdam), Hans Hoogervorst (Dutch Minister of Health), Princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau (Director, EU Affairs, Open Society Institute), Jean-Francois Rischard, Former VP of the World Bank, and David Salisbury (Director of Immunization, UK Department of Health). We had a beautiful boat ride down the Amstel River to the Maritime Museum followed by dinner with all of the speakers and Joep Lange at the Amstel Hotel. Charming evening, but the weather was raining and cool. Sept. 3, 2006 - Had a most interesting dinner over Ellen and Gerry Sigal's house in DC. Guest were Sherry Lansing (Hollywood producer - "Fatal Attraction", Black Rain" and former actress) and her husband, Billy Friedken (Multiple Academy Award winning Producer, Director and Writer - "Exorcist", "The French Connection", etc. ) He is now producing (successfully) operas all over the world. Also there were Joe Wilson, the ambassador involved in the big Washington issue of the Administration "misleading" the American public about WMDs in Iraq and his wife Valerie Plame , the CIA secret agent that was "outted" by Robert Novack's column and for which Scooter Libby has been indicted for perjury. It was a most interesting discussion. Valerie and Joe seemed like very nice people despite being trashed by the Administration. Valerie insisted that she was still under cover despite the fact that it is reported that she had a desk job when she was outted. Joe, as he has said on TV multiple times, feels that the WH officials are all a "bunch of liars". Also present were Washington power-lawyer (Watergate, Whitewater, 9/11 Commission) Richard Ben-Veniste and his wife Donna. Sept. 12, 2006 - Went to farewell reception at the Atrium of the Equinox Restaurant in DC for Michael Gerson (former speechwriter and current Assistant to the President). Reception given by DATA (Bono's group) Saw old friends their such as Erin Chapman Thornton and Jamie Drummond from DATA. Mike is going to do a regular column for the Washington Post and Newsweek. Later in the evening went to an "Alliance for Aging Research" dinner and awards night at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown at the invitation of Allan Fox of FoxKiser Law Firm (old friend - formerly of Jacob Javits and Ted Kennedy staff). Dinner honored Sens. Orin Hatch and Evan Bayh. During Hatch's remarks, he specifically mentioned that he and I were dear friends and that I am one of the great heroes in medicine and public health. Sept. 13, 2006 - I played a major role in the 90th Birthday Party for Dr. C. Everett (Chick) Koop at the Cosmos Club. I delivered remarks. The 2 MCs were Hilary Clinton and Orin Hatch. My friendship with Sen. Clinton grows as she continues to be very kind and warm towards me. I roasted Chick a bit, and the audience loved it (see my written remarks).