Word: gregorians
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...Vartan Gregorian rescues the New York Public Library
...today the institution is reclaiming its position as one of the world's great libraries, thanks to a new lion in its president's office. Vartan Gregorian, 50, a pudgy, bearded historian who bears more than a passing resemblance to Patience and Fortitude, came to his post as head of the system's four research and 82 branch libraries in 1981, after eight years as professor, dean and provost at the University of Pennsylvania. Born in Iran, Gregorian is an Armenian American who speaks Russian, Turkish, Persian, French and Arabic in addition to his first language, Armenian...
...passed over for the presidency of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, faculty and students staged campuswide protests. His supporters in New York, who range from Mayor Edward Koch to Philanthropist and Civic Leader Brooke Astor, also praise him in what has become an almost monotonously approbative Gregorian chant. Andrew Heiskell, chairman of the New York Public Library and former chairman of Time Inc., says, "Greg has a strange combination of scholarship, energy, drive, salesmanship, enthusiasm and even a certain naivet...
Those qualities have helped Gregorian prevail over what once seemed a nearly hopeless financial morass. When he arrived, the library was balancing its budget not only by cutting back services but by eating into its $80 million endowment. Then Gregorian began stating his case to potential givers. It was both blunt and plain: the library is necessary and therefore it should be supported. "I have never relied on the guilt or vanity of donors," explains Gregorian. "Charity you give out of pity. Philanthropy is for a higher cause...
...classics. After the current eight-week tour, Ronstadt and Riddle will begin recording a second collection of old standards. And this fall Ronstadt will return to the Public Theater in New York City to sing Mimi in an English version of Puccini's La Boheme. What next, Gregorian chant for soprano...