New url for Peach Buzz
Bookmark this new url for Peach Buzz.. We have moved to Wordpress!
Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 31 > Entry
Author’s latest is a tell-all on spouse, Ted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a jaw droppingly frank e-mail to five of his Florida State University graduate students, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Olen Butler has disclosed that his 44-year-old spouse, “His Lovely Wife” novelist Elizabeth Dewberry, is leaving him for 68-year-old CNN founder Ted Turner.
“Rumors will soon be swirling around the department, so I want to tell the full and nuanced story,” Butler informed his colleagues.
After going into detail about his wife’s unfortunate childhood, Butler writes: “It is very common for a woman to be drawn to men who remind them of their childhood abusers. Ted is such a man, though fortunately, he is far from being abusive. From all that I can tell, he is kind to her, loyal, considerate and devoted to his family, and perhaps, therefore, he can redeem some things for her.”
Butler’s e-mail was posted on Tuesday on gawker.com.
He goes on to say that the “Break the Heart of Me” author “nearly died from an intestinal blockage in Argentina while on a trip with Ted” in March. The experience, Butler says, led her to officially end the couple’s 12-year marriage.
But wait. In the e-mail’s final passages, Butler seeks to completely re-define the phrase “full disclosure.”
He writes: “She will not be Ted’s only girlfriend. Ted is permanently and avowedly non-monogamous. But though he has several girlfriends, it is a very small number, and he does not take them up lightly and he gives them his absolute support when he does …”
(That sound you just heard was Jane Fonda vigorously nodding her head over in Poncey-Highland.)
In closing, Butler writes: “I wish her the best. I ask you not to think ill of her in any way. Elizabeth and I will now conduct ourselves as if this is public knowledge.”
When reached Tuesday, Butler was understandably distraught at the rude comments surrounding the Gawker.com posting.
“It’s just sneering and vicious,” Butler told us. “Elizabeth and I are hardly Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. I suppose there’s interest in this because Ted Turner is involved. He’s a decent, loyal man. There’s a connection between them that’s quite profound. I love the woman. My first interest is in her happiness.”
In keeping with his long-standing policy of not commenting on his employer’s often, um, complex personal life, Turner rep. Phillip Evans graciously declined to discuss the matter when we rang Tuesday.
Gregory Henry, Dewberry’s publicist at Harcourt Publishers in New York forwarded our request for comment to the Tallahassee novelist.
Star 94 on Star’s disclosure
Star 94 morning man Steve McCoy admits that he “nearly spit a pepperoni off the fine pizza I was enjoying” while watching “Entertainment Tonight” Monday. The report focused on ex-“View” chat show host Star Jones Reynolds’ essay in the upcoming August issue of Glamour where she finally cops to having a gastric bypass procedure.
As Buzz enthusiasts will recall, Jones Reynolds memorably hung up on McCoy and co-host Vikki Locke when they gently inquired about rumors of her having the procedure last year. Later, she referred to McCoy in the New York Post as “the single rudest person who ever interviewed me.” McCoy and Locke then gleefully had the quote put on T-shirts and gave them away to listeners prior to the author’s “Shine” book-signing here.
Still, Jones Reynolds’ words speak best for themselves. And since we happened to get our hands on her full essay Tuesday, behold the following:
“It is a warm summer day in Manhattan, and I am trying to quiet myself enough to write the toughest document of my life and let go of the grandiose concept of ‘me’ long enough to just be real with myself,” she writes about the decision to go public.
“I was also terrified someone would have a tragic result after emulating me without making an informed decision with her doctor.”
We’re practically certain that the new Court TV host is commenting on her medical procedure there and not her marriage to New York banker Al Reynolds.
Usher: Wedding will happen
Atlanta pop star Usher Raymond provided details Tuesday to Usmagazine.com about his and fiancée Tameka Foster’s abruptly canceled nuptials at L.A. Reid’s house in the Hamptons last weekend. Usher insists the couple will make it down the aisle. “As of right now we don’t have a date but we will let you know when we do,” the singer told the mag. “Everybody’s fine. Tameka and the baby are fine.” The couple was snapped holding hands in New York Tuesday.
Not to belabor the semantics of Usher rep Patti Webster’s official statement from the weekend, but she did write “the wedding ceremony was canceled” as opposed to “postponed.”
At presstime Tuesday, we were still deliberating what to do with the couple’s fondue set.
Overscene
Pop diva and “Glitter” actress Mariah Carey dining at Geisha House at Atlantic Station. “Mimi” sat in an exclusive booth on the first floor as she noshed on tuna tataki sashimi with ponzu. She was with one of her girlfriends and one male friend. We’re told that the singer was “very polite to the staff and courteous to her onlooking fans.” Carey is said to be in town working with record producer Jermaine Dupri.
Celebrity birthdays
Blues musician Robert Cray is 54. Singer Joe Elliott of Def Leppard is 48. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy is 47. Rapper Coolio is 44. Singer Adam Duritz of Counting Crows is 43. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe (“The Cosby Show”) is 34.
Contributing: News services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
