I was watching the final edition of the Larry King Show on CNN and feeling nostalgic. I met Larry for the first time when he was hosting "Breakfast at Pumperniks", his first radio interview show, on Miami Beach. That was back in the late 50's and in my new role as owner of my own pr firm,I represented hotels,nightclubs and restaurants. That's all that really was available on the Beach in those days.

Larry was set up in a booth at Pumperniks, on the corner of Collins Avenue and 74th Street, for those of you who know Miami Beach. Pumperniks was a popular deli/restaurant frequented by everyone, particularly entertainers appearing at the various hotels. I spent a lot of time shuttling the famous and not so famous to be interviewed by him there and a few years later when he moved up in the radio world to a mid-nite to 2am interview show on WIOD. Miami Beach was a late night town in those days and nobody seemed to mind showing up at mid-nite and talking for an hour or two. Even at that hour, he had a huge listener audience. Come to think of it, I was a lot younger and thought nothing of being out until all hours of the morning. Wow, has that changed.

What always fascinated me about Larry was the fact that once he ok'd one of my clients to appear on the show, he never wanted any advance information other than how to pronounce their name correctly and what was I "pushing" pr-wise that I wanted him to mention on air. Usually the name of the hotel, theatre or nightclub that I represented where the interviewee was staying or appearing. He was always great about that, and believe me, it was much appreciated. I once had a reporter do a front page story in the Miami Herald that I had gone to a lot of trouble to set up, and he neglected to mention the name of the hotel where the event occured. Needless to say, my client, the owner of the hotel, was mightily pissed and I was ready to kill myself for all the wasted work.

In the mid-60s, Larry became our neighbor on Keystone Islands. His house backed up to our side yard. We had first hand knowledge of his numerous marriages and live-in girlfriends via the kids in the neighborhood. I can remember Andrea, at 10 or 12, coming home from playing outside, to offhandedly remark at dinner that "there's a new set of kids at the King house."

The other thing about Larry that I always found interesting was that while he was an incredibly good interviewer while he was on air, the moment the commercial break would come on, he would ignore the celebrity and turn to me to discuss the latest Miami Dolphin game. An avid Dolphin fan, he knew we had season tickets and was much more interested in discussing my thoughts on Sunday's game than anything the non-plused celebrity had to say.

Yes, he wore the horn rimmed glasses and the suspenders, even then. I've marveled at his meteoric rises and catastrophic falls over the years. I knew him before his gravy years with CNN, but you always knew he was something special.

Interesting memories. I think I may e-mail him and wish him well.

A fashionable tale. . . .

Go ahead and laugh. I just bought myself a pair of "jeggings". At Costco, no less. For you non-fashionistas, jeggings are the new hot clothing item, a cross between jeans and leggings. Worn best with knee high boots, but of course.

OK, so most 81 year olds aren't wearing knee high boots, much less jeggings, but on sale for $15.95, by Gloria Vanderbilt you should excuse me,who could resist??? It just so happens that I realized recently I actually own a pair of knee high black suede boots, left over from my apres ski past life, I guess. I tried tucking a regular pair of black boot leg jeans into them but ended up looking more knobby than usual, so the knee boots went back in their box.

Then fate intervened!

The significant other and I were perusing the aisles at Costco yesterday when it was necessary to cross over from paper goods (toilet paper, paper towels, coffee filters) to the produce department (fresh fish, lamb chops, strip steaks). To do this we were forced to cross through the area reserved for odds and ends of clothes. . if you are a Costco aficionado, you know the drill. When I hesitated before a pile of black jeans, Benard made the mistake of asking me what jeggings were, and that's all she wrote. I dithered for a few minutes longer and finally threw a Size 8-Short (at 4'11" you thought I buy Longs?) into the basket. The deed was done.

Honestly, they're not bad. . .and with the weather this week ridiculously cold here in Miami, I'm actually getting to wear them. We have a holiday party tomorrow evening and I plan to look totally chic with my boots and jeggings. . .if I can just figure out what to wear on top. I'll bet I'm the only octagenarian at the event sporting such avant garde fashion. Naomi Campbell, eat your heart out.

As a parting thought I have to share with you something I tore out of a magazine recently. . it's a quote by someone named Diane Ackerman, I have no idea who she is. . but it really struck a chord with my take on life and maybe explains the jeggings. It goes this way. . . "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width as well."

To that I say "Amen".

Monkey business. . .that's art, folks!!

Miami's been awash in art this past week with the annual arrival of the international Art Basel and all it's attendant creative excitement. Basically, everyone is doing something art-y and that goes for Fairchild Botanical Gardens where the newest art installation is a group of sculptures by Les Lalannes. . .Claude & Francois Xavier LaLanne, to be exact. (Actually, I never heard of them either, so don't feel bad, even though they are apparently very famous.)

When Benard did his Friday morning tram tours of the Garden this week, I went along to see the installation and also practice up on my own tour. As soon as I get up the courage to take my "test". . .show off my tour to Julie, the lady in charge of tram tour guides. . .I'll be doing my own one of these days. Benard drives the 72-passenger tram and talks at the same time. . .I am not such a multi-tasker. . .If I have to drive and talk, there's a good chance I would kill people as well as plants along the way. For that reason, I have had the good sense to only sign up to talk. I'm no fool.

Anyway, the Les Lalannes' sculptures are very whimsical and absolutely delightful. They range from Francois-Xavier's "Very Big Thoughtful Monkey" whose lap I am casually sitting on in the photo, to Claude's famous "Very Large Cabbage With Chicken Legs". This one is an enlarged replica of her famous original 1964 sculpture where she metalicized a real cabbage and was the talk of the art world. I swear I'm not making this up.

There are also two herds of wonderful LaLanne sheep in various areas of the garden, moutons, for all you Francophiles. That's Benard with "Wapiti" or stag in English. All in all, it's a delightful installation and you can't help but smille as you come upon each one. Fairchild's decision to feature "art in the garden" has been wonderfully successful. It all started with an installation of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly two years ago. . .since then we've had a succession of artists. . .the last one was a famous Japanese lady sculptor who lived in a mental institution and was obscessed with polka dots. . .not our favorite. As tram guides, we get to talk all about them. But this new installation is a winner and I strongly suggest you visit the Garden if you are in Miami.

By the way, in January, Yoko Ono is coming to the Garden to install her "Wishing Tree" in one of our ficus trees. She's apparently done this in many places around the world. When you visit you can make out your wish and hang it on the tree. . periodically the wishes are gathered up and all stored together in a kind of rocket up in Alaska. But of course. I would expect nothing less from John Lennon's widow.

You gotta admit, Fairchild is not your grandma's style of garden.