Jessica Winter - Break in Case of Emergency

When Leora and Brent Simons split up, the tabloid headlines read DUNZO. When she married Charles Bluff — he of the railroad Bluffs, he of the onetime-third-largest-private-landowners-in-the-northeast — United States Bluffs, he of the impeccable Bluff Foundation Bluffs, to which all other would-be boldface philanthropy innovators aspired — the headlines read DUNZO NO MORE. The chasm of class was a subtext of both the marriage and Leora’s World itself, most noticeably during the second season’s sixth episode, which was built around Leora’s thwarted efforts to corner the septuagenarian financier’s widow, revered art patron, Mayflower and Mitford descendant, and noted shy person Flossie Durbin at a hospital benefit. After filming, representatives of Mrs. Durbin — a trustee of the Bluff Foundation who also happened to blog semiannually about art shows she’d seen and liked — had personally interceded with Charles Bluff to have all references to Mrs. Durbin excised from the final broadcast.

“What this strange and bowdlerized episode tells us,” Stevens-Meisel wrote in one of her exhaustive scene-by-scene recaps of Leora’s World , “is that even a six-carat imprimatur of legal entry into a Citadel of extreme wealth and privilege cannot succeed in dazzling its true residents. Leora’s world is not one and the same with that forbidding fortress — she may be in it, but she is not (yet) of it.”

Like Trudy, the Leora of Leora’s World had her very own catchphrase, uttered spontaneously a few times to a soon-to-be-fired wedding planner, and then encouraged by producers. The catchphrase: “Who am I to you?” While “I am out; I am dunzo” was subject to endless variation, “Who am I to you?” had one correct intonation: the smallest susurrating pause on the Who, the am I to you a torrent, a rapids. The catchphrase nailed Leora’s charisma — it was both narcissistic and solicitous; it demanded an account of her Leora-ness and acknowledged her need for acknowledgment. “Examined over five seasons of Leora’s World, Who am I to you? interrogated the erosion of a woman’s identity when that identity has been built on beauty, desirability — the currency of youth,” Stevens-Meisel wrote. “By the end of the show’s run, however, Leora’s newfound identity as a philanthropic innovator with a sparkling new foundation had rendered the question moot. We no longer lived in Leora’s World. Now Leora belonged to the world.”

The Leora Infinitas Foundation, also known as LIFt, will work tirelessly to support women’s education, entrepreneurship, and empowerment all over the world. We will acknowledge that no matter where they are on the planet — in a village in sub-Saharan Africa, in a corner office in Shanghai, or at a kitchen table in Des Moines — women share the same hopes, the same dreams for themselves and their children. We may sometimes seem far apart culturally and geographically, but our similarities are so much vaster than our differences. We women — all of us women — can own the means of production, with a cross-platform multimedia foundation. We can lift each other up.

That’s what the “LIFt Yourself” concept is all about. Women in the developing world and women here “at home,” fulfilling their dreams, helping one another fulfill those dreams, and discovering our common ground.

Speaking personally for a moment: I take this word foundation literally. This is the foundation of everything I do: communication, conversation, transformation. It is the foundation of my identity as a woman, as a mother, as a communicator. One message across all platforms, consistent, solid, through and through.

— from the first draft of the “Proposed Platform of the Leora Infinitas Foundation (LIFt),” by Leora Infinitas in collaboration with Donna Skinner

Karina — LIFt

Friday, March 27 5:15 PM

To: Jen

Subject: Happiness!

Dearest Jen, I’m so thrilled you’ve accepted the position here at LIFt. I’m sure Leora is sorry she couldn’t make it for our chat, but I’m also sure she’s just so amped to meet you. Promise me that, on your first day, you’ll let me take you out for a proper lunch — an old-school, glamorous, steak-and-wine lunch. We should celebrate! Indulge me? xo K.

Jen

Friday, March 27 5:19 PM

To: Karina — LIFt

Subject: Re: Happiness!

Karina,

I’d be thrilled to! I’m so excited to be joining LIFt. You’ve already extended such a warm welcome! Very grateful — and looking forward to lunch.

All my best,

Jen

“Remember,” Meg had said, “don’t accept the first offer.”

“Number one,” Jen had said, “obviously I won’t, and two, we are not there yet.”

“Just don’t accept the first offer. Write that on your hand. Leave notes around the house. Chant it before you go to sleep.”

“Oh my God,” Jen had said.

“You negotiated, yes?” Meg was saying now. Jen could hear Millie trilling in the background over the phone line.

“Um,” Jen said.

“You didn’t.”

“I’m unemployed! Or I was.”

“So you just took whatever they offered?”

“What position was I in to negotiate? Did I have a matching offer from the unemployment office?”

“A lot of places would have rescinded the offer the moment you accepted without negotiating. They would see it — and look, I’m not necessarily agreeing with this, I’m just telling you — they would see it as a sign that you’re — that you’re not — well, it doesn’t matter.”

“No, what? A sign that I’m not what?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. This is good news. I’m happy for you. I am.”

“You have to finish that sentence. A sign that I’m not what?”

Meg sighed. Millie hooted. “That you’re not a fighter, that you don’t fight for yourself. Which in your case is not true. I’m just saying.”

“But wait,” Jen said. “Isn’t it a sign of solidarity with the organization to take less money from them? Like I’m looking out for their best interests at a time of financial uncertainty? You could see it that way, couldn’t you?”

“Yes,” Meg said, “you could choose to see it that way.”

Jen

Monday, April 6 9:14 AM

To: Karina — LIFt

Subject: Re: Happiness!

Good morning, Karina! I was having trouble getting buzzed in, so I sneaked in with a UPS guy — hope that’s okay! I’ve parked myself on a couch in reception. Do you happen to know where my desk is located? Or someone else who could help? Sorry to bother you with these mundane matters. And most important: Are we still on for lunch today? Thanks! — Jen

Jen

Monday, April 6 11:47 AM

To: Karina — LIFt

Subject: Re: Happiness!

Hey Karina, I knocked on your door earlier, but I think you were on a call. My wonderful new colleague Daisy found a cubicle for me and is helping me get on the grid. Let me know when you have time to chat today — does lunch still work? Thanks, Jen

Jen

Monday, April 6 3:52 PM

To: Karina — LIFt

Subject: Re: Happiness!

Hey Karina, things are humming along here, but I will need your sign-off before I can log on to my computer and get set up with email. You might have noticed that John from building IT has been calling you — his extension is 25233—and all he needs is a signature to get us going here. Thanks, Jen

Karina — LIFt

Monday, April 6 4:52 PM

To: Jen

Subject: Re: Happiness!

Belatedly, welcome, Jen! Sooo glad you’re here. Been slammed all day and need to run — tell Jon yes it’s fine — and send me days for lunch.:)