Biography as Pilgrimage: On the Trail of Peter Matthiessen
Biography as Pilgrimage: On the Trail of Peter Matthiessen
Lance Richardson discusses his new book on Sagaponack’s Peter Matthiessen—novelist, naturalist, Zen roshi, and trailblazing environmentalist.
For our final Twomey Series Lecture of 2025, Lance Richardson discusses his eight-year undertaking — including a two-hundred mile trek in the Himalayas of Nepal — to write a biography of the late Sagaponack resident Peter Matthiessen, novelist, naturalist, and Zen roshi, whose trailblazing work championed Native American rights and helped usher in the modern environmental movement. Matthiessen’s many books include travel classic The Snow Leopard, and also Men’s Lives, a moving account of the lives and struggles of East End Bonackers.
Lance Richardson’s new book, True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen, is out October 14, 2025, from Pantheon Books, and will be available for purchase at the event. His previous book, House of Nutter: The Rebel Tailor of Savile Row, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and named one of the notable titles of 2018 by The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday, Esquire, and the American Library Association. He has been awarded numerous fellowships, including a year-long residency at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, at the New York Public Library. He teaches in the MFA in Writing program at Bennington College, Vermont.
Trailblazing Women: East Hampton Nature Trail’s Legacy
Trailblazing Women: East Hampton Nature Trail’s Legacy
Julie Sakellariadis shares the history of East Hampton’s Nature Trail and the women botanists and horticulturalists who created the trail.
The East Hampton Nature Trail is a place of wonder with a history intertwined with women botanists and horticulturists since the late nineteenth century. Come learn about the women who’ve shaped its history, starting with Anna Murray Vail, a botanist and the first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden, the two Mrs. Woodhouses, a president of the Garden Club of America, and others.
Our speaker Julie Sakellariadis joined the Garden Club of East Hampton in 2010 and served as president from 2018-2021. A long-time member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Botanical Garden, she and her husband live in Amagansett, where she gardens year-round.
Let’s Get Down to Business!
Let’s Get Down to Business!
A brief history of East Hampton Village’s commercial district presented by East Hampton historian Hugh King and Bess Rattray.
What kinds of colorful, quirky, practical, and whimsical shops could be found “upstreet” in the decades before Prada, Vuitton, and Valentino arrived? What was the business district’s retail culture like for shoppers 50 or 100 years ago? Join East Hampton Town & Village historian Hugh King and The Anchor Society’s Bess Rattray to learn about what our business district used to be like.
Travel back in time for a fun and informative virtual “walking tour”— with archival images, personal recollections, and video — that will highlight a variety of storefronts and business buildings, providing not just a hit of nostalgia, but a blueprint for creative ways that our community can come together to return heart and soul to Main Street.
Hugh King is the East Hampton Town and Village Historian, the Town Crier, and the Historic Site Director for the three Village Windmills and Home Sweet Home Museum. Hugh graduated from East Hampton High School and later returned to work in the East Hampton schools. In addition to teaching for 33 years, Hugh was active in local theater productions from 1963-1999, and he’s studied local history since the 1980s.
Bess Rattray, a thirteenth-generation East Hamptonite, writes a column called The Shipwreck Rose for The East Hampton Star and is employed as operations manager at The Church, the arts center in Sag Harbor. For nearly two decades before that, she was a senior editor at Vogue. She is proud to be the founder and chairwoman of the Anchor Society of East Hampton, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering commerce that serves community.
Looking Back: My Time with the D’Amicos & The Art Barge
Looking Back: My Time with the D’Amicos & The Art Barge
Spanning from 1975 to the present, Chris Kohan (President, The Victor D’Amico Institute of Art) will share the history and lives of Mabel and Victor D’Amico, the founders of the Art Barge and his time associated with them. This talk will incorporate archival and motivational teaching images that will leave you inspired and ready to create.
As part of this talk, Chris will share images of The Art Barge and the D’Amico House.
Victor D’Amico and Mabel D’Amico were pioneering art educators, and Victor’s “Summer Vacation Painting Class” programs played an important role in the growing East End arts scene in the second half of the 20th century. The Art Barge continues to offer classes for the community.
Christopher Kohan is the President of the Board of Trustees at The Victor D’Amico Institute of Art and The Art Barge.
Savoring Success: The Rise of the Hamptons Dining Scene
Savoring Success: The Rise of the Hamptons Dining Scene
A Conversation with Restaurateurs Joe Realmuto (Nick & Toni’s) & Jason Weiner (Almond).
Join three renowned Hamptons restaurateurs for an insightful panel discussion on the rise of the region’s dining scene. Moderator Florence Fabricant will speak with Joe Realmuto (Nick & Toni’s), Jason Weiner (Almond), and David Loewenberg (Beacon, Bell & Anchor) about their roles shaping the rise of the Hamptons dining scene. With decades of firsthand experience, they’ll share behind-the-scenes stories about how the Hamptons evolved into a premier culinary destination and reflect on its journey to excellence.
Joseph Realmuto began his culinary career in 1994 at Nick & Toni’s and is currently the executive chef to all Honest Man Hospitality establishments. Realmuto has a devotion to local and organic produce which reflects on his menus and is dedicated to helping the local community from volunteering for local soup kitchens to teaching students about growing produce, cooking and eating healthy.
Jason Weiner opened the Hamptons top French bistro Almond in 2001 with his business partner Eric Lemonides. Executive Chef Weiner is committed to using locally farmed products and local produce which dictate his menu creations allowing the local products to be showcased throughout his seasonal farm-to-table menu. Appearing as the featured chef at several culinary events throughout his career, Weiner always gives back to the community donating his time and culinary talent to local charity organizations.
Carol Covell is the General Manager of The 1770 House. She got her start in the East End restaurant industry working her way through college as a server at Basilico in Southampton in the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, she became the assistant manager, and later general manager at Della Femina Restaurant in East Hampton. She also served as opening general manager of Della Femina restaurant in New York City. In 2004, she was hired as Ben Krupinski’s General Manager for the opening of Cittanuova. She moved to The 1770 House in 2006 as their General Manager, a role she’s still in today, 19 years later.
