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Richard Botto, Editor in Chief / CEO of RAZOR Magazine, has created the definitive men's magazine which features the best in men's fashion, travel, sports, autos, celebrities, technology, humor, fiction, fitness and more.
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 WRITINGS:
RICHARD BOTTO
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September 2003
A Few Good People
Last month, I was selected
by People Magazine as one of their 25 Most Eligible Bachelors. I'd be
lying if I told you the first thought that went through my mind upon learning
that I had made the short list wasn't that I was going to be the subject
of brutal, relentless abuse from my friends and colleagues.
To the contrary and to my surprise, people started congratulating me.
Some were awe struck, jaw-slacked. I couldn't figure it out. What was
so honorable about being available? In fact, coming from married people,
the accolades seemed almost out of place. But the word I heard most often
was "achievement". What I had achieved , the desire to be successful,
the hours, the dedication was being recognized by the staff of a magazine
with 39 million readers (as I would be reminded again and again). Everyone
else seemed to realize that, I was having a hard time.
The days following the release of the issue were filled with radio, television
and print interviews. Questions, as you can imagine, ran the gamut - What's
your favorite color to how can women reach you to what do you think about
the war in Iraq. Mostly, I was asked what the hell I was doing on a list
that included people like Prince Andrew and Keanu Reeves. There were wide-eyed
stares and whispers just behind earshot. At times I felt like a freak
show let loose on Manhattan (just look at him, but don't get too close)
and at others some sort of deity with the power to heal (can I touch you?).
It was a wild ride.
But the highlight of the week, the absolute best thing to come out of
the whole experience, occurred in Little Italy the night after the People
party. A bunch of my best friends, "the guys," got together for dinner
at Il Cortile, an old haunting ground, an old friend itself. There we
reminisced, loudly at moments, about past times. We pushed through five
bottles of Barolo and four of the best courses you could possibly have
between the Hudson and the East River. We put back a few espressos with
Deano crooning in the background. And we laughed our asses off for 4 hours,
until the chairs were on the tables and the doors were to be locked. The
night was timeless, which is to say that we're all still the same characters
we were ten years ago and probably ten years before that.
My grandfather used to bemoan the saying that clothes make the man. Clothes,
he would lament, define the style of the man, but they don't make the
man. The friends a man keeps the company of makes the man. His life was
a testament to that.
My friends are all men of achievement. Men with progressive lifestyles,
whether it be starting a family or tackling career challenges, these are
all men who have done it their way. A perfect example of this is a lifelong
friend of mine who couldn't make it to the dinner because he and his wife
were having their first child (a sure sign of the apocalypse) in between
finishing up classes to get his MBA. In short, they are as deserving of
any honor as I.
And I realized that
night something that a man usually doesn't realize until he reaches
the end of his mid-life crisis or is faced with a life altering illness
- I'm an extremely lucky guy.
I would like to
thank the amazing women of People magazine, Kathleen Kayse, Erica Morris,
Lauren Price, Ruthie Aellenson and Julie Jordan for their support and
hospitality. With them in place, it's no wonder why People is America's
magazine.
Enjoy the Issue,
Richard Botto,
Editor in Chief / CEO of RAZOR Magazine - The Definitive Men's Lifestyle Magazine
www.razormagazine.com
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