SPIRIT OF LIFE CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF (UPDATE)

An impressive throng of industryites assembled on the rooftop of West Hollywood’s London Hotel Thursday for the West Coast kickoff breakfast honoring City of Hope's Spirit of Life honorees and Republic muckety-mucks Monte and Avery Lipman. Go here for a dazzling array of photos from the event, paired with some semi-droll captions.

UMPG’s Evan Lamberg, as usual, was the event’s amiable host, praising the key facilitators and hailing the physicians and administrators who make COH’s vital work possible.

In his remarks, Monte noted his well-known fear of heights and accordingly thanked the organizers for hosting the event on the top of a building. But he and Avery also sounded a theme that was a constant in the morning’s speeches—the importance of tending to the soul of the patient as well as the body and how COH excels in this kind of comprehensive care.

A remarkable list of heavyweights schmoozed before the program began, including several chairpeople at other top companies and more than one prior honoree. It was, as they say, a heavy roof. A prevalent topic of conversation was how good it was to assemble again—the Lipman breakfast was originally scheduled to go down two years ago.

Somehow we were allowed to attend.

The NYC launch breakfast is slated for 5/24 at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. The fall event, Lamberg said, would be “sometime in October.” Stay tuned.