High life
Snowmen
Takt
Gstaad There are strong indications that the NUJ is about to call a general strike in protest over he Gulag-like conditions newsmen are ueing subjected to in this Alpine paradise. Harrowing tales of sweatshop practices
are emerging daily as more and more journalists are cracking under pressure. Even England's foremost man of letters, Nigel pempster, was subjected to the indignity of 'laving to work around the clock.
Dempster arrived in Gstaad in order to cover the investiture of a French jeweller with the legion d'honncur. This is a rare occasion as the decoration is now given out to anyone who asks for it. The catch is that 11° one does, as the leftist alliance which is favoured to win this month's election plans to levy a stiff fee to the happy holders. pLenlpster was not only expected to cover tem Party celebrating the honour, he was reed to report the goings on at the C,reengo as well. The Greengo is the swinglest nightclub this side of Studio 54 and covering it has killed more newsmen than title Vietnamese conflict. The literary giant Many collapsed with a nervous breakdown a,uci was recalled to England. The cause of
demise was the energy-sapping schedule well as the fact that he unknowingly paid Or one of his meals.
, John Kenneth Galbraith, Canada's best 'mown export after Margaret Trudeau, is another case in point. Galbraith is lionised hY bold speculators because he has wrongly Predicted every fluctuation of the money Market. Thus, the speculators do exactly the °PPosite of what he predicts and have got enormously wealthy as a result. Galbraith is °II assignment here for Esquire and is busy rePorting the flight of capital from countries such as France and Italy. Despite the heavy whork schedule required by the heartless ,ead of Esquire, the Canadian has not cornPh'ained because he relishes his work. His
atred of the rich is commensurate to his love of living among them. He supplements his six-figure income by speeches on the merits of Eurocommunism, and reports non-stop from the Greengo, the Eagle Club, various Arab chalets as well as the sauna of his palatial home.
But his industry has had some negative results to his health. His once proud frame has aged visibly and he is now a stooped seven foot one. Anthony Haden-Guest is another unfortunate newsman being
exploited by the heartless editors of New York Magazine and the Sunday Telegraph. His conscientiousness and dedication have turned him into a near-alcoholic and the NUJ consider his case a perfect reason for the strike.
The cruellest workload of all, however, is that of Arnaud de Borchgrave, Newsweek's chief foreign correspondent. He covered all wars of the last twenty years spending a fortune in hotels all over the world. He used to check into places like the Caravelle Hotel in Saigon, or the Intercontinental in Amman, take a suite, crawl underneath the bed and tremble with fear for about four days. Then he would fly out first class and file a blood-and-guts story which made the office boys cringe back in New York.
Because of his extreme bravery Arnaud was recently assigned to Gstaad. He now trembles with fear in case some Arab sheikh does not grant him an interview or he does not get invited to some banker's dinner. He is suffering from combat fatigue and the Shah of Persia and King Hussein have taken up the case. He hopes to be transferred to their kingdoms soon as well as permanently.
Even the fair sex has not been sparedon the Gstaad beat. Nicole Salinger, the wife of Pierre Salinger, is wasting away trying to keep up with fast breaking stories. Her husband used to be a Kennedy minion and now works for Sir James Goldsmith's weekly L'Express. He was recently given the legion d'honneur for presiding over Gramco, the real estate swindle that eased excess money from their American and English owners. Nicole relishes her work schedule although her ideology is not exactly that of the average Gstaad denizen. Like Galbraith she loves the hard life among the rich and reports it assiduously.
The radical Left is represented here by two ladies. One of them is the widow of Feltrinelli, the multi-millionaire Italian publisher who blew himself up while pre paring to throw a bomb from his Rolls Royce at an unsuspecting Fascist waiter.
Inga Feltrinelli is here unravelling the capitalist plot that killed Baader. She is German and very committed to her work and the cause. She is joined by a Belgian woman called Christine Okrend whose heart-rending story is sure to move the NUJ officials. Okrend has been covering the Gstaad beat for years and is now clearly suffering from hallucinations due to overwork. Although deeply committed to the Left she is now incapable of spitting on policemen or calling them pigs as her liver has long since stopped functioning from over-indulgence in caviar and champagne. This foul capitalist ruse has not escaped the union, however, and newspapers and magazines should take note. Unless more newsmen are assigned to the Gstaad beat all newspaper barons will be forced to read the Daily Express from cover to cover.
Previous page
