Goldwater to Sign Copies of His Book

Former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater will visit Orange County on Jan. 22 to autograph copies of “Goldwater” during a brunch at the Four Seasons Hotel to benefit the Associates, a support group for the Orange County Trauma Society.

Goldwater’s daughter, Peggy Goldwater Clay of Newport Beach, will preside over the affair, which will also feature an autograph session with Maureen Dean, author of “Washington Wives.”

Clay is preparing to go to Arizona to join her father for his 80th birthday bash Jan. 1. About 200 people are expected to honor the former senator at his brother Bob’s home in Scottsdale.

And what will Clay bestow upon her famous dad? “The family has decided to pool its resources to get him a gift,” Clay said. “Since he loves to sit in his cactus garden, we will get him a tree, something that signifies family and love.”

And what for Christmas? “Oh, that was easy. I got him a subscription to Prevention magazine and the grandchildren got him a Newport Surf and Sport shirt to truck around in. Oh! And I got him a 40-pound box of kindling wood. Whether it’s cold or 80 degrees, Daddy loves to start a fire.”

And away he goes: “We rejoice,” said Laguna’s Tom Kemp after learning that his brother, Jack, had been selected by President-elect George Bush to be his secretary of housing and urban development. “He’s happiest being a player, especially in an area where he has the kind of unique ideas that can help solve some of the most intractable problems.”

Come January, Tom will head for his apartment in Arlington, Va., to help Jack with the organization and transition of the new assignment. Along with wife Betty, Tom plans to visit Virginia regularly to lend “whatever help I can.” Tom is a retired chairman of Coca Cola Bottling Co. in Los Angeles and former president of Beatrice Hunt-Wesson Foods.

What, no burger?”Yep. Lived without a hamburger for a day,” said burger mogul Carl Karcher of his meal Monday with President Reagan in Washington. Karcher was a special guest at the President’s thank-you lunch for members of the Grace Commission.

“I’m proud of what the commission has accomplished,” Karcher said. “Since it was organized by the President, we have saved the government $110 billion.”

It’s all in the game: Mountain lion from Utah, quail from Baja, elk from Wyoming and sheep from Canada were on the menu at builder Al Baldwin’s birthday splash Wednesday at the Pacific Club. (But of course there was moose . Alaskan, not chocolate.)

“We’re dining on everything he has shot lately,” said Al’s wife, Deeann, stunning (as usual) in a wide-leg black pants ensemble by Valentino. “I needed to get it out of the freezer! I mean, how much moose can one family eat?”

Chef Rainer Langbein had some sleepless nights cooking up a recipe idea for the lion. “I’ve never cooked that before,” he said. But as a prelude to the sheep course, the lion came roaring from the oven a la bouchee (delicately encased in puff pastry).

For the game wary, there was icebox cheesecake drizzled with fresh raspberry sauce. “We’ve allowed for guests to have huge pieces of cake,” Deeann said. “It’s the one thing Al had absolutely nothing to do with.”

Pssssst: Singer Michael Jackson’s new chimp, Jesse, spent some time at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach recently. Seems the primate’s trainer, a woman, was enjoying a brief stay there and told Jesse he could swing along. . . .

Also spotted doing time at the hotel in recent weeks: Raquel Welch, Eva Gabor, Morgan Brittany and Kelly McGillis. . . .

The Rehabilitation Institute of Southern California has been chosen as beneficiary for the April gala opening of the Yankee Tavern restaurant in Newport Beach (formerly Baxter’s). The cozy bistro is the brainchild of Hans Prager, owner of the Ritz in Newport. . . .

Talk about the royal treatment. First, it was an afternoon filled with petit fours and spiked cider. Then, it was an evening of dinner and caroling on Newport Bay for the staff of the fifth floor of the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Monday night.

Outgoing board Chairman Harriett M. Wieder tossed the afternoon party, her end-of-tenure thank you to the floor’s executive assistants, secretaries and receptionists. And the Irvine Co. and Van Dell & Associates, an engineering firm, were co-hosts for the latter bash, their end-of-the-year nod to the Folks on Five.

“As you can imagine, we do a lot of business at the county,” said Mike Stockstill, the Irvine Co.’s senior director of corporate community affairs.