Talk of the Town

At this year's Naples Winter Wine Festival, it looked as though Judge Judy Sheindlin's Mediterranean trip on Michael DeGroote's yacht was a done deal when rival bidder Tom Lund dropped out. But who but Bruce Sherman should jump in to seal the win at $520,000? All's fair in love, charity auctions and family rivalry-the T.V. judge and the publicity-shy corporate raider are cousins, and Judge Judy's pop was also Sherman's childhood dentist.

Although Judge Judy went home empty-handed, Tom Lund didn't. After he bested Emeril Lagasse in a bid for a trip on Lee and Penny Anderson's 177-foot yacht, Katharine, the Andersons tossed in another trip to satisfy the chef. Wonder if future passengers will spy an "Emeril slept here" plaque near any of the important Impressionist works that hang in the luxury cruiser.

Thanks to Walk the Line, producer James Keach had as much buzz around him as his glamorous wife, Jane Seymour. Phantom of the Opera star Franc D'Ambrosio thrilled the post-auction crowd with the musical's theme, after treating guests of Mary Susan and J.D. Clinton to a performance the night before. Judge Judy's friend Cindy Adams wittily chronicled her trip to Judy and Jerry Sheindlin's Naples digs (and to Tom and Connie Galloway's Bay Colony home) in her New York Post gossip column. A couple of weeks later, Adams and Denise Cobb were among the friends who accompanied the judge to Hollywood to receive her star on the Walk of Fame.

The most star-struck gazes at the festival were reserved for Emeril himself, who said Neapolitan friends and wine fest donors Laura and Jim Dixon have been trying to get him to come to the festival for years. The sweet, surprisingly shy celebrity was right at home in Ken and Grace Evenstad's kitchen, snapping his fingers to the live New Orleans' Dixieland band and confessing that he hoped his menu lived up to his hosts' wines. Before the Saturday auction, Boys & Girls Club kid James Galarza-representing one of the festival's beneficiaries-got to meet his Food Network idol, who offered the would-be chef a future job on the spot.

You're going in as a scribbler, kid, but you're coming back a star. Cape Coral mystery novelist (and Gulfshore Life contributor) Jeff Lindsay spent 12-plus years as a performer and writer in Hollywood, including three as Steve Allen's ghostwriter. His recent return to Tinsel Town was purely for pleasure, as he watched filming of the Showtime series based on his book Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Lindsay says Six Feet Under's Michael C. Hall was "born to play" the soft-hearted serial killer. Dexter is slated to air this fall, but you can catch Lindsay reading from his mystery series at FGCU on April 13 for the university's Renaissance Academy's author series. About 150 fans turned out for the whimsical stylings of visiting poet Billy Collins. Think a former poet laureate would be too high-minded for ordinary Gulfshore pursuits? Au contraire, mon frere. An avid golfer, Collins got to tee up at Mediterra, thanks to host Jack Crocker and FGCU patron Dennis Gilkey.

Love was in the air . At the P.O.L.O. Club of Lee County's third annual auction, bachelor Rob Kelley got the highest bid with a bio that touted him as a fifth-generation member of the Hendry family-perhaps the ladies thought he had some rural real estate tucked away? In Naples, organizer Kelly Capolino's auction for the American Red Cross was spiced up by a ringer for the wrestler The Rock, who walked into the Ridgeport Pub to order a beer and instead became the property of the winning bachelorette. A young and attractive crowd came together to mingle and mangle the meatloaf at a singles night at My Dinner Factory, a do-it-yourself gourmet kitchen/restaurant in Fort Myers. Whether cumin is a heretofore-unknown truth serum or whether you can blame the wine, at least two participants confided they were seeing regular steadies but using the night to keep their options open and up their recipe repertoire. Former B-103.9 DJ ("Marci G.") and Dinner Factory owner Marci Giebels-Birchenough was helped by her pilot husband, Kelly Birchenough, and one-time beau Drew Steele, who chipped in with a radio remote from the site.

Good sports: The athletic Kirk Kvetko trained hard for a climb up Mount Kilimanjoro to benefit the Alzheimer's Support Network but succumbed to altitude sickness just short of the summit. Wife Colleen flew to Cape Town to be with him as he recuperated. . Before Mayor Bill Barnett dedicated the Arthur L. Allen Tennis Center at Cambier Park, in recognition of Allen's $500,000 gift to the city for the center, buddies Johan Kriek and Frank Adiutori toppled Allen and Carlos Perez in an exhibition match. Post-ceremony, Allen looked as comfortable holding a stuffed tiger for his five-year-old stepdaughter, Mia, as he does with his ever-present racket in hand.

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Overheard at the Naples Winter Wine Festival:

"It wouldn't take much arm-twisting to get me to come back." -Emeril Lagasse

"When I'm in London I'm even better looking"-Auctioneer Humphrey Butler, drumming up bids to be his guest in his hometown.

"Unless you're a priest, I'm not telling you."-Chalk Hills winery owner and last year's high bidder Frederick Furth, when asked what lots he had his eye on.