New Year’s Eve, 1999. It was a party to remember, and a quarter century later, it still haunts me.
I was friends with a quirky, brilliant entrepreneur who had invented something few understood at all—the first internet search engine. The party celebrated not only the coming new year, but also a quantum breakthrough in computer technology.
There were perhaps a hundred people at the party, chatting, mingling, eating from a lavish buffet and drinking from an open bar. They were mostly young—at 47, I was clearly one of the elders. But there was one person who stood out among the guests. Not because of what she did, but because of what she did not do. She did not talk to anyone. She did not eat or drink anything. She sat in a chair against the back wall, looking hopelessly out of place among the vibrant crowd.
I had never seen her before. But I could not help but wonder who she was and why she was there. Finally, I asked my friend if he knew her. “That’s my wife’s sister,” he said. “She’s kind of weird.”
A few minutes later, I happened to be talking to my friend’s wife, and mentioned that her sister did not seem to be having a very good time. “Oh, she’s a hermit,” she replied. “She lives in New York. She doesn’t do anything. Never talks to anyone, never sees anyone. She’s been like that for years. I can’t believe she even showed up for the party.”
I looked at the woman, sitting in the same chair in the same location. I didn’t know very many people at the party, and obviously neither did she. I decided to go talk to her.
I walked over to where she was sitting. “Hello,” I said. She looked away and ignored me. “I hear you came here from New York,” I persisted.
“Yes,” she replied, looking away.
“I used to live in New York,” I replied.
No response. By now, I felt completely uncomfortable.
“Take care,” I said, and walked away.
I never saw her in person again. Several decades later, when she became very well known, I was completely shocked. And that was my party with Ghislaine Maxwell.
Daniel Shiner is a bookseller in Mill Valley.
