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SECOND ANNIVERSARY
GIFT TO YOU!
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DINNER$-In95
FOR TWO 17
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Includes: Your choice of 2 soups or 2 salads,
2 lamb chops,
1 skewer of Kabob
(choice of chicken, beef or lamb),
2 skewers of Kafka,
rice or homemade fries,
2 glasses of house wine,
and dessert
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Available Mon. - Thurs.
Open for Lund) ono L inner 7 -Days
4189 Orcbaro Coke lioati
OrcbaCo [the
248 -8.65-0000
2/26
1999
82 Detroit Jewish News
248- 863 - 0020
e-mail to the magazine's publisher,
Kim Hastreiter. "I used to e-mail Kim
about all the places I went to," she
says. She asked me to do a column
exactly like one of my letters."
Sarko's peer group includes what she
calls the "literary brat pack," authors like
Tama Janowitz, Jay McInerney and Bret
Easton Ellis. Ellis pays tribute to Sarko
in Glamorama, his new book about New
York's rich, famous and fashionable.
Her name appears amongst various
other glitterati mentioned in the novel.
"We've got calls in to everyone from
Anita Sarko to Sister Bliss to Smokin
Jo," writes Ellis. "It's happening."
Glamorama details the life of a
young New York celebrity, a topic with
which Sarko is very familiar. "In order
to be a celebrity in New York, your
photo has to be taken, you have to be
written about and your name has to be
in boldface," says Sarko. "The way
that you're recognized as 'somebody' is
when your face and your words are
reflected back by the media."
Sarko's dual role as DJ/journalist has
put her on the most exclusive of guest
lists. She counts Vanity Fair magazine
parties and the Shakespeare In Love pre-
miere as some of the glitziest. All of
this elbow rubbing with the stars easily
could jade someone, but, Sarko says,
"for me, a great night is going out to
the movies or to get a burger — or sit-
ting at home naked in front of the TV
eating Chinese takeout."
Although Sarko doesn't get back to
Detroit much, she stays close with her
family. In fact, she credits them with
making music such a driving force in
her life. "When I was young [my par-
ents] gave me the money to go out
and buy the music, but they also gave
me the feeling of how wonderful it is,"
says Sarko, whose father and stepmom
are Harold and Mary Sarko. Her
mother, Eleanor, died in 1989.
"Since the time I was 5 years old,
my parents took me to night clubs.
Every spring and fail, they would
always take me to New York to see all
of the musicals. From the time I was
14, they took me to Las Vegas. And I
was given total freedom. I was never
given a curfew."
Other than family, Sarko keeps in
close touch with her best friend from
childhood, Linda Dorfman Feldman
of West Bloomfield, who remembers
that "at least once a week, we'd go to
Mumford Music, and Anita would buy
every record that came out. They'd have
them ready for her. Music has been her
passion since she's been a child. She'd have
parties in her basement every weekend.
"She's a wonderful friend," adds
Feldman, who recalls the time Sarko
N
took her to one of the New York
clubs. "Mick Jagger and Cher and
Drew Barrymore were there. Anita
knew everybody, and she's done par-
ties for everybody, including Donald
Trump. She always wanted this kind
of life."
Sarko also stays in touch with her
Motor City roots by surrounding her-
self with other natives who have relo-
cated to the Big Apple. She attends
dinners with other Michiganders,
including fashion designer Anna Sui
and comedienne Sandra Bernhard.
Manhattan's former Michiganders
have a bond, it seems. Take the notori-
ously aloof Paul Schrader, director of
the recently released Affliction.
"I was at this party at Elaine's
[restaurant] and director Paul Schrader
was there," Sarko recalls. "I had just
seen a film of his so I went over and
introduced myself, and I told him I
was from Detroit. He immediately
asked me to sit down. It turns out he
is from Grand Rapids."
In fact, adds Sarko, "being from
Detroit automatically gives you credi-
bility in the music world. It's consid-
ered a very hip city."
Sarko used to study Kabbalah,
although going to synagogue is not a
major part of her life. She takes what
is important to her from Judaism. "I
take whatever there is in anything I
find and if it feels good I'll accept it
and if it doesn't I won't," she says. "It
really comes down to the golden rule
of treating people how you want to be
treated."
Currently, Sarko's career path is tak-
ing her more into the production side
of the music business. She is working
on a dance remix for Petula Clark.
(Clark opens in Andrew Lloyd
Webber's Sunset Boulevard March 2 at
the Detroit Opera House. )
This woman's voice is outra-
geous," says Sarko. "It is such a thrill
to deal with a voice — an instrument
— that is so magnificent. When we
isolated the original '60s tracks, my
engineer called me up and said, 'This
woman's voice is so strong. I'm hearing
where these modern singers like
Madona are coming from."
When asked where she will be 10
years from now, Sarko replies, "I hope
I'm doing something I never imagined."
That shouldn't be too hard. After
all, remember what Frank Sinatra, her
parents' favorite singer, had to say
about New York: "If you can make it
there, you can make it anywhere." 1