• December 10, 1990
• Vol. 34
• No. 23

Celeb Citypokes Get Corralled into a Hoedown for Adult Literacy

They came for a cause—but they also came to do-si-do, dress up in cowpoke duds and chow down on a Tex-Mex buffet at last week's second annual Wild West Hoedown for the Literacy Volunteers of New York City. Among the hombres-for-a-night who strapped on six-guns for play: news-and-schmooze stars Mike Wallace, Barbara Walters and Liz Smith; thread moguls Bill Blass, Diane Von Furstenberg and Calvin Klein; celebs-at-large Georgette Mosbacher and Joanna Carson; and big enchilada Henry Kissinger. Guests anted up $500 to $1,000 each to attend the event, held at a Manhattan church. The $450,000 take will help Literacy Volunteers help adults learn to read. "If people can't read, they can't produce," noted Simon & Schuster CEO Dick Snyder. "If they can't produce, there's no America left."