Zelda Kaplan On Fashion and Nightclubs at Age 87

David Gerlach: Today’s conversation speaks for itself. Zelda Kaplan was 87 when we sat down. She’s now 94 and when we met at a bar in Manhattan her night was just beginning. She was getting ready for one of her usual forays into the city. A night out that made my so-called social life look pretty lame. Just one example why: after we left the bar, we went to the street and hailed a cab. I was heading home and she was going downtown; She had a fitting for an upcoming fashion show. Zelda, she’ll make you smile. This is Blank on Blank.

Song: 42nd Street Original Broadway Cast “Lullaby of Broadway (42nd Street)”

Zelda Kaplan: Here I am very old. Now I’m past 87. I’ll be 88. Here I am running around and I am very interested in fashion. I like to look nice. I still love to dance. My friends are dead. I have one friend left who lives in Miami. I have one friend in New York City who is about seven or eight years younger than I, but she is always in a depression. She doesn’t want to go out. She stays home. So my fiends, with whom should I go out? If I don’t go out with young people, who else is there?

Song: Joni James “You Make me Feel So Young”

Zelda Kaplan: My friends are all very lovely young people. They are well educated. They have manners. And when I’m around they don’t use the f-word.

David Gerlach: Now I had first heard about Zelda from a friend. He had met her out one night and said she was remarkable. Said I had to interview her. She was a queen of the New York nightlife. So I asked her: What would be the perfect day and night out in New York City?

Zelda Kaplan: I think it would be fun to go to an art gallery opening, which I do generally form six-eight. Or go to two or three or four. And then go some decent restaurant.

David Gerlach: Earlier during our conversation, Zelda had mentioned that she liked to dance. So what about her famous forays to the city’s nightclubs? Was that still on the agenda?

Zelda Kaplan: Sometimes my friends ask me, you know, to join them. I can do most of it. I really am a trained dancer. I studied ballet and modern, flamenco. All that kind of stuff. But I don’t really enjoy it as a social activity unless I am doing ballroom. Dancing with somebody.

Song: Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald “Cheek to Cheek”

Zelda Kaplan: The young people I know do not know how to dance. It’s not easy to learn how to be a good ballroom partner. To me it’s a sport. Like can one become a great tennis player with a few moves? Never! And dancing is like that.

David Gerlach: That was Zelda Kaplan on dancing and living at age 87 and this is Blank On Blank. One quick note: Zelda is still going quite strong in her 90s, so be on the lookout for her the next time you are out in New York City. Now for more interviews you can hear nowhere else, head over to Blank on Blank dot org. I’m David Gerlach. Keep listening.