Washington City Paper: Contents for Dec. 17

Cover Story

He's a “New York businessman” who owns a Jag, loathes the press, and seems to spend a lot of time out of town. But is that all there is to James Kelly, the mayor's stealth spouse?

Two years ago this month, Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon sneaked off to Brookline, Mass., to marry her beau in a secret ceremony. After a brief honeymoon, the location of which she tried unsuccessfully to conceal, she returned as Sharon Pratt Kelly, with her new husband, James R. Kelly III, in tow.

Though James Kelly had been a background presence at many of his future wife's public appearances, both during the campaign and after, not much was known about him. He was said to be a New York businessman who had homes in Manhattan and Los Angeles, a former banker who had embarked upon a variety of entrepreneurial ventures, an inveterate Knicks fan who favored Jaguar automobiles.

Since the wedding, Kelly has attempted to maintain his discreet private-sector profile, no mean feat for a political spouse. He makes a point, rather ostentatiously, of spurning reporters. (He wouldn't talk at all to Washington City Paper, despite messages left at two of his companies and with mayoral spokesman Vada Manager.)

“I don't like press at all,” he told the Washington Post's Paula Span, who attempted to interview him for a June 1991 profile. “I'd just as soon keep my private life private.”

After the public blessing of the Kellys' union in February 1992, he also declined comment. “My wife's job is to do all the speaking,” he explained.... Continued

Issue of Dec. 17 - 23, 1993

News and Features

Silent Partner
Cover Story By Bill Gifford
Gridlock on the Infohighway
How the Right-Wingers Commandeered Cable, and How the Left Plans to Take It Back
The City By Dana Hull
Grey Coupon
The City By Lawrence G. Proulx
Currying Favor
An Interview With Emerge's New Editor, George E. Curry
The City By Liza Mundy and Clara Jeffery
Jacked-Off Again
The Squire of Kalorama Feeds a Recycled Stadium Plan to a Gullible Press
The City By Adrian Havill
Water Torture
If You Thought It Was Safe to Drink the Water, Guess Again
The City By Clara Jeffery
Recall the Recall
The Mail By Theodore J. Jacobs
Stalking Back
The Mail By Joan S. Meier
Jesus Christ
The Mail By Silvia Antonio
Antisocial Security
The Mail By Franklin E. Kameny
All Aboard
The Mail By Terrance Lynch
Be Nice to Banzhaf
The Mail By Bob S. Auerbach
It's a Jewish Thing?
The Mail By James E. Coleman
White 'n' Fightin'
The Mail By Andrew Bradley