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Name: reggie
E-Mail: cvblomberg@dslextreme.com
Subject: RE: Priviate Stones shows
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015
Time: 10:41:29 AM
Remote Address: 68.183.115.35
Message ID: 294680
Parent ID: 294618
Thread ID: 294618
from today's SD Union Tribune:
Rolling Stones Belly Up show a triumph — for its benefactor
If his doctor had been right, Ralph Whitworth should have been dead instead of listening to the Rolling Stones’ private performance in Solana Beach Wednesday night.
While the Rancho Santa Fe executive is declining to publicly comment, the story of the Rolling Stones’ appearance at the Belly Up club can be pieced together from observations of attendees and others involved. The names of Whitworth and his wife, Fernanda , appeared on invitations.
Against all odds, Whitworth had won a major battle over what was considered an “incurable” cancer. He took the stage and told his guests about his medical journey. When Whitworth learned that his cancer, which had begun at the back of his tongue, had recurred, he resigned last July as interim chairman of Hewlett-Packard. He planned to focus his considerable resources on finding a cure — or at least gaining more time than the eight to 10 months usually predicted for his ailment.
At a fundraising gala in April, Whitworth spoke of his medical quest for cutting-edge treatment and his partnership with a team of UC San Diego physicians working on immunotherapy.
Dr. Ezra Cohen, an associate director of UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center, says Whitworth is involved in creating a cell processing system that modifies T cells to more effectively fight cancer.
“It’s not being done anywhere else,” Cohen said.
Friends of Whitworth said he began early this year trying to persuade the Rolling Stones to put on a private show in his hometown. He reportedly compiled data, ticket sales projections, Petco Park availability and convinced them that performing two shows during one layover would prove an economic bonanza.
Close sources said Whitworth paid the band $2 million. Coupled with other performance and setup expenses at the Belly Up, however, the final party tab was closer to $2.5 million. (One of those expenses was a temporary quartermile fenced running track set up behind the nightclub so Mick Jagger could jog right before appearing on stage.) There were only about 450 people in the 600-plus capacity venue, making the party an intimate affair. Guests said the musicians picked their own playlist, although Fernanda asked for “Paint It Black,” their 1966 hit.
Several guests arrived at the Belly Up not knowing the Stones would perform. There was no outright mention of the band on the invitation.
Whitworth announced from the stage that the party was a celebration of Fernanda’s birthday, the couple’s (May 28) anniversary and the launch of his family’s Immunotherapy Foundation to fund this special research at UCSD.
“If I wasn’t doing this, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you today,” Whitworth said.
When asked if he thought this immunotherapy approach could eventually cure an incurable cancer, Cohen responded, “This will sound crazy, but the answer to that question is yes, that’s what we hope.”
Attendees included nationally known executives. Hewlett-Packard CEO
Meg Whitman, real estate magnate Sam Zell, car racing legends Chip Ganassi, Don Prudhomme
and Kenny Bernstein, Qualcomm’s Irwin Jacobs and sons Paul and Jeff, money management strategist Charles Brandes, billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford and Texas-based computer tycoon Darwin Deason.
Attendees said the band members seemed to have a good time. They were energized, laughing and jumping up and down. “We were only about eight feet away from Mick and Keith Richards ,” said ResMed founder Peter Farrell, adding that the venue was so intimate “there were more people on the street than there were inside.”
As it turned out for Ralph Whitworth, instead of a wake, the private show was an awakening — a celebration of life and perhaps of more lives to be saved in the future.
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