By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
I first visited The Players after I retired from newspaper work in 2009 and finally had time to go to the lunchtime meetings of the veteran journalists' society then called the Society of the Silurians. Meetings switched back and forth between The Players and the National Arts Club, depending on who offered the better luncheon deal. Before long, it became obvious that I had more fun at The Players, where we got our own drinks waiter, the irrepressible Pierre Gaines. A group of friends liked to hang out on the Alcove above the Kinstler Room and gossip after lunch. I glimpsed the imposing sculptured busts in the Card Room and thought they looked like the Roman Senate. When the 125th anniversary of the club brought a special $125 initiation fee, it wasn't hard for me to decide to apply!
C. Claiborne Ray retired in 2008 as deputy obituary editor at the New York Times and wrote the Science Q&A column for Science Times until 2019. She has used The Players as her drawing room since 2014. She has served as Chair of the Admissions Committee, and currently as Copy Editor for The Brief Chronicles.
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