Phone Mogul Throws Bride A Lavish Bash

Difficult to keep track of John Elroy McCaw Jr., one of the billionaire McCaw brothers who sold Seattle-based Cellular One to AT&T.

Last week, McCaw's name surfaced on a state Court of Appeals decision. (McCaw had unsuccessfully appealed a decision nearly doubling support payments for his three daughters from a former marriage.)

On the heels of that news came glowing accounts of McCaw's Nov. 11 marriage to 28-year-old international model Gwendolyn Hoyt. The 47-year-old cell-phone mogul invited 350 guests to a wedding reception held at a New York nightspot.

McCaw spent an estimated $1 million on the party, flying in kegs of Guinness from Ireland and hiring song-and-dance man Tommy Tune for an opening act. Taking the stage after dinner was Stevie Wonder, who belted out three hours of hits. McCaw and Hoyt popped a bottle of champagne while Wonder sang "Ribbon in the Sky," the couple's favorite song.

One guest said, "It's no Pygmalion thing. They were introduced by mutual friends." The bride's mother is socialite Pamela (Baby) de Selliers; her uncle is John Bryan, former financial adviser to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. (Tabloid readers may remember Bryan as the duchess' toe-sucking companion.)

State of status: Status differs from one subculture to the next, a phenomenon explored in last Sunday's New York Times.

Seattle author Sherman Alexie reported that, for Native Americans, status means fancy footwork. He said, "Tribal dancers are more than just cool; they're figures of respect, admired for their reverence of Indian traditions."

Seattle advice columnist Dan Savage said status for gay men is a child. Savage bragged, "My little status item spat up on me this morning."

What The Times didn't examine was what status means in various regions. In Seattle, status isn't the same as in New York or Miami.

Some top Seattle status symbols:

-- An unwashed blue Volvo station wagon.

-- An Internet connection at your cabin in Mazama.

-- An extra-large blue camping tarp.

-- An organic slug killer.

-- Microsoft stock options.

-- Birthday greetings from the Waiting for the Interurban statues.

-- Reservations for Table 24 at Stars restaurant in Pacific Place.

-- A birth certificate from Swedish hospital.

-- Relatives buried in Lake View Cemetery.

Sweet success: You know you've made it when your research project ends up on a candy bar. University of Washington astronomy professor Donald Brownlee's Stardust project is one of nine NASA missions featured on Nestle's Crunch bars.

The seven-year mission that launches in February will send a spacecraft to Comet Wild 2 to gather dust. The candy wrapper shows the craft. One difference: The real spacecraft isn't stamped with the word "Crunch."

Water world: Stan and Bunny McKnight report spotting a boat moored at the Des Moines Marina with a catchy name: "Mutual Fun$."

Jean Godden's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Her phone message number is 206-464-8300. Her e-mail address is: jgodden@seattletimes.com