Ringo is Life of the Portman Party (1986)

 Ringo is Life of the Portman Party

By Martha Woodham

The Atlanta Journal

October 12, 1986

    He's known as "Richie" to his friends, and Ringo Starr was just playing "Richie" Monday night at a party at Jack and Mary Portman's house, accompanied by his wife, actress Barbara Bach, and assorted business partners along for a lark.

     The former Beatle was in town to announce the opening of the Brasserie, a restaurant in John Portman's Peachtree Center. Starr's primary role in the venture is to promote the restaurant, although he did say, "There'd be lots of pictures of me hanging about."

     The ex-Beatle, who had a quiet Sunday night at the Marriott Marquis, graciously posed for photographs and chit-chatted with many of the 300 guests at the party. Earlier, he and his mates had lunched with the Portman clan in John Portman's office dining room, where he and his wife often held hands. They held hands at the party that night as well. 

    "What's his wife's name," one woman whispered. "I should have read Rolling Stone before I came."

     That evening, she wore a long print top that fit over a pleated skirt in another pattern. Starr wore a white coat, a black shirt, and a thin black tie with white squiggles. John Portman wore a business suit, though he had joked earlier about resurrecting a flower power shirt to wear.

     "I wouldn't trust any guys whose shirts are darker than their jackets," one guest quipped.