Congratulations to Debbie Zipp! 10 Years as LA Life Editor.
The launch party for The Three Tomatoes LA Life newsletter, Feb. 2014. Debbie Zipp, Roni Jenkins, Cheryl Benton
Ten years ago this month, Debbie Zipp wrote her first LA Newsletter for The Three Tomatoes, and since then she has written close to 500 newsletters with her insider tips on what to do in LA for grown up women. She has also hosted several events in LA including movie screenings, a garden party, and a makeup day. She has co-hosted several of our events in NYC and moderated many panels too. Recently she has added fabulous new contributors focused on style, LA’s restaurant scene, theater, and even LA’s very own poet! But that just tells you what Debbie has accomplished for The Three Tomatoes, not who she is and some of her other achievements.
Debbie is an actor, producer, and writer. She is best known for her recurring role as Donna on the CBS series “Murder She Wrote” starring Angela Lansbury. She has had many other TV and stage roles and has starred in over 300 national TV commercials. As head of In The Trenches Productions, Debbie produced, directed, acted in many short films for her company. She is also the co-author of The Aspiring Actor’s Handbook: What Seasoned Actors Wish They Had Known. She’s a fabulous mom, a wonderful wife, and a great dog mommy too.
But to me, Debbie is not only a wonderful friend, but she is a like a sister to me. Let me tell you how we met. About 14 years ago, I got an email from a smart guy in NYC who was looking at web sites that were coming into being for women over 40, including one he had launched. He had a brilliant idea about collaborating with all the sites to make us more appealing to advertisers. It was a great idea that never came to fruition, but the best thing that came out of our calls and meetings was that he introduced me to Debbie Zipp. At that time Debbie and 3 of her other actress friends had started a web site called In the Trenches Productions and it featured smart funny short films for women over 45. I loved it.
I was based in NYC and Debbie was in LA but from our very first phone conversation (this was pre-zoom or facetime) we just hit it off. We would chat on and off about what we were both doing, and also talked about doing something together. And then we had a light bulb moment! Let’s do a show on BlogTalkRadio, a sort of East Coast meets West Coast. The co-hosts on our end, were me and my daughter Roni. On Debbie’s end it included her, and her three partners from her film company, and they would alternate. We called it “Tomatoes in the Trenches” and we produced it weekly for almost three years. We had a blast, and by then, Debbie and I had become great friends. But here’s the surprising part…we still had NOT met in person.
Then one day I had an idea about an event I wanted to do in NYC and I thought how fun if Debbie came to New York and we moderated it together. I will never forget when she got off the plane at JFK and I was there to greet her— we immediately hugged, and I felt I had found another sister!!!! That was the start of visits, with me going to LA and her coming to NYC.
One day when I was sitting in her beautiful garden in her Chatsworth home on a perfect LA November day, there was another lightbulb moment. “Debbie….what if you do an insider’s guide to LA, similar to the insider’s guide I do in NYC?” She thought about it, and before my visit was over, we had a plan to launch the LA Life Insider’s Guide right after the first of the year.
It’s been simply amazing, and I will be forever grateful to Debbie. And it was the impetus for our other city editions that now include SF and Miami.
But I am most grateful for Debbie’s friendship and support over all these years. Since Covid, we haven’t seen each other in person, but when we talk or zoom, it’s like we haven’t skipped a beat, which is what happens with good friends. We’ve candidly shared our ups and or downs, and there isn’t a secret I wouldn’t tell her.
Here’s to you my dear friend. Thank you for everything and thank you for being the wonderful, kind, brilliant woman you are!
With love and gratitude,
Cheryl
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
This has been a joy to follow thethreetomatoes. Thr insights, ideas, and fun events I have learned about has been wonderful and extremely helpful. Thr causal, friendly style and the age appropriateness of the topics have truly given me great joy! A very heart thank you to all!