Maersk Alabama captain and Somali pirate-thwarter Capt. Richard Phillips had already met the most important person at the dinner by the time he got there—he'd had a private audience with the president earlier that afternoon. But that didn't mean he couldn't make new friends—like
Gossip Girl's Matthew Settle, who comes from a military family and enthusiastically bonded with the captain over rogue waves. For his part, the captain was impressed that Settle was in
Band of Brothers. "This may be the most impressive guy!" he said. I asked Mrs. Phillips if she minded the sudden attention. No, she said: "I know who he's going home with at the end of the night."