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C.J.: Secrets to happiness? Dan Buettner will share some answers
By C.J., Star Tribune

Last update: January 9, 2008 - 9:33 PM

World explorer Dan Buettner is scheduled to discuss "Unlocking the Secrets to Happiness" on two segments of ABC's "20/20" on Friday.

Would one of those secrets have anything to do with, say, dating a supermodel?

After a long pause, and with disgust in her voice, PR woman Bonnie Harris waxed humorlessly: "No comment." Isn't that what you say, I thought, when the question is unpredictable?

"I'm not sure what you're going to put in print," Harris said. Oh, probably something about a PR woman for Buettner thinking nobody knows that since 2002 he has dated Cheryl Tiegs, who looks like she could be the source of a whole lot of happiness, even for a laid-back-yoga-loving-bicycling kind of guy.

Harris' unpleasant reaction raised suspicions that there was trouble in Super-Modeldom. "It's not about who's dating whom," she said. "It's about the work he's been doing for National Geographic. For the last few years he's been visiting places around the world that they call 'blue zones.' Those places have to do with the longest-lived areas in the world, including Sardinia, Okinawa, Loma Linda [Calif.], Costa Rica. One of the things that contributes to longevity is contentment. And so this special includes some of the findings that Dan has uncovered in some of his visits around the world in terms of contentment and happiness."

Buettner also has a book called "Blue Zones" scheduled for release in March.

Apparently Harris is unacquainted with my accomplishments in smart-alecky.

Yet alarmed, I started snooping around to find out whether Dan and Cheryl were still together, knowing they would hear about it. They have such good energy together that I wish them only the best, which isn't necessarily marriage!

Buettner e-mailed Wednesday that they had just returned from a "crushingly romantic" vacation. As to my question, Buettner wrote this: "Does dating a supermodel contribute to happiness? Duh."