172 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02116 (617-492-1200)
www.gentlepeopleltd.com
Zelda Fischer, 75,
matchmaking for more than 20 years, works seven days
a week at her company, Gentlepeople. The fees for
her service run form $6,500 to $50,000 plus
expenses. But, unlike other dating services,
Gentlepeople doesn’t accept clients unless they’re
serious about commitment. “There was a time at the
height of the women’s movement when people were
hopelessly confused,” Fischer says. “That whole
decade of women who are going to China to adopt
little girls, who are single moms now, who missed
out because they were caught up in a kind of
equality that doesn’t really exist”.
Though she doesn’t
keep track, Fischer estimates that about 40% of her
patrons successfully find marriage through the
service. She says she knows of only one divorce.
To say that
Fischer reminds you of your favorite grandmother is
to state an obvious but only half-truth. Originally
from New Jersey, Fischer raised her three children
in Chicago before moving to Boston in 1967 to be
closer to her husband’s family. Here she made her
first foray into matchmaking – not the romantic
sort, but in the literary realm. In the 1970’s she
founded Word Guild, a Harvard Square-based
organization designed to help writers find
publishers and vice versa. It failed. “I had no
experience whatsoever in business” she says. “At the
same time, in an ironic twist for the future
matchmaker, her own marriage failed. It’s a subject
Fischer deftly avoids when asked about it.
Gentlepeople does
not accept all of its applicants. Even clients who
are accepted must agree to abide by Zelda’s rules:
The man pays for the date, don’t say you’re going to
call if you aren’t, after six months if marriage
isn’t in the cards it’s time to move on. In many
ways, it’s a very traditional view of the courting
process.
Each of Fischer’s
associates handles about 30 clients, a diverse group
of people who come from as far away as Hawaii, and
include lawyers, doctors, CEOs and diplomats. A
large percentage are men and women who find
themselves divorced, widowed and are willing to try
any means possible to find a new mate. One
50-something divorcee paid $25,000.
The one thing that
genuinely upsets Fischer is the number of men who
come to her seeking younger women, something she
discourages.
Not only does
Fischer call upon her contacts in legal, medical and
academic communities to find romantic prospects for
these people, but her associates have been known to
introduce themselves to potential matches at
fundraisers and health clubs.