IT TAKES a lovely lady of 84 to wow 'em in New York, and that's what Nellie Connally did. The party tossed for her book of remembering "that day in Dallas" turned out to be a wow. Guests picked up a copy of "From Love Field," published by Rugged Land, paid their dough and asked Nellie for autographs. She is the lone survivor from the presidential limousine when John F. Kennedy and her husband, Gov. John Connally, were shot Nov. 22, 1963.

Mrs. Connally, who now lives in Houston, is beautiful, full of vivacity and charm. She drew a big crowd -- Jean and Dan Rather, Betsy and Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters, Lesley Stahl and Aaron Latham, Joe Armstrong, Abe and Shirley Rosenthal, Anne Bass, Bob and Sallie Benton, Christy Carpenter, Lisa Caputo and Rick Morris, Judith Regan, Graydon Carter, Susan Magrino, Jay McInerney, Candace Bushnell and Charles Askegard, HarperCollins' Jane Friedman and a slim, trim Phyllis George fresh from two spa weeks. She's more striking now than when she was Miss America.

I asked Nellie why she waited so long to publish her telling, heartfelt memoir. She said, "Well, honey, I wrote it, threw it in a drawer and then forgot about it for 33 years." When I introduced her to Dick Stolley, the editor-writer who bought the famous Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination for Life magazine, Nellie gave him a big kiss!

SEEN MONDAY at the Rainbow Room tribute to the late acting genius Stella Adler: a really fabulous John Travolta in black tie. He must have a portrait moldering away somewhere. He's big, handsome, terrific. His "date" was his genial press rep Paul Bloch of L.A.

Then there was "Jaws"' Roy Scheider, another suntanned good-looker in his tuxedo. Loved Elaine Stritch's commentary on Stella, made along with director Sidney Lumet, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Steven Spielberg spoke via video. And that was Harper's Bazaar's Bill Kapfer kneeling at the feet of Scheider's wife, Brenda, fixing the broken strap of her slipper. She dubbed him "my Prince Charming."

LET'S ADD a P.S. to the "Living Landmarks" benefit for Landmarks Conservancy. When the popular restaurateur Elaine Kaufman gave her brief acceptance speech, she took the award in the name of her friend, the late George Plimpton. Now that was classy! ... Also, thanks to Pete Peterson of Blackstone, who bought numerous tables and gave lots of dough to offset our expenses. He is a prince among men. ... And we say "fap!" to The New York Times' Boldface Names column, which attacked our star performer, Liza Minnelli. They should have half the guts and humanity she has in coming to salute John Kander and Fred Ebb. Instead, the Times' column ridicules people who give time and talent to charity.

SPEAKING OF "the Good Gray Lady," she still has vestiges of class. The Times' "acceptability department" rejected an ad for Broadway's "The Boy From Oz," which included a quote from screenwriter William Goldman. It encouraged the public to get its bleep to the Imperial Theater. Then, several tabloid columnists were asked to run the vulgar word -- something one sits on. These people write graphically about Monica Lewinsky and Paris Hilton, but they wouldn't use Goldman's little three-letter word either. Class, to answer Fred Ebb's lyric in "Chicago," that's "whatever happened" to it!

LEGENDS Lauren Bacall and Geraldine Ferraro will be at the first annual American Legacy Foundation Honors in Cipriani tomorrow. Kirk Douglas receives the Public Awareness Award, Deborah Fine gets one for Corporate Leadership and Ellen Levine gets the Leadership in Media award for Good Housekeeping's refusal to run tobacco ads the past 50 years.

GAEL GREENE'S Citymeals-on-Wheels outdid itself with its Power Lunch at the Rainbow Room Thursday. During the event, generous donors ran the take up to $800,000, meaning that almost 200,000 meals will be sent to needy shut-in New Yorkers, keeping them independent until year's end. Paula Zahn handed me a $5,000 check before rushing back to CNN, and Janet Fisher added another $10,000 check on top of her first one. The $10,000 Men dotting the room gave away dough right and left. Fantastic!