By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — An Upper West Side school is selling the chance to walk in Madonna's shoes — and a shot at immortality.
The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, better known as the "Fame" high school, is auctioning off a pair of boots once worn by Madonna as part of its annual school fundraiser.
Madonna's daughter, Lourdes, is a student in LaGuardia's drama department. The mega-star donated the white thigh-high Chanel boots to the auction.
"We're hoping to get a lot a money for those boots," said principal Kim Bruno. "We're so indebted to her. The auction raises money that we desperately need."
Madonna's used footwear isn't the only brush with fame on the list of auction items. With an alumni roster that reads like a Hollywood Hall of Fame, LaGuardia's auction offers a number of celeb-centric items, said parent Jane Rosen, the school's live auction chair.
Novelist Jonathan Lethem, also a LaGuardia graduate, is selling off what's billed as "immortality" — the chance to become a character in his next novel. The winning bidder will see their name appear in Lethem's next work, though the author gets to decide whether the character will be the hero or a minor player.
Lethem, the author of "Motherless Brooklyn," reportedly attended LaGuardia to follow in his painter father's footsteps, but ended up starting his writing career there, publishing his own zine and writing a 125-page unpublished novel.
Adrien Grenier, the actor alum who made it big on the HBO show "Entourage," donated two packages.
One is a three-hour acting workshop with Grenier and his LaGuardia acting teacher, Harry Shifman. The other is a three-night stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, lunch with Grenier at his favorite Los Angeles restaurant, Little Dom's, and tickets to the "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson."
Celebrity designer Isaac Mizrahi, a 1980 LaGuardia alum, donated a behind-the-scenes tour of his studio. Alum Paul Stanley, a 1970 graduate who went on to front the band KISS, donated signed KISS memorabilia.
LaGuardia's auction raised $140,000 last year and organizers hope this year's will top $200,000, Rosen said.
The money goes to shore up programs that have been slashed by citywide school budget cuts.
"The budget cuts have been horrendous," Rosen said. "(The auction) helps make up for a host of things — the college office, the music department, the dance department, piano tuning, anything that’s needed."
LaGuardia's live and silent auction is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, May 7 at the school, 100 Amsterdam Avenue at West 65th Street. Alum Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, will perform. See the auction catalog online here.
