What is your favorite memory of the Plaza?
It was the night that I escorted Mrs. Vincent Brooke Astor across the dance floor in the ballroom, and I was all dressed up in cowboy clothes for some reason or another, and Mrs. Astor asked me to walk her across. So I did, with her on my arm. She was going up to accept, a “Living Landmark” and I will never forget my spurs of my boots were clacking on the floor and I was so embarrassed. And she said “I’ve never been taken anywhere by a cowboy before”.
What do you love about New York?
Well, I love everything. Because there is a “there” there in New York. You can go places and know you have arrived. I especially love the living theatre in New York.
Where is your favorite place to eat in New York?
I’d say Swifty’s on Lexington on 77th.
What was your most difficult interview?
It was with that red-headed guy on CSI Miami – what’s his name? He was just awful.
If you could have dinner tonight with 3 people, who would they be?
Jesus, Einstein and Elizabeth Taylor. They would be a great dinner party.
Is there someone you wish you could have interviewed?
Jesus and Einstein! And Marilyn Monroe, who I saw in her lifetime but I was never introduced to her.
What is the most memorable party you have ever attended?
My 80th birthday given by 10 of my insane friends at the old Le Cirque when it was on Madison Avenue. Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler and Tommy Tune sang and people like Mike Nichols, Joe Schumacher and Vernon Jordan, Pete Peterson and Ann Richards made wonderful speeches. It was just magic. Oh! And Michael Buble made his debut there.
You have a big heart. What some of your favorite charities that you support?
Literacy Partners, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, PAL, the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York which builds houses for domestic violence victims and there are so many more that I just do something now and then for.
You are a true living landmark - what does that mean to you?
It means that I’ve been very lucky and got singled out and they asked me to become their spokesperson.
If you hadn’t pursued such a fabulous career in journalism what would you have done?
I would’ve become a great PR person. I know how it’s done.
How did you become a gossip columnist and what was the turning point in your career that made you such a powerful force among your peers?
At the height of the Eisenhower recession, 150 producers were let go by NBC so I was out of work. And I went to see a man named Igor Cassini who was the society columnist at “Cholly Knickerbocker” - this was a title owned by the Hearst. I was hired by him to be his ghost writer so that was great. Later, Rex Reed recommended me to the New York Daily News and they hired me in 1976 and the rest is history.
Is there a time in your life that you wish you could go back and re-live?
No, I just want to go forward. I’m sure there are a few other triumphs.