The Rise and Fall of Liz Smith, Celebrity Accomplice

The Rise and Fall of Liz Smith, Celebrity Accomplice
In the past we were able to identify important people and stars.”
Two years ago, a website called AfterEllen described Ms. Smith as “the most powerful queer woman in media who you’ve never heard of.”
Ms. Smith, who appreciates a well-packed phrase, was amused.
“I don’t think my name could sell anything now,” Ms. Smith said in the apartment where she moved
after her stroke in January, from her longtime digs above a Tex-Mex restaurant in Murray Hill.
Ms. Smith still loves famous people, including Gloria Steinem (“one of my idols”), Larry Kramer (“a superior person”), Jennifer Lopez (“I just love her”)
and Michelle Obama (“If I were energetic and young and Liz Smith again, I would go after Michelle Obama”).
But with the internet and social media, she said, “most people have forgotten about so-called powerful people like me; we served our time.”
Which put Ms. Smith at an existential crossroads: If a gossip columnist dishes in the forest and no one repeats it, does it make a sound?
Mr. Zarem, who, when asked to comment for this article, said, “I hope it’s for an obituary,” added that as Ms. Smith rose, people bowed to her.
I don’t feel like myself at all.”
Mary Elizabeth Smith was born in 1923 in Fort Worth
and grew up enthralled by the radio broadcasts of Walter Winchell, aching for “the glamour and the excitement of New York,” she said.
“I know people who wouldn’t care if Liz Smith killed somebody as long as she mentioned their names in her column,” he said.