Fascinating Stuff

Gloria Steinem has always been a bit of a lightning rod in this country. Whether you like her or not tends to be a litmus test of your political persuasion...or your gender...or some combination of the two.

I've always found her fascinating, not the least of which because she is a fellow Smith College graduate.

I met her in passing at a cocktail party the year that I graduated from Smith, and I was incoherent and babbling because her charisma really does come off in waves in person. It's astonishing. The only other person I've ever met like that is Bill Clinton (with whom I was, happily, not incoherent during our meeting as we got into a bit of a policy argument at the time).

I've always regretted being a babbling idiot and not getting to speak with her a little about what makes Gloria such a polarizing icon, and whether she had any idea whatsoever of what she was embarking on at the start.  My guess is that it was a roller coaster ride started by something that ticked her off. 

HBO's new documentary, "Gloria: In Her Own Words," looks like it will be an exploration of that "could have been" conversation.  And this time, I'll be able to sit back and watch with a cuppa tea and no pressure.  I'll be setting my TIVO.

UPDATE:  More background here.