A personal message from That Girl

...No, really, THAT Girl!!!!

Some of you may recall that I attended the GLAAD Media Awards
back in March—and stalked Marlo Thomas. I'd heard that she was going to be there (along with her famous husband, Phil Donahue), and decided that I would take the opportunity to tell her how much I loved "Free To Be...You And Me" when I was a kid. Most of us children of the 70s grew up on this album and can still sing every word. Now I always give the CD to friends who have kids.

In any event, I wrote a little note telling her this, and was prepared to give it to her if I met her at GLAAD....but I never bumped into her (although I did bump into Sandra Bernhard and the token gay guy from The Real World Key West). Then, during dinner I saw her seated at her table. You only live once, right? So I busted in to her conversation, said hello, and gave her the note!

She was very nice and appreciative, even if I totally blew off Phil, who was sitting right next to her. And that was that...until the other day WHEN I FOUND A LETTER FROM HER IN MY MAILBOX!!!!:

(I blurred out her address to protect her privacy. I didn't want any of you stalking her. That's my job.)

As always you can click to enlarge...or I'll tell you what it says: "Dear Douglas, Your letter touched my heart. No matter how many years go by, I still feel so warm and gratified when I hear what we did meant something to a child. Your description of that time in your life was so rich in detail that I could see that little boy very clearly. How happy I am that we had a little hand in your turning out so well! God bless you in all that you do, Douglas. thanks for the lovely gift of your letter. Love, Marlo." That's right...she loves me!

So that was certaily nice. What a wonderful woman. Here's a picture of Marlo and Phil with GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano (who I also met) at the awards. I didn't take this one—my attempt to take her picture came out so poorly it could be Nipsy Russell and you wouldn't know the difference:


Free To Be...You And Me:


That Girl!:

My new buddy CHRIS ISAAK!!

Greetings from Boston (again) as I attend the Oncology Nursing Society convention: 10,000 big-haired women (and about 3 men) talking about cancer. What a hen party! But that's not the big story...As I waited to board the shuttle at LaGuardia, a familiar face sat near me…award-winning crooner and actor CHRIS ISAAK! He was with a lady friend, his little dog (Rodney), and some random dude who appeared to be his assistant or agent or something.

In any event, they let Rodney out of his carrier and the dog was running around the terminal (I overheard Chris say he was trying to tire him out before the flight, the same technique my sister uses on her children…). Rodney had a little “I♥NY” teddy bear in his mouth. He was tossing it and shaking it and “attacking” it in typical dog fashion. At one point Chris’ friend said to him, “He really loves that thing. I didn’t even see you buy it in the gift shop.” Whereupon Chris replied, “Um, I didn’t buy it…I thought you did!” Yes, apparently the cute-but-felonious canine had helped himself to a new toy!

For the record, upon this realization, Chris went to the gift shop to offer to pay for it. He was clearly a very nice and down-to-earth guy. That’s why—at baggage claim in Boston—I felt comfortable enough to go over, say hi, and take the picture above.

He was also entertained by my camera’s meow/woof sound effects. you can CLICK HERE for a picture (not mine) of Chris with Rodney.