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!: