Goodbye,Elaine. May you crack 'em up in Heaven for eternity!

Elaine Stritch,that brassy and sassy lady of Broadway and film,died Thursday at her home in Birmingham,MI.

As per the NYT,this section of her obituary in that paper pretty much sums her up:

Plain-spoken, egalitarian, impatient with fools and foolishness, and admittedly fond of cigarettes, alcohol and late nights — she finally gave up smoking and drinking in her 60s, after learning she had diabetes, though she returned to alcohol in her 80s — Ms. Stritch might be the only actor ever to work as a bartender after starring on Broadway, and she was completely unabashed about her good-time-girl attitude.

“I’m not a bit opposed to your mentioning in this article that Frieda Fun here has had a reputation in the theater, for the past five or six years, for drinking,” she said to a reporter for The New York Times in 1968. “I drink, and I love to drink, and it’s part of my life.”

In an interview this year in The New York Times Magazine, she said of her resumption of drinking: “I’m almost 89, I’m gonna have a drink a day or two. I know how to handle it, so there.”

We should all be so comfortable with who we are and be so dismissive of what others think about our habits and mannerisms. I took a page from her playbook years ago and I'm much happier for it. Now that she's gone,however,I find myself missing her inspiring presence on screen and will forever enjoy the past appearances on stage AND television. It,surely,is the greatest way to honor such a brash,outspoken and wonderful soul.

Rest in Peace,Mz.Stritch. I shall raise a toast to your brilliance and drink it down in one gulp,as perhaps you would have,just because I damned well feel like it.

"Why don't you come back to my house and I'll show you my man-sized manicotti?"