New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd profiles Tina Fey for Vanity Fair, an assignment that included a reporting trip to Fey’s “comfy, vintage-y Upper West Side apartment” during which Dowd drank “vodka martinis” with Fey’s husband (Fey had white wine) and thought to ask Fey:
Did she ever use the Sarah Palin voice to entice her own First Dude?
No, she said…
Overall, I got the sense from the piece that Maureen Dowd feels a certain warmth toward Tina Fey. And not just the standard girl-crush that all the ladies have. But a kindred spirits-type fondness. And how could Dowd not see herself in Fey?
In high school Dowd Dowd and Fey have written screen plays. And, Dowd reports, “In high school, Fey…was involved in…the newspaper, for which she wrote a tart, anonymous column under the byline ‘The Colonel.’” Sound like someone you know?
At County Fair, Eric Boehlert asks:
If we take up a (large) collection, do you think we can convince Graydon Carter to bring MoDo on staff at VF, which would open up a slot on the NYT Op-Ed page for somebody who, y’know, is actually interested in politics and American governance?
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? “The Colonel!”
Here’s a sample of “The Colonel”s work circa 1987, from a 2006 Philadelphia Weekly Fey profile:
One 1987 Fey column that ran just after the crowning of the homecoming king and queen read: “And so out came the Homecoming Court. The Colonel was outraged … There they stood on the platform, gloating over the prize that was rightfully the Colonel’s. He saw the voting tabs. Frank Rizzo, you’re not alone … ”
What do you think? Potential? Without being too radical a departure from Dowd?
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.