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A Pastry Chef's Sweet Memories (and Some Crusty Ones, Too)
There She Is, Miss . . . taken Identity
Oh, the demands on a celebrity! The fans clamoring for a signature, the kooks offering unsolicited advice, the invalids desperate for a healing touch. Vanessa Williams knows them all -- as well as the occasional unexpected perks (hotel upgrades, etc.).
Which is kind of hilarious, considering that she's just a journalist who works right here at The Washington Post with us.
It's happened to her for more than 20 years, ever since a certain someone became the first black woman crowned Miss America, while our colleague was embarking on her reporting career. "I would call someone and say, 'This is Vanessa Williams from the Philadelphia Inquirer,' and they would say, 'Ohh! Are you the Vanessa Williams?!' No, I'm not Miss America!"
Now that the actress-singer's career is soaring again (via a starring role in ABC's "Ugly Betty"), the journalist is getting warm wishes and autograph requests via her Post e-mail account. A Texas woman expressed outrage that Williams lost her crown in '84 after nude pix surfaced, whereas this year's scandal-plagued Miss USA kept hers. ("Thank you for being a good example in so many ways.") A dialysis patient wrote that "your songs have truly touched my heart deep inside."
Sweet, really. If completely and heartbreakingly clueless.
Meanwhile, congratulations to our Vanessa Williams (pictured here along with her no-relation-to), who was just promoted to assistant metro editor -- and who swears there are no pictures floating around out there . . .
Readers Tell Us . . .
Lita writes: Every journalist should ask themselves before writing an article: "Who cares?" The sole purpose of writing [Tuesday's item about rats "the size of small house cats" overtaking XM radio's headquarters] was so that you could show how witty you guys are, but it just came off as corny and stupid and pointless. As a friend of someone who works at XM, I know that the "internal memo" was not something that was to be shared with anyone.
Exactly! Which is why we're so grateful that someone shared it with us. Send all your tips, complaints and internal memos to reliablesource@washpost.com.
