Happy Birthday, Ms. Gloria

From the New York magazine archives, President Nixon to Henry Kissinger on White House Audiotapes, 1972:

Nixon: [Dan Rather] asked a silly goddamn question about Ms. — you know what I mean?

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: For shit’s sake, how many people really have read Gloria Steinem and give one shit about that?

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Are you wondering what I’m going to write next on this 85th birthday of Gloria Steinem?

Maybe that the female ones who don’t give a shit seem awfully fine with having credit cards and mortgages with their names on them?

Perhaps that the guy making that comment has left a less than honorable legacy?

That 40-plus years after this question was posed, Gloria Steinem is a celebrated historical figure, activist, author, and hero of many?

That Ms. magazine is not only still in print, it’s an institution?

How about all of the above?

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Just two days ago I saw Gloria: A Life, a play about Steinem at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York. When I walked out, I said to the usher in passing, “OK, I either need chocolate or alcohol.” I felt emotionally raw.