Fran Lebowitz Is Never Leaving New York

I wish Fran weren't so tech-phobic. She would be a riot on Twitter.

[quote]Fran Lebowitz is the patron saint of staying at home and doing nothing.

It takes a lot of energy to chain smoke all day long.

70 years old and still chain-smoking. Her lungs must be made of steel. Most chain-smokers are either dead or on an oxygen tank by that age.

A totally boring individual.

And she hates gay men.

She actually loves gay men, where the hell have you been?

r2 Grandma?

I read it. Good interview. She has an interesting point of view.

I don’t thing she “loves” anyone - she barely tolerates herself.

Hopefully she at least “loves” a dog or a kitty cat!

I love that old curmudgeon.

[quote]she has no cell phone or computer.

No matter what she says, I just don't believe that.

She's right about hugging. I remember noticing people I had just met hugging me in greeting and farewell. What the hell, why? I think this was around the mid-late 90's for personal situations. And then it expanded into the workplace in the 2000's. How about a wave, handshake or a slight nod?

I’m a big fan.

She irritates me to no end with her "quirks" and bullshit babbling, BUT, this article was a great read and it made me "like" her much more than I did. Her admission of pure fear and confusion during this time was quite touching and it felt like she was dropping the persona a bit and speaking honestly about NYC and its future. It's admirable that she won't leave her home no matter what, even though she knows the next few years might be awful. It can't be easy there to live there right now. I hope she makes it out the other side.

Fran is a hoot. I’ve always loved the following story:

I went down to Andy Warhol’s Factory to discuss writing for him. When I knocked on the door, Andy called out, “Who is it?” I replied, “Valerie Solanas.”

If you’re the hermit type, why do you stay in NYC?

She will probably give to be 103 years old

[quote]Fran Lebowitz is the patron saint of staying at home and doing nothing.

Finally! A religion I can believe in!

Probably she stays for the restaurants, since she hates to cook.

Fran Lebowitz once famously described the "great outdoors" as "...the space between the Sherry Netherlands Hotel front door and a cab”.

God - she says exactly what I’m thinking. I agree with every word and opinion she has. How can that be? I have never known anyone in my life or the public sphere with whom I’ve agreed about EVERYTHING they ever said - but Fran Lebowitz has never failed to express exactly what I’m thinking - and in a perfect way. She is God.

That was a pleasant read. Thanks for posting, OP.

Fran Lebowitz brilliantly explained the devastating impact AIDS had on our culture. It wasn't just the artists who were lost to AIDS, it was also a discerning audience who shaped that culture who were lost, and so many second and third-tier people were able to rise to the top because the "gatekeepers," so to speak, had all died.

This is basically why we have reality tv, Andy Cohen and Ryan Seacrest, among many others. Our culture turning to lowest common denominator garbage was a direct result of all those AIDS deaths.

Fran explained it a lot better and more succinctly than I just did, but that was the gist of it.

She's an embodiment of the typical eldergay Datalounger.

No, she's actually witty and amusing.

exactly r25. She's always struck me as someone with no there, there, but this article made me see her in a different light. As she gets older, she seems like she's allowing people to see her melancholy. I loved this interview.

Where in the city does she live? Anyone know?

[quote] I’ve watched some of Cuomo’s press conferences.... But my main question is: Where did he get that haircut? I watched him yesterday, I watched him today. Between these two times, he got his hair cut. Is there some secret haircutting place where you’re allowed to go? Because, if so, I also need a haircut.

[quote] I guarantee you that Trump is seething at the attention Cuomo’s getting.

Thanks for posting the article, OP.

She is spot-on about Bernie.

Last I heard she was on the Lower East Side/East Village. An article from 5+ years ago. May have moved - thigh she has always plead poverty so not sure how she affords rent.

In the article, she said she makes a living by doing speaking engagements. She said they've all been cancelled now.

Love Fran, I agree with about 99% of everything I’ve heard her say in interviews over the years and I also really relate to her upbringing and outlook on life.

Tip- If you go to white pages and put in a celebrities name you will get their current address.

Was she a regular at Elaine’s?

[quote]In the article, she said she makes a living by doing speaking engagements. She said they've all been cancelled now.

There's always Chaturbate.

[quote]Sherry Netherlands Hotel

Oh, dear.

regarding her smoking. I have 2 family members who chain smoked since their teens. Both did pass from smoking related illness but they also had good health in the sense of no symptoms that affected their quality of life until they were 72 and 76 respectively. At that point one got lung cancer and the other became symptomatic and was diagnosed with COPD. So while I do wish Fran wasn’t still a smoker I also hope she has many more years with us.

Also agree she seemed to let the mask drop a little in this interview more than any other. I’ve been working from home for a while so I think I’ve listened to every Fran podcast out there at this point.

She lives in Chelsea, has has this place since '17. Odd, I expected UES in some granny type apt.

Fran has roasted UES types for a long time. Her interviews during occupy wall street were very interesting and insightful. I’m sure I’m overlooking some people but she is the only “media darling” I can think of who publicly shares very left wing fiscal views unapologetically. Most of the others are limousine liberals who get very quiet and dither over class and economic issues when asked.

She's a bit sour.

Old humorless relic.

People that refuse to have a computer or a screen phone are privileged. She has an assistant or some type of minion who most definitely has a computer.

Fran roasts .1% NYers but she is a limousine liberal and is friends with many. Do you have reading skills? All her .1 friends invited her to homes outside the city, where there are private chefs, but she declined. Filthy rich people get bonus points by having famously cranky less rich leftie friends.

It was a fun read. No filters whatsoever.

R43, I'm sure all of Fran's 1% rich friends with houses outside NYC are also limousine liberals.

She’s a hypocrite. She herself is a rich New Yorker. She wears $900 blazers and attends all of the trendy rich people events. All her friends are rich and famous. She sure as hell isnt living in a 350sq ft studio. She’s a bitter bitch-never got her humor. If She hates New York so much now-leave.

"And she hates gay men."

That's a lie.

She said nothing unusual. Just what you'd expect. I don't care if 100% of her schtick is actually true. She's consistent and of course she's a part of the diverse society, up and down, that comprises NYC. R43 and R46 are just the usual purity-test cancellers. It is a dangerous reflex, one that shows how when people lose their trust in the culture they turn into puritans who, no doubt, do not live up to the standards the throw at others.

I'm not a big fan of hers, but what she said in the piece is not suspect because of her income or friends.

The "HYPOCRITE!" posters here are the kind of people who would have gotten Hoover re-elected out of outrage for FDR's calculating nature, affairs and wealth, and the breadth of his hypocrisy. They would have shrunk from Kennedy and tipped things for Nixon because Kennedy was rich and an out-of-control playboy from a criminal family. The ubiquity of hypocrisy in the species means we have to look more closely at what is involved, how things balance, and what measure of priorities a person has beside the frailties of not being as perfect as the armchair snipes demand.

Wow - I had no idea she had $3.1 million apartment in the Chelsea Mercantile. She is rich. Puts a completely different spin on all of her interviews. She talks about being lazy, poor and suffering - BS.

lol of course she was a Warren supporter

How in the WORLD did this bitch afford a $3 million apartment that's 2,300 square feet?

Speaking engagements don't pay THAT much. Especially when your last book was published in 19 fucking 81.

I've always preferred hugging or a cheek kiss to a handshake. I don't know what you've touched, you probably aren't even aware of everything you touched. After working in the corporate world and being forced to use public office bathrooms where at least 50% of the men don't wash their hands after leaving the stall - I am even more adamant about not wanting to touch other people's hands. It's gross! How do I know you aren't the guy with the insatiably itchy ballsack and you just got finished scratching you disgusting taint and have that, now dried, milky discharge still on your finger tips? Makes me want to vomit!

Did Fran get lucky by buying NYC property when her books came out and then a few decades later it’s worth a few million and she can afford to move. She mentions in this interview that she bought a piece of furniture years ago in a more flush period. The car was also bought when her first book came out. She turned down huge money to sell the rights to her books to Hollywood and she makes money now from speaking gigs and enough that she’s paying a lot of tax. So....either this doesn’t add up and she has another source of income and is worth more than I’m thinking or she really is only worth her apartment and maybe another other million in savings which to me would almost make sense? I admit I am not American so not totally familiar with the NYC economy but I have read about people buying an apartment in the 70s and ending up millionaires because of the rise in housing costs. Also a lot of Hollywood types seem to live a rich life for decades after their only hit show and I always assumed it was because luxury LA property may have once been let’s say 15x the average wage but now it is 1000x the average wage so that sustained wealth. I read that a home bought got 75,000 in 1968 sold last year for 11 million.

I hate hugging because it was not part of our culture until about ten years ago. I was never hugged in my entire life until then outside of a romance. Suddenly strangers are grabbing me and my friends new weird boyfriend is smothering me in his arm pit. No thanks!

Is she related to the photographer Annie?

Has she ever talked about being gay?

She is best friends with the former Vanity Fair editor and she was his consulting editor or something like that which she said involved going to dinner with him and talking about this and that while he took notes for inspiration. I assume he cut his friend a nice check for her role.

When talking about her car she’s often called herself a rich eccentric for paying through the roof to have parts custom made. So it’s not so much that she pretended to be poor, more that she has no visible means of supporting her lifestyle if you read her bio which says published 2 books and does speeches.

And I’ve seen posters here claim to be middle class and struggling and then admit they earn 300K+ but they justify it by saying NYC is expensive and by the standards of the city they are middle class so maybe Fran feels she’s rich to the average person but not rich compared to her friends.

R55 She does now all the time in interviews and she’s even called herself a lesbian. Something she didn’t do until fairly recently.

In the podcasts I’ve listened to she’s asked about being gay and talks about it. Those are basically the ones that come up when you put her name into iTunes so I guess all fairly recent. She goes into some detail in one, I think the interviewer was an Australian lady, about her parents reactions, girlfriends, dealing with talk show hosts asking her about marriage back in the day. As a European I find her quite fascinating as she doesn’t fit so neatly into the labels the LGB culture in America uses.

I thought that thing died? She’s a hemorrhoid .

"How in the WORLD did this bitch afford a $3 million apartment that's 2,300 square feet?"

She has been Barry Diller's best friend since the 70s. He invested her money - from her books and speaking engagements - in his business interests/ventures over the years.

This is not speculation. Can't say how I know. But her whole boho chic thing belies an 8-figure net worth.

My favorite Fran story: while she was speaking at a college in the midwest, some doofus frat guy in the audience screamed out "hey, who does your hair?"

Without missing a beat she shot back: "Why, would you like his phone number?"

That makes total sense, R59. I am not surprised at all.

Thanks r59

Also is that the guy who then freaked out and said he had to drop out and totally overreacted and I believe his mother may have even called Fran. Maybe she had a habit of striking terror into the hearts of homophones everywhere but I feel like that may have been the same guy.

Fran is a fool.

Barry Diller. I remember that name only because Joan Rivers was on Stern once and went on a rant about her Fox show and said Barry Diller killed Edgar when he fired him. Totally off topic but when I saw his name I couldn’t help shouting out Edgah!

Who else is Fran close friends with?

I believe Malcolm Forbes and Sue Mengers left Fran money in their wills. She's been good friends with Calvin Klein for decades so maybe he's sent her a few checks.

[quote]She has been Barry Diller's best friend since the 70s. He invested her money - from her books and speaking engagements - in his business interests/ventures over the years.

[quote]Malcolm Forbes and Sue Mengers left Fran money in their wills. She's been good friends with Calvin Klein for decades so maybe he's sent her a few checks.

She was a fucking whore, darlin'!

Man, she did the fag-hag equivalent of spreading her cooch for the highest bidders possible! And she tries to pass herself off as such a bohemian.

Fran Lebowitz was the founder of Onlyfans, analog version.

Thanks for this, OP. I enjoyed it. It's about what I expected and I appreciate that Fran is going to do her. It made me laugh a couple times.

By comparison, Debbie Harry sold 40 million records from 1976 to 1983 and scored major commercial campaigns but was reduced to renting in London Terrace from the late '80s through the 2010's.

(Heroin is not THAT expensive.)

Yes, r61 that’s the other half of the story! Too funny.

Fran gives an interview (two years ago) in her NY Apartment

How does she get packages from Amazon with no computer? They must have been gifts or ordered on her behalf.

I saw her interviewed at BAM by Martin Scorsese, and she was pretty sharp and engaging. I was surprised that she buys lottery tickets.

I think she attended the Nobel prize ceremony with Toni Morrison.

She’s interesting and I would agree with much of what she says, but it would be hard to relate to some so lazy and so fortunate when I’ve had to work very hard for what I have. But I admire her self awareness and unapologetic acknowledgement that she’s lazy and smokes all the time. I wonder if her neighbors smell her coming. Smoking is pretty awful. Most recently she looks really, really unhealthy, almost jaundiced and desiccated. Her vascular system must be shot, so she would not recover easily for an injury or illness. That’s really hard. Maybe she will go quickly and quietly if she’s lucky, but it is also possible that she will struggle miserably to breathe, with emphysema and COPD, and slowly drown in her own pulmonary fluid. That would be so sad. I’d also be terrified of some cerebrovascular event, and losing her ability to move or speak. That would be very hard for a spoiled know-it-all like Fran. But she’s been very, very fortunate in her professional associations.

I think she doesn't have much overhead in her life. One time she said that when she first came to NYC, she drove a cab and she would only earn enough money to pay her rent and buy cigarettes every month. I think she can probably live very frugally (ie probably only eats one meal a day) and spends her money only when she has to. Let's not forget that the clothes can be written off on her taxes because she is a speaker.

She was also very close friends with Dolly Parton, who is richer than God. So who knows what benefits she received from being associated with her.

^^Thats meant to spell “someone so lazy”

Also, she's never spoken a lot about her family life. Did her parents own a nice house in Jersey that she sold when they died?

David Sedaris seems to live pretty well, and yes, I know he has more books than Fran, but she has published articles over the years. And I'm sure she saw some money from the documentary made about her.

If you're still smoking at age 70, why even bother to quit? It's too late to prevent any damage that might happen. And statistically you've only got 10-15 years left anyway. Might as well smoke 'em up.

Yeah, Fran could be a trust-fund baby.

Her parents owned real estate and a "furniture store" in New Jersey, but who knows what that means, and how much family money she could have inherited.

Fran did have a recurring role on Law & Order as Judge Janice Goldberg

R68 Harry has publishing rights to some of Blondie’s hits and I think owns an early Basquiat piece, some Warhols, and property. She toured (still tours?) with the band to support some of the other musicians. She described all the cocaine that surrounded Blondie at their peak years as sandwich bags full of it. She’s probably well set financially but the Band itself had poor control of their finances and were very bitter about it for a long time. Harry is an interesting figure like Lebowitz, sort of implausibly rich and famous, but indifferent about the process of getting there. They also were tangentially affiliated with Warhol through social circles and projects (editorial and video).

R65 nails why I never liked her. She always seemed phony to the core. That the studied “I hate the world and everything is awful” front hid a deep snobbery and dislike for anyone who wasn’t rich and fabulous. She was allowed into those circles because she was the non threatening Jewish lez who seemed to be well rewarded for her loyalty.

Interview was good though. She is a real New Yorker and this much death and sadness this must be hard to take. It’s hard everywhere but New York has it the worst right now.

My point is, Debbie has worked consistently in a medium that is plausibly cash-producing since 1976. She did the Blondie reunion because she was in a rental apartment and needed the money—she could only, finally afford to buy property about five years ago, and that was in New Jersey.

Fran Lebowitz wrote her last big book 40 YEARS AGO, and it wasn't exactly a #1 best-seller. She never sold movie rights and has barely lifted a finger since. But she bought a $3.1 million apartment in Chelsea three years ago.

She has always worked super-elite connections while trying to be the voice of artistic integrity and a purer old New York. She should be honest about how she made money while doing jack shit—that would at least be respectable.

She's the grandmother of today's influencer culture at best.

R79 Unfortunately that phrase “deep snobbery” is apt here. She makes some sense in her assessment of politicians, yet is very pretentious in an irritating , cagey way. Her lifestyle and reputation is so unique, and that’s interesting to some degree (after all, we read and comment about her). But there is a creepy cynicism about her. I wonder if talented people in her circles who actually tried to be productive resent her stature. I would.

The only logicaL answer is she inherited money. Barry Diller did not make her 8 figures from $100,000. Something is missing. The anti-materialist, anti-work ethos doesn’t jive with the $3 million apartment.

In one interview, she said she was poor because while everyone was out making money she was reading books and smoking.

Could she have gotten a financial stake in Interview Magazine in lieu of pay?

She came from a middle-class family in Morristown, NJ. They weren't rolling in money.

Interview magazine has always been broke.

Can someone post the New Yorker interview here please? It’s behind a paywall. TIA

[quote]She came from a middle-class family in Morristown, NJ. They weren't rolling in money.

No, but she may have sold her parents house to rich New Yorkers who wanted to get out of the city or have a second home.

Maybe she doesn't own the apartment she occupies? In any case, she's a brilliant woman and I find her interviews and talks satisfying. She chimes with thinking people, introverts, and the bookish. In this era of phoniness, there are people who don't even recognize authenticity. They weren't raised to it.

R28 she now lives in the Chelsea Mercantile condominium at 7th Avenue and 24th Street.

She’s absolutely right about the election. It’s very dangerous that everyone has written it off. We HAVE TO GET TRUMP OUT.

Weird that she's in Chelsea, like the other poster said I could see her on the UES more than anywhere. Especially on a quiet side street near the park.

Her opinions on smoking are horrible. She doesn’t believe in the concept of second hand smoke. She hates New York because you can’t smoke inside anymore. Agree with the other poster-amazing she’s still breathing. I think she knows if she gets covid she’s toast.

She wears $1000 sports coats. Her glasses are probably $700. She’s not wearing Levi’s for jeans. She lives in a $4 million apartment. And we’re supposed to act like she’s a voice for the poor against the rich? She just rants about all the people who never gave her attention. She IS a rich New Yorker.

What is her point and purpose? What does she stand for? Why should we listen to her?

Seriously.

She somehow parlayed fluke book-publishing success into a luxury lifestyle, 40 years on. That's impossible for anyone else.

Talk about how you did it, or shut up and go away. Even your ability to form your thoughts is enabled by the fact that you don't have to hustle to earn money, like so many others in your generation and beyond, and certainly every New York writer today.

tl;dr version

The big question really is how on Earth she managed to endear herself to so many powerful people to the point they opened their wallets to her. As others have said far more famous and beautiful people were left on their own when they hit hard times. An ex of mine knew Suzanne Pleshette’s hairdresser, now there is someone who was more connected in Hollywood than A+ listers. Her hairdresser though said the reason this didn’t have the payoff that you would expect (career wise) is that Suzanne always felt that as soon as you ask for a favor the trust and the friendship is gone. Though I like Fran I’ve never sensed any warmth from her that would make her a great friend but she has something I’m not seeing that attracts rich people and makes them pay off like slot machines without ruining the friendship. Fascinating.

That’s kinda been my experience in life. Here in Europe people are less segregated by income and there’s less difference in universities so even if you’re working class like me you do get to meet and interact with rich people but I have always found them very guarded and suspicious of your intentions. Ms Lebowitz should do a Masterclass on how she’s navigated the world of rich people so successfully.

Also I saw an article last year that a new Netflix show with Fran produced by Martin Scorsese was coming this year. I guess everything is up in the air now but has anyone heard anything more about this?

Maybe she started out rich. The girl I knew best who grew up in Morristown did.

She was lower middle-middle class.

Thanks, r99, but I'm too lower middle-middle class to subscribe to the WSJ.

Is she kind of like Truman Capote was? Or Dorothy Parker? Wealthy people like to have an intellectual in their midst - who amuses them - and who's famous. And whether she should be or not, she is famous.

My friend has a $2,200/month lease until September trapped in corona-NYC, no job, and soon to have student loan debt from Columbia and no health insurance.

New York is great if you have money.

It seems she’s become well-to-do through some kind of analog version of Patreon or OnlyFans.

I clicked on the article through google and could read it all. Perhaps the direct link is behind a paywall.

[quote]It seems she’s become well-to-do through some kind of analog version of Patreon or OnlyFans.

Yes. She was Greenwich Village's "gal" version of Levi Conely in 1976.

great interview with Fran.

I think I have her figured out. She’s the modern day version of an ‘ornamental hermit’ (see link). She gets paid by the wealthy, so they can have a charming, bohemian presence in their midst; someone they can invite to dinner and show off to their friends. That’s why she calls herself a hermit, even though she lives in New York.

r104 Perhaps you could post your google terms. I tried "Fran Lebowitz Morristown rich" and "Fran Lebowitz Morristown lower middle-middle class," and came up with bupkis. Then I tried "Fran Lebowitz Morristown split level," but that took me to the WSJ paywall.

Maybe you bought a WSJ subscription years ago about which you have forgotten.

Fran Lebowitz, 64, is a social critic, columnist and author of three books, including “The Fran Lebowitz Reader” (Vintage). She spoke to Marc Myers.

I had quite a happy childhood growing up Morristown, N.J. Looking back, I realize that some people are better suited for different phases in life. I was very good at being a child.

I’m suited to have no real responsibility. I also liked the other parts of childhood, like the part about not having to make money. That was fabulous. I never liked being told what to do, but I put up with it.

The author in a photo from the mid-1950s at her grandmother’s house in Derby, Conn. The author in a photo from the mid-1950s at her grandmother’s house in Derby, Conn. PHOTO: FRAN LEBOWITZ

Sometimes I worried that I would never learn how to do the things I saw my parents do, and I was kind of right. I was never allowed to talk to my father while he was paying the bills. It looked so complicated, and I thought, “I’m never going to be able to do that.”

The first place my family lived in Morristown was at the Ambassador Apartments on South Street. We were there from the time I was born until my sister, Ellen, arrived 3½ years later. The six-story building was already old in the early 1950s, and it’s still there today. How my father, Harold, managed to get our apartment became part of family lore.

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My parents had married in 1948. He had been in the Army during World War II, and my mother had just graduated from college. With all the veterans returning, there was no place to live, so my parents took a small room over a store near the Ambassador. My father worked at his father’s upholstery shop nearby, and he knew everyone in town. One day, the guy who ran the local tailor shop called and said, “Hey, Harold, there’s a hearse in front of the Ambassador, You should go over and see if you can get the apartment.”

My father rushed over and wound up with the one-bedroom apartment. What I remember most about the apartment is the steam-heat radiator. My parents told me not to touch it, and, of course, I did and really burned myself. My father told that story throughout my lifetime, I guess because he thought it was the only time I really learned something.

In 1954, after my sister arrived and I was four, we moved about five minutes away to Continental Avenue. Woods had been cleared to develop about 10 split-level houses, and they were filled with the same people. All the men had been in the war, got married and had children. Status among children was what your father had done during the war.

My father was handsome and stubborn, and my mother, Ruth, who is still alive, was very pretty and social. When she was a teenager, she was popular and a fantastic dancer. She was a jitterbug champion in New Haven, Conn. When we’d go to weddings, my mother danced with her cousin, who threw her over his head. To watch Fred Astaire movies with my mother on Sundays was to hear her say 4,000 times, “I would have been a much better partner for him.” Actually, she was a better dancer than Ginger Rogers.

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Everyone’s parents back then treated children as if they didn’t know anything. And, truthfully, they didn’t. That’s what “child” means. Parents also didn’t care how you felt. Instead, they cared how you behaved, because your behavior was a reflection on them. If your parents weren’t around, any parent could discipline you. If you were doing something wrong 10 blocks from your house, another mother could yell at you or call your mother and tell her what you did. Your mother would listen and thank the woman for telling her what a horrible child you were. When you got home, you’d be punished for what someone else said you did.

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Childhood responsibilities in the ’50s consisted largely of drawing Pilgrims. I was always drawing Pilgrims, and I was very good at it. I even drew them when I wasn’t in school. I assumed I’d be called on in an emergency to draw one and I’d be ready. All the things we were taught we believed. I never heard a bad word about the United States until I was well into my teens.

When I was in the eighth grade, we moved to Morris Township. I hated the change. Moving meant leaving all my friends behind, and I had to go to a different school and make new friends again.

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I moved to New York when I was 18, and today I’m still looking for a good apartment.

Ten years ago, Debby Farrington, my oldest and best friend from Morristown, and I went back to our old neighborhood to see what our houses looked like. We were appalled that they had changed. Trees had been planted, my old house was no longer white, the door was different and the milk box was gone. We didn’t even bother ringing our doorbells. You want to grow up and change, but you want your childhood memories to stay frozen in time.

Split levels on Continental Avenue in Morristown, NJ.

Great info. So she made money on her own. But how? Not just a little money but millions. I know ex-Presidents make a ton of money per speech - but could she get paid well for a speech? By whom? Her money makes no sense.

Interesting audio interview about Trump, Sanders, Weinstein etc...

The New Yorker article is not behind a pay wall. You can click on the X to remove the pop up ad asking you to subscribe.

No one has posted any actual evidence that Fran's rich friends gave her money. it's all been speculation based on the fact that she HAS rich friends.

In one of her books she always talked about living somewhere near the theatre District/times square because she had a whole section on how "Cats" was the bane of her existence, because she couldn't exit her apartment without some tourist asking her how to get to theatre where it was playing.

(Do they not test for reading comprehension in school anymore?)

R101 has it right. Fran has the Andy Warhol connection and that immediately made her “fascinating”. Some of you today don’t understand the influence of Interview magazine. It was one of “the” magazines to read in the 70s and 80s. Fran got a writing gig there when she was still very young, something like when she was 22. She immediately became the Downtown Dorothy Parker.

R115 Well at least she didn’t become the Downtown Julie Brown because the position was already filled.

The elderly are really sour this morning.

It’s that sour old man smell coming through.

[quote]Is she kind of like Truman Capote was? Or Dorothy Parker?

Yes: except they actually wrote books.

[quote]Well at least she didn’t become the Downtown Julie Brown because the position was already filled.

Actually, Julie Brown came around several years after Fran, who started writing in the early '70s and published Metropolitan Life in 1978. Julie Brown could hardly be more '80s.

contrarian

Was she hetero or lezbo in the sex-drenched 70s? Maybe Diane Diller supports her?

She looks rather "man-ish"

Made she has good blackmail material on numerous one percenters?

from R113 s interview.

"I knew nothing of this, but David [Wojnarowicz] did, and so when Peter [Hujar] decides he wants to plan his funeral, I could not talk about this with Peter because I kept saying to him, “You’re not going to die.”

But David could talk about this with Peter, and helped Peter plan his funeral, how he wanted everything, the kind of casket, that kind of thing.

Almost no funeral homes in New York City would bury people with AIDS. You couldn’t bring the body in. One funeral home that we could find, a Catholic funeral home on Fourteenth Street, agreed to do it. They routinely did it. There were no laws forcing people to do this. There were hospitals that wouldn’t take people with AIDS. There were doctors who wouldn’t touch people. So I said, “I will go and arrange this,” and then David called and said, “I’ll go with you.” And so we went together to do this. And after that we became close friends."

R125 I love that. I love her for that.

I suspect most of her stories are made-up bullshit.

It's not hard to imagine that if you were a rich, well connected person connected to fashion or the arts in NYC in the 70s/80s having Fran at your dinner party or beach house would be a social get. She was well enough known (and still is, of course), bitchy, and had lots of dish on other famous people. It's also not hard to picture a Malcolm Forbes or Andy Warhol leaving her a million or so in their wills. Her speaking engagements don't make her rich but throw more than a few bucks her way. I've seen her a few times and am glad she's still part of the cultural landscape. We need our obligatory bigmouths.

She said that she and Andy didn’t like one another.

Andy was more likable.

I found a $50 bill on the sidewalk outside her house.

Why do you people assume rich people because her sponsors? She probably earned every penny. The lecture circuit is lucrative.

became

Some of you need to read between the lines in OPs article,

Fran was BFF with Toni Morrison. When you’re spending hours on the phone everyday with the same person, it’s more than just friends. Fran liked the black lady love. Between her affair with Dolly Parton and Toni Morrison, Fran doesn’t ever need to work.

The problem is that her estate will probably go to some crazy charity like the Jewish Home For Retired Cats.

[quote]She probably earned every penny. The lecture circuit is lucrative.

It sure is.

She's s goddamned treasure. I hope she's not venturing out for cigarettes and is washing her hands between smokes.

[quote]I found a $50 bill on the sidewalk outside her house.

Because you forgot to pick it up off the nightstand like you usually do.

Do you think Fran has a maid?

On one hand, she seems like the type that would need someone to come in once a week and throw out the fast foods tins.

On the other hand, she seems like the type that would yell at you if you touched one of her books.

If she made say $100K on her book in 1980, and just invested it in the market (e.g. S&P500 index fund), she'd have $7.6 million now, more than enough for her apartment

R107, love your observation.

Life goal: ornamental hermit

Well for one thing...I’m shocked she’s from WASPy Morristown NJ.

Quit dying yer hair, ya scummy ol lez.

Oscar Wilde called. He wants his hair-do back.

How is she getting her cigarettes delivered to her?

Corner bodegas are still open, she can still go out and get cigs.

I read it. She’s ok. She was “different” in the late 70s-early 80s. Pretty predictable at this point.

"Ornamental hermit" -- this reminds me that Edmund White dismissively referred to her as a "court jester" (but I think later apologized).

She does seem like she’d be a nightmare to work for but she must have a nicer side to attract and keep so many friends. Court jester or not if someone is cranky and unpleasant you are not going to take her on your private jet or fly her out to Morocco to your party.

She does repeat a lot of her material. I've heard her talk numerous times about the sloth thing, her aversion to animals and nature, and also her Bernie quip about "who LEAVES New York City when they're 18"?

She's about as exciting as oatmeal.

“She does repeat a lot of her material.“

People who are interviewed often do that.

So do people who have nothing interesting or original to say.

Hahaha! So right r152.

So does this mean she will be buried on Hart island?

I would be curious about her interactions with Warhol and how they saw each other. Also, I wonder if Tina Brown ever sorted Fran out when she edited Vanity Fair. There is a roster of communists and writers who orbited Vanity Fair’s masthead over the years. I wonder where the minor ones ended up. One columnist had a one page interview and managed to piss off his subjects like Chris North, Annie Lennox and Isabella Rossellini with particularly rude or inept questions. I remember many of the interviews just ended with the subject stating “Piss off” or “fuck you!” I can’t recall the interviewer’s name but think he was called George something. I know Kevin Sessums was another case, but he’s been discussed here a lot, and his pieces were always sort of fawning and florid crap.

R155 here. I remember now, the writer was named George Wayne.

I thought George Wayne’s column was pretty funny but you can’t bite the hand that feeds you.

[quote].There is a roster of communists and writers who orbited Vanity Fair’s masthead over the years. [/quote] Yes, r155. loved reading Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky on their visits to Studio 54 and Elaine's.

I couldn’t find any info for the type of speaking Fran does as I assume she gets a cut of ticket sales? But corporate speaking rates are much higher than I thought. The lady from Curb Your Enthusiasm asks for 50K for a corporate event. Wow! And it goes up to 250K for better known authors, comics and politicians. Who knew!

And everyplace on the planet that is not New York breathes a sigh of relief.

That lady from Curb Your Enthusiasm, R159? You mean, corporate America likes to sit and listen to actresses from sitcoms give speeches? WTF? Do they have autograph signings afterwards?

Businessmen = fangirls. Who knew?

Do you mean Susie Essman from Curb Your Enthusiasm? I would definitely pay to hear her give a talk.

Kathy Griffin and Joan Rivers made a fortune on corporate gigs which is weird to think that the engineers association of Kansas had Joan MC their annual dinner! They both spoke about how hard those audiences were to entertain and Joan said she was booed off stage at one of them but the rule was she got her check after 30 minutes guaranteed so she didn’t let lose until 31 minutes in when the money was in the bank. Joan was 100-150,000 on the corporate circuit and cruises. She would either MC do comedy or give her speech on surviving. Kathy was getting Min. 80,000 before the head fiasco. Other comics that no one has ever heard of make 6 figure incomes doing a few cruises a year. You’d be amazed the ways you can make a buck in America.

Sorry yes Susie Essman. I forgot Larry had a wife too.

I've seen Susie Essman do standup and she's hilarious.

It’s surprising and a little shocking how many people are listed on these speakers’ agencies’ websites. I see some are listed on three or four, and might take a fee just to enable an agency to post their headshot As a means to attract others “we represent so-and-so”. I think some actors who espouse causes build a speaker profile around that (environmentalism, STEM, etc.). If you’re a former sitcom star who has an engineering degree, you can probably make some money speaking to science teachers and groups like that, like the actress who played Blossom and on Big Bang Theory.

[quote]Do you mean Susie Essman from Curb Your Enthusiasm? I would definitely pay to hear her give a talk.

In my case, I want to hear her talk as the Susie character

Anyone heard from Fran lately?

This old coot gets points for getting her name out and about in this global crisis. And she didn't embarrass herself.