You have to remember Barbara was in High School in the 40's. They probably did have sororities in High School!

The human experience is so very complex that it is way way beyond the power of mere words to express. Yet in generosity or perhaps greed too, some try. Only to have such efforts trashed here by those who wouldn't have the guts to attempt it themselves.

that philistines change language? and likely not for the better? remember "git go" the texas slang, "from the git go"? . it's now "get go". it doesn't have to be formal to be corrupted. you say changed. fine. say changed. philistine.

Ok, Bobwa, we all know you can't get enough of yourself. Just like Oprah can't get enough of herself. Add yourself to the lineup of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and all the other current papparazzi-seeking losers. Frankly, my dear, we don't give a darn. You are the rudest and most intrusive interviewer I've ever watched. Well, I don't watch you any more, but you haven't changed, I'm sure. For your next act, why not retire and live quietly somewhere away from all forms of the media.

"She loved Jackie, who she surmises might have been diagnosed as autistic and lived a far better life today."

I haven't read the book, so I have no idea if this is the case for her sister (it sounds like it was), but historically speaking, autistic people mislabeled as having an cognitive impairment usually had average or above-average intelligence that was being overlooked. That would have automatically have been the case for anyone near her age, because while autism as a condition clearly existed (there are clear descriptions in literature going back hundreds of years), it wasn't formally researched and described in the USA until the 1940s by Dr. Leo Kanner. Even then, it wasn't until sometime after the year 2000 that knowledge of the changes & research from the 1990s became widespread enough that parents could begin to expect an average pediatrician to be aware of anything past the most basic "kid rocking in a corner" stereotype.

However, to a degree doesn't matter, as Barbara Walters seems unaware of what reality is (or has been) like for people/kids identified as having autism or a cognitive disability. Most the "treatments" over the years for autism have been between abusive and barbaric, with things not substantially improving for most adults raised that way, so that's not an improvement over intellectual impairment. More happily, more and more adults in both populations are now given the ability to live in the community with the assistance they need, rather than being warehoused in institutions so it's 'easier' (but much more expensive, ironically) to keep large groups alive most of the time.

I'll have my name link to the blog/site of a friend of several years that is a perfect example of the sort of person I have been trying to describe, with the associated life experiences. She can personify the idea much more accurately than I can manage to describe it!

Trashy fake journalists and jumped-up gossip columnists like her and Geraldo and Larry King and John Stossel are the reason that our media is broken and unnable to stand up to the lies of the Bush administration. Her critics weren't criticizing her for being a woman breaking barriers, they were criticizing her for being a hack lowering everyone's standards. Remember to thank Walters the next time you have to sit through the antics of some drugged out celebutard the next time you're watching the news. Baraba Walters should only be remembered with disgust and anger.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Let me remind you, though, that you are good at dishing out insults.

Lord, this cries out for Camille to have a go at her. Babwa Wawa. Where's Gilda Randner when you need her. Oh, the humanity!

calgodot: "But for an ostensibly professional critic to mock a person's speech impediment in the course of a review of that person's autobiography - well, that's just tasteless."

Haha, I take it you've never enjoyed a John Waters movie?!

I love picking on Salon writers as much as the next guy, but if Barbara Walters is fair game for the late great Gilda Radner, she's fair game for Webecca Twaister.

I checked Dictionary.com:

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for·tu·i·tous Audio Help /fɔrˈtuɪtəs, -ˈtyu-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fawr-too-i-tuhs, -tyoo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective 1. happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.

2. lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.

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[Origin: 1645–55; < L fortuitus, fortuītus, equiv. to fortu- (u-stem base, otherwise unattested, akin to fors, gen. fortis chance, luck) + -itus, -ītus adj. suffix (for formation cf. gratuitous); see -ous]

—Related forms

for·tu·i·tous·ly, adverb

for·tu·i·tous·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. incidental. See accidental.

—Usage note Fortuitous has developed in sense from “happening by chance” to “happening by lucky chance” to simply “lucky, fortunate.” This development was probably influenced by the similarity of fortuitous to fortunate and perhaps to felicitous: A fortuitous late-night snowfall made for a day of great skiing.

Many object to the use of fortuitous to mean simply “fortunate” and insist that it should be limited to its original sense of “accidental.” In modern standard use, however, fortuitous almost always carries the senses both of accident or chance and luck or fortune. It is infrequently used in its sense of “accidental” without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently in the sense “lucky” without at least a suggestion of accident or chance: A fortuitous encounter with a former schoolmate led to a new and successful career for the artist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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I see Traister already responded. I hereby back her up!

i take it back, you don't understand. tonto! i wasn't implying anything, just pulling a loose thread. i too googled it and found that THEY (the lone ranger people) called it kemosabe or (supposedly) "faithful friend" or "trusty scout." (you can google it yourself) but if "Tonto" means "idiot" (babelfish) then it MUST mean qui no sabe, who doesn't know(google translate) no? (i don't want to continue this, you disappointed me with your inferences - they were stupid. i don't mind insults if they are clever)