Liz Smith

The resilient and restrained queen of scoops, Liz Smith rules over the never-so-gentle gossip world with a judicious hand. From Hollywood to New York, she's gossip's grande dame, the dirt disher divine, and, as she indicates in V.F.'s Proust Questionnaire, very happy to be of service

Social Stud

When and where were you happiest?

Now. Here in little old New York City!

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Clinging to the lower rungs of journalism, making a living, having people yell at me in the street.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Lying, cheating, fudging, nudging the ethical line.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Lying, cheating, fudging, nudging the ethical line.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

"Great."

On what occasion do you lie?

Oh, puh-leeze!

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Loyalty (it gets people in a lot of absurd ethical trouble).

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Television, a thriller, a candy bar, popcorn, no telephone, all at once.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Public humiliation.

What is your greatest fear?

Dying a lingering painful death, becoming a pain in the ass.

What is the quality you most like in a person? Intelligence leavened with humor.

What is it that you most dislike?

Hypocrisy.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Self-defeating generosity.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Eating in restaurants, overtipping.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Voltaire.

Which living person do you most admire?

Governor Ann Richards.

Which living person do you most despise?

They all jostle together in my head and become one big fat slobby press agent in particular.

What is your favorite journey?

The Greek islands, Greece itself.

What is your most treasured possession?

My genes from the Tiptons, McCalls, Balls, Smiths.

What do you most value in your friends?

Their infinite, unique variety.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

The three monkeys—seeing, speaking, hearing no evil.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

A cat that does as it pleases.

Which talent would you most like to have?

To dance like Fred Astaire.

What is your motto?

"Dare to be true."