The passing of Frank Gifford reminded me of an encounter I had with a lady who knew his wife Kathy Lee. Years ago I was at a party somewhere in Silver Spring and ended up in a corner talking to a nice lady. As we plowed thru the 20 questions thing, she informed me that she graduated from Bowie High School with Kathy Lee Epstein. “You know her as Kathy Lee Gifford.”
At the time I had been listening to Howard Stern a lot on the radio and he constantly ripped Kathy Lee a new one (click here for sample.) As a result, I didn’t really have an opinion about her other than Howard’s very biased take on her. To my new found lady friend then, I made some Howard-esque remark that anyone seated next to clown-ass Regis Philbin would look good by default. (Whereas I was neutral to no opinion on Kathy Lee, I did regard Regis as a no talent turd.) The lady told me that she and Kathy Lee had been classmates and had graduated from Bowie High School the same year. She went on to say how nice and down-to-earth Kathy Lee was and what a good friend she had been thru the years. Based on that insight and input, then I formed a more positive opinion of Kathy Lee and have liked her ever since. Check out this video where she reacts to a SNL skit that wasn’t very flattering to her and rolls with it. Bottom line, Kathy Lee is a Maryland girl who can take a joke. I may just have to invite her down to Buzzy’s for a glass of wine.