“Rhoda, like most of us, was a victorious loser,”

The actress who played Rhoda, died, it seems from a 10 year struggle with lung cancer, ultimately leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, in which cancer cells invade the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain.

My first reaction to her death was to notice that I'm knowing more and more the people who are dying. I used to read the obit a lot when I first came to NYC in my 20's, and I really learned a lot about how the world has evolved, but I didn't really have much of a connection to the people I didn't know.

I think actresses are great, but I wonder at the fame we heep on them.

Valerie Harper created a show in the 70's, a spin off of a wildly popular TV show about an independent woman. She played a Jewish woman and she was not Jewish. Today people would be up in arms, "what, you couldn't find a Jewish actress?" She had quite a career in acting, though I don't have any experience other than she's in my noodle somehow from MTM and Rhoda.

Her show Rhoda had an episode that had one of the most popular episodes in terms of viewership, where she gets married. I don't really remember anything specific from my primordial childhood, but I do remember the character, and I'm sure I didn't understand the Jewishness of her character. I tried to watch some clips on YouTube and it felt like a schmaltzy 70's drama that I can't stand. What she did was not easy.

I suppose it's great when we have mainstream multicultural characters, but I actually hope for more. As an adult I've educated myself by reading up, watching foreign films and consciously looking to increase my exposure to other cultures.

Harper was a hatcheck girl at Lutèce, a quaint little anecdote. She won a lawsuit when her salary demands led to a firing.

I wish her family condolences during this time of her loss. Check out her website.