What I will miss, above all, was dinner with Dorothy. I usually let her pick the place, since it was always going to be the same place (the Park Bistro). We are overdue: She kept putting it off until she was done taking care of her father, and then until she felt strong enough to last through a meal. Rick has already alluded to Dorothy’s “tart” judgments of people, which I often elicited from her over cassoulet and wine. I cannot think of one she got wrong, or of a time she sounded mean-spirited while delivering it. She also schooled me in the byzantine internal politics of NR.

When Joe Sobran left NR he wrote an essay trashing the magazine and its founder, concluding that the only thing he would miss was Dorothy, “as anyone who knows her will understand.” (I quote from memory. I mentioned the line to her once; she hadn’t seen it.) I understand it now. I trust she is now eating well and merrily.