Cathy Seipp, RIP

update: welcome, ETP readers! Enjoy Cathy Seipp’s piece below. And then do go here to read Matt Welch’s most excellent farewell to her.

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to read her Hollywoodland columns in Salon.

This is Cathy Seipp (”Standing Room Only at the Mad-at-Me Section“, from 1997!):

Anyway, I wish American media types would follow the example of British media types and not take being trashed in print so personally. I was touched and extremely satisfied a few years ago when Tina Brown, who was then departing Vanity Fair for the New Yorker, graciously introduced her replacement, Graydon Carter, to the Vanity Fair staff — in spite of the fact that Carter had regularly insulted Brown in the pages of the old Spy.

Perhaps I inherited a Commonwealth version of this attitude from my deeply sarcastic Canadian family. At least, that’s what occurred to me recently when a woman at a party approached to say, “You wouldn’t write the way you do if you weren’t Canadian.” Since she was Canadian, I’ll assume she meant this as a compliment. But it did bring back a rather vivid childhood memory.

There I was, age 6, with my entire expatriate Canadian clan (aunts, uncles, parents, sister, cousins, grandparents — all of whom were now living in the same Southern California subdivision). We were cozily sitting in Grandma’s TV room watching a documentary about brain damage. Suddenly, my aunt, age 11, shifted on the sofa. “Oh, look, Cathy,” she announced coolly. “That boy can tie his shoes with only half a brain. Interesting, because you still can’t tie your shoes with a whole brain.”

Even as I heard my mouth shriek the outraged, tearful, “MUMMY! Did you hear what she SAID??? Make her say SORRY!!!” I also felt another thought silently filling my mind: “Wow, that was a good one.” My aunt and I have a siblinglike closeness built on years of insults, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

So if I insult you in print, please remember, it’s only because I care.

You never insulted me in print, Cathy, but you gave me great insight, gutsy honesty, and deep pleasure as a reader. Thank you.

—————-*** Back when Salon was a great. Today I can’t even link to it without forcing you to watch an ad, so I won’t link. The excellent critic Charles Taylor was my other Salon fave. One of the most depressing stories I have ever read was in this interview with Taylor, where he describes how Salon changed.

Charles Taylor was dismissed from his duties as a Salon critic in February, 2005. At the time, Salon editor Joan Walsh chalked up the decision to simple economics: their publication had just 22 editorial employees and could not justify employing three film critics. This was disappointing news for regular Salon subscribers and a harbinger of declining standards. Although Taylor’s colleagues Stephanie Zacharek and Andrew O’Hehir continue to offer insightful cultural analysis and film criticism, a casual perusal of Salon post-Taylor reveals feature articles that are elaborately disguised press releases pandering to the studios. Gossip, box office reports and hype don’t address whether a film has merit as art or entertainment. The latter was Taylor’s specialty; he called it like he saw it, often employing the sorts of provocative turns of phrase that spark arguments in parking lots.