August 31, 1997 In memoriam, Diana, Princess of Wales. We were watching The Birdcage. The tape had just ended and we flipped to the TV. Winnie had been watching CNN before and we were suddenly shocked back into reality by the news that Diana had died. She was a fixture in my world view. Just yesterday I'd been hoping she'd finally be happier in life as I read an article about her. Winnie and I stared at each other, disbelieving. She had her faults, but she was the kind of person that I admired anyway. She was an icon of generosity and caring. And my romantic nature empathized with her fairy-tale tragic story. I was seven as I watched her lavish wedding in 1981. As I grew up her story was splashed all over the press and I felt sorry for her. Then I respected her for managing to steer a course out of it with some shred of dignity left. I guess it's so shocking because there are certain public figures which define a time, which define a period, anchors for the how of the world today. She was one of them and that, is to me what is so shocking, that one of those anchors has suddenly been wrenched away. last