New York Times columnist Gail Collins is really kind of a tragic figure. She used to write for the Long Island paper Newsday, finding a way to cover New York State politics from Albany in a way that was both informative and funny—no mean feat. Then she went to work for the Times and has never been the same since. Today she’s got a piece about how an old dog won a dog show and how a number of people in public life are old.
She used to be a writer whose work could be compared to that of Molly Ivins. Now she seems like she’s trying to understudy for Maureen Dowd. It’s a warning to us all.
Yes, you may have a point there, but aren’t you being a tad harsh? I mean, I remember when Ms. Collins wrote for the New York Daily News. She did one little column about not being a big fan of pigeons. It was funny, maybe a bit of a ‘goof’, but she got tons of angry letters over it. She spoke of it years later and confessed to being surprised at the vehemence of the negative response. Perhaps that’s when she decided to be less ‘funny’.
Another point is, she’s writing for The New York Times, for Pete’s sake. The New York Times is not ‘New York’s Funny Pages’. Frankly, I like it that way. If I want giggles, I’ll read the comics in The Journal News, thank you very much, or I’ll watch Comedy Central. Cut Gail Collins some slack.