Elizabeth Taylor

As I heard about the death of Elizabeth Taylor this morning I confronted some very mixed emotions.  On the one hand none of her movie roles and all of the celebrity gossip she lived with for most of my adult life were of any interest to me.   I have always thought Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, for which she won an academy award, is one of those plays that will disappear quickly as time locks it into the depths of obscurity.   I do not remember Butterfield 8 - her other Oscar performance.   I thought all the drama around her and Burton was tacky.

But then you look at her role in the Aids crisis.  She began her quest when the disease was not well understood.  She helped to raise something north of $100 million.   And it seemed to be a role that she genuinely cared about.   On balance, even if my judgments on her acting career are accurate, her role in that part of her life merits some careful and thoughtful response.