As Joan Rivers approaches her 80th birthday, she is celebrated in this Salon magazine piece:
"We all owe Joan a massive debt of gratitude. Without Joan, life in our
celebrity-obsessed society would not be worth living. Joan is our
guiding light. She has shown us all that, even though we are force-fed
endless drivel about self-important A-listers from morning till night,
there is no reason why we have to take that crap lying down. She gives
us carte blanche to rip those freebie-crazed red-carpet deities to
shreds at every opportunity."
And about public persona versus the private individual (see: show business):
"Joan was at the store constantly for fittings. It was during this time
that I got to study this bitchy broad up close … only to find out that
she was anything but. Joan Rivers is shockingly thoughtful, polite, and
kind. Quel paradoxe! The viper-tongued vixen is actually a
total softie who was idolized by the Barneys staff. She remembered
names, birthdays, traumas, hysterectomies, dead pets, live pets. If
anybody got pregnant or kicked the bucket, Joan was the first to offer
congrats or condolences. Look up the word hamische in the Yiddish dictionary: Next to it you will find a picture of Joan Alexandra Rivers, nee Molinsky."