The American Folk Art Museum lost a dear friend on November 12, when columnist Liz Smith passed away. Smith had the longest-running social news column in New York—from 1976 through 2009—appearing in the Daily News, Newsday, and New York Post. She chronicled Hollywood, New York society, politicians, and the merely well-known from a gentle but always lively insider’s perspective. Proud of her Texas roots, Smith nonetheless become part of New York’s social fabric. Her forty-plus years working with Literacy Partners, an organization that helps parents become active partners in their children’s education, was a touchstone in her life.

“The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.”—Liz Smith

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