Julia Reed is a hoot. The author, humorist and magazine/newspaper contributor says just about anything that comes to mind, whether in print or in public. It's an endearing quality, especially for a Mississippi Delta belle who loves to talk about the South and all its nomenclature.
Her talk at the Central Arkansas Library System's Ron Robinson Theater the night of Dec. 8 was the last in CALS' 2016 Heiskell Distinguished Lecture series -- and it was a memorable one. A lively reception beforehand loosened up the crowd for regaling by Reed.
Reed said her career has been "all over the map." She started as an intern at Newsweek magazine and has worked her way into a career as a full-time food writer who still dips into hard news for The Wall Street Journal. "It's been kind of a rollicking trip," she said.
For 20 years, Reed was a contributing editor at Vogue, where she covered politics and fashion, among other things, gaining access to profile subjects from Oscar de la Renta to Robert De Niro and Sister Helen Prejean to President George W. and Laura Bush and President Bill and Hillary Clinton. "I never got boxed in, and it's been a gift," she said. Reed said she remains "traumatized" from her interview with Barbra Streisand, who answered the door of her New York apartment fresh from the shower in a terry cloth bathrobe, with wet hair and no makeup. "Let me say you want to see Barbra Streisand made up," quipped Reed.
She's written six books, her latest of which is Julia Reed's South: Spirited Entertaining and High-Style Fun All Year Long. Guests at the reception were snatching her books up quickly; others brought them from home for Reed to sign. The Heiskell Distinguished Lecture is named for J.N. Heiskell, the longest-serving member of the library's board of trustees and editor of the Arkansas Gazette (now the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) for more than 70 years. About 150 people attended Reed's lecture.
-- Story and photos by Cyd King
High Profile on 12/18/2016