Mary Tyler Moore

Every generation has its markers. One of the markers in mine was Mary Tyler Moore.

In the early 1960s, she was Laura Petrie. In the old Dick Van Dyke Show, she was the clever, pretty, stay-at-home wife and (later) mother. Then she was Mary Richards, journalist, TV producer, working in a newsroom full of clever people doing fun things.

She was my Mom, and I was little Richie. She was my coworker and friend. It's like she was always at the center of my life.