Times Square Olive Garden, get ready: Grand Forks food critic and internet meme Marilyn Hagerty is coming your way. No, really. She'll be stopping by with Anderson Cooper after a whirlwind media blitz in town that will include a trip to Le Bernardin. And yes, the whole thing will be blogged (though not by Marilyn herself). Meanwhile, the media's Marilyn mania is metastasizing. A lunch with Michelle Obama is reportedly being worked on by North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad!
This morning Marilyn was on the Today Show from her hometown in Grand Forks, and beyond her upcoming Anderson segment she's already done CNN, the Early Show, GMA and an endless run of interviews. Not to mention the fact that her son has written an adorable op-ed about the adventure for the Wall Street Journal ("When Mom Goes Viral")—in case you were wondering, she's let her online Scrabble game slide amidst all the attention.
What has really made this story endearing though is that Hagerty turns out to be a charming newspaper woman in the best, old school ways. The proficient reporter has been writing and editing for newspapers in both Dakotas for 65 years and knows her beat—and a few big news names. For instance? She "was the editor-in-chief of the [USD] Volante from 1947-48 with USA Today founder Al Neuharth as her assistant managing editor. 'I was Al Neuharth’s boss, and I’ve never let him forget that,' she said."
All of which is to say, you probably haven't heard the last of Marilyn Hagerty. And if you want to hear more, well, she's got her own blogger now.
