Comedian Joan Rivers has died, at age 81. See the Reuters story at the Yahoo News site.
For most of Joan's career we would have called her a "comedienne" and meant no disrespect thereby - no more. Gender-reflective occupational titles are O-U-T. Say goodbye to stewardess, seamstress, waitress, actress, now it's cabin attendant, tailor, waitperson, actor - gender unspecified.
My favorite Joan Rivers line concerned her famously immoral, apocryphal friend Heidi Abromowitz. Joan snarked Heidi slept around so much she had landing lights on her thighs. I imagine Heidi's social secretary was a former air traffic controller.
Rest In Peace, Joan Rivers (née Molinsky).
