Liz Smith hammers out some damage control

Amidst the titillating headlines about Dietrich the phone sex operator, there is one about Dietrich the war hero. None other than Liz Smith, Larry King's female counterpart in bland celebrity journalism, would send this defense to the presses. Disregarding the popular new Leo Lerman work, Liz instead reminds us of a congratulatory Dietrich book published last year, J. David Riva's A Woman at War: Marlene Dietrich Remembered. A boiling Maria Riva probably poured over Liz's article with her during tea time at the St. Regis. Too bad she left her red pen at home.