After a long battle with lung cancer, Los Angeles writer Cathy Seipp died this afternoon. She had referred me for this job and by so doing, changed my life. She was kind and cranky, silly and profound. She made Los Angeles seem a little bit like her own red living room--warm, cozy and full of interesting bits. She was generous with her time, her knowledge, and her opinions. Especially those opinions. I will miss her enormously, as will all the rest of her friends. Those who disagreed with her will miss her even more, knowing they'll never again have such a worthy opponent.

Cathy would have loved knowing that her Technorati ranking was higher than Paris Hilton's.

"And rightly so!" she'd say.

Kate Coe