Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Based out of Miami, journalist Kimberly Brooks is co-anchor of “Nightline on Fusion.” The TV personality — who got her start working at Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios — is also the host of Fusion’s latest documentary, “O Girls,” which checks in on the progress of five of the young women who were amongst the first to graduate from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
So, ya’ll have read about Oprah and the salesclerk at some chi-chi Swiss handbag boutique, right? Ms. Winfrey wanted to see a purse that retailed for just under $40,000. The clerk repeatedly told her it was very expensive and wouldn’t show it to her. Have any of you had a similar thing happen? I have, on a much smaller scale.
Oprah Winfrey couldn’t do it. Michael Jordan had to change his game plan. And even Wolfgang Puck hightailed it back to Los Angeles after his restaurant failed in Chicago. Could it be that the Second City actually is more persnickety about celebrity-owned eateries than its East and West Coast counterparts? Quite possibly, when it comes to restaurants owned by celebrities — whether they’re athletes or superstar chefs.
Oprah Winfrey’s impact extends to the nation and the world, but here at home, we claim her as a Chicagoan — a Garrett-popcorn-eating, lakefront-jogging, North Michigan-Avenue-shopping one.
Come Thursday, Oprah Winfrey turns the big 5-0. And if she’s to be believed — and why wouldn’t she be — the world’s most famous talk show host will be embracing her well-earned day. She’ll celebrate with a special birthday show Thursday in Chicago followed by a weekend bash in Santa Barbara for 50 of her closest friends.
Oprah Winfrey had better start taking some tips from Suze Orman, the financial whiz who writes for Winfrey’s magazine. Seems our billionairess is so cautious about investing her own money in the stock market that she once hoarded $50 million in cash, calling it her personal “bag-lady fund.”
The October issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, features an interview with Sidney Poitier, which the magazine’s namesake describes as “the most extraordinary conversation” of her life.
You know that old adage, “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken?” Well, O, The Oprah Magazine and Real Simple aren’t listening. Just a few months after their splashy debuts, the well-received, very high-profile lifestyle magazines are replacing their top editors.
Come April 19, Oprah Winfrey will be on the cover of yet another magazine. But this time, she’ll be gracing one that bears her name.
Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Oprah Winfrey. They are all pioneers who have made an impact on American society. And all four most likely will make the final cut of “The 100 Most Influential African Americans of the 20th Century.”