(The following was published in the LA Weekly.)
Marianne Williamson doesn’t like most articles about her. She seems to remember every slight, every snarky subhead that called her a shaman, a prophet, an ex–lounge singer.
“The press creates a caricature,” she says.
Take, for example, the most recent headline from The New York Times: “Marianne Williamson, New-Age Guru, Seeks Congressional Seat.”
“ ’New Age guru,’ ” Williamson scoffs. “First of all, what is the suggestion here, that the ‘old age’ is working?”
Williamson is sitting on a wooden bench beside her press person, Ileana Wachtel, inside a vegan/organic/raw food café in Santa Monica called Rawvolution. “I’ve never worn a velvet scarf in my life. You label somebody ‘New Age,’ and that’s automatic mockery: ‘She cannot possibly be a serious thinker.’ ”
What would she rather be called?
“Author …” she says, searching for something with more oomph.