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Elaine Kaufman, "The First Woman Mafia Don"
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 10, 2010
Modified Dec 10, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 10, 2010
Modified Dec 10, 2010
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Yesterday, friends remembered restaurateur Elaine Kaufman at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home. The 81-year-old passed away last week, but her legend loomed large. Page Six reports that 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft said, "I would have to categorize her, in a nonviolent way, as the first woman Mafia don. She held a great deal of social cachet in New York and was the arbiter of the pecking order of the literary and media world." And Gay Talese said, "We used to say, 'Head to the Large Lady's Lounge.'"
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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