And now the latest from Villa Fontana...

And here I thought she was a hermit. Joan Fontaine, who I consider my erstwhile penpal, filled out Vanity Fair's Proust questionnaire last month. Good to know the old dame remains vital -- nearly as vital as that sweater! -- and a tad randy; some germane excerpts:

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Virginity.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
D’Artagnan, from The Three Musketeers, who taught me some things were going on in Milady’s boudoir. My mother, when I questioned her at 10 years old, said, “You’ll have to ask someone else.”

She sounds exactly like my Aunt Loretto.