Elizabeth Taylor set to attend Passports AIDS gala tonight...

I'm heading to Santa Monica this evening to attend the annual Passports AIDS gala at Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. I don't know if I'll get a chance to chat with Elizabeth Taylor but if I do, I will be completely thrilled.

Coliumnist Liz Smith spoke to Elizabeth about the event for her syndicated column today. She writes:

ELIZABETH TAYLOR always reminds people that just because the current drug regimens seem to be working, that doesn't mean the AIDS crisis is over. Not here, and certainly not in Africa and Asia. I think this continued involvement in AIDS work is a big part of what keeps Elizabeth alive. She always says, "I thought my continuing fame was ridiculous -- why did people stay interested?! And then when AIDS happened, and I saw that being 'Elizabeth Taylor' was a help, I appreciated every scandalous headline, every invasion of privacy, every foolish action or excess on my part that kept the press hounding me. Fame, which was for so long a mystery and a joke, became a good thing, 40 years after I achieved it."