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Remembering 'Our Gal Sal'

(Editor's note: Philadelphia TV legend Sally Starr died peacefully in a South Jersey nursing home Sunday. She was 90.)

Unlike most of you, I didn't grow up here, so I never saw Sally Starr on Popeye Theater, when she and we were young.

Unlike most of you, I did enjoy a light personal friendship with Our Gal Sal, one benefit of my line of employment.

By the time I met her, in the '80s, she was already off the air, but already a legend.

The Sally I knew was warm, outgoing, cheerful and occasionally a bit bawdy (but never when kids were around). That sparkle in her eye could be motherly, or sexy. Over the years I knew her, Sally faced a variety of challenges -- health and financial, among others -- but her smile rarely faded. She was a cockeyed optimist.

As a cowgirl in Philadelphia, she was unique.

As a women and a performer, she was courageous.

Love, luck and lollipops forever, Sally.