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Bernard F. Dick, The First Lady of Hollywood: A Biography of Louella Parsons, Journal of American History, Volume 93, Issue 2, September 2006, Pages 587–588, https://doi.org/10.2307/4486356
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She entitled her autobiography The Gay Illiterate (1944)—the writer Nunnally Johnson's apt description of her talents in an age when “gay” had no sexual overtones and suggested, in Parson's case, a devil-may-care personality, short on intellect but high on verbal gush and gossip. Rising stars yearned for a mere mention in her column, and established stars could either court her or be relegated to oblivion. To appear on her radio program, Hollywood Hotel, actors had the choice of requesting the paltry fee of $18.00, but receive no credit; or they could forego that munificent sum for the privilege of being acknowledged. She was Louella Parsons, once a society page writer from Illinois, who through a combination of luck, contacts, and above all, the patronage of the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, became, for a time, the voice of Hollywood. Her early exposure to small-town social life stood her in good stead; from then on, her style was a combination of reportage and gossip—heavier on the latter than the former. Parsons may have been hated in Hollywood, but her syndicated column and radio program became the unofficial source of news about the movie business. Her fans did not care whether the information was accurate, conjectural, skewered, or downright false. She was their entrée into the daylight dream. Once Parsons began working for Hearst, she not only became his spokesperson but also that of the American people. It did not matter that she knew little about her readers, except that they relished her tidbits about a world they could never enter.
