I'm not going to pretend I was an avid reader of Dominick Dunne, who passed away yesterday in Manhattan, but I just remember when I was kid, taking my parents' Vanity Fair issues and seeing his name, with his sensational columns, and hoping one day I could be a columnist with my name in the big bright lights of a national publication.

It was never about what he wrote, just that I saw this name, Dominick Dunne, at the beginning of a big, thick magazine with long articles on corrupt leaders, shrewd politicians, and of the moment Hollywood A-listers. Vanity Fair was always around my house, as it is with many people, and it sort of guided me toward a certain career path. I sort of owe to the name, Dunne, in a weird way. 

Sam Bassett, our photo editor from NYC, shot this Dunne portrait I believe in 2007-2008, and I always liked it. Simple, powerful, sort of caught that high society columnist/author in a great moment. . . .