Was Anna Nicole Smith a bonafide celebrity or celebrity caricature?

We have no idea yet how Anna Nicole Smith died, but we’re no strangers to how she lived – in a circus mostly made up of fame and controversy in recent years. It all began so differently back in 1993 when Smith was named Playboy’s 1993 Playmate of the Year. I have to tell you what a strange experience it is to be on the air at the 98-7 The Peak during a breaking news cycle when a major celebrity dies like this.

I was a bit floored at the outpouring of sadness on the request lines! People truly loved Anna Nicole Smith. Maybe we all saw a little bit of ourselves in her, maybe we all felt sorry for her because she’s had quite a final year of living. I’d always thought of Smith as a tabloid caricature in recent years. It’s been hard to remember as the lawsuits have recently been piled upon her that she had indeed seen better days.

It was never an easy life for her, which is perhaps the most tragic of all no matter what her cause of death may be. We can only imagine that she can finally know peace.