The death of Madame Nhu in Rome, at the age of 87, brings home one age-old lesson, and another we Baby Boomers increasingly appreciate: Fame is fleeting, and time passes with disconcerting swiftness.

When I mentioned Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu to one of our younger editors here, he had never heard of her–which, of course, is not especially surprising since she had been  out of the news for nearly a half-century. But once upon a time, there was a five- or six-month period–I would identify somewhere between Spring 1963 and November 2 of that year–when Madame Nhu was arguably the most famous woman on the planet.

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