The daytime talk show circuit is abuzz with the impending ascendancy of Rachael Ray, whose new show will be backed by Oprah Winfrey, no less. The boisterious cooking show hostess, who is single-handedly responsible for the fastest rate of adoption of a new cooking acronym (E.V.O.O. = extra virgin olive oil) since the advent of the P.B.J. sandwich, will be invading even more homes at more hours of the day. And we are all better off for it, because her straight-talkin’ style immediately takes out the fear and mystique of cooking, and her cookbooks just rock.

But first, I feel it’s completely appropriate to pay our respects to a dearly departed talk show idol. Yes, I’m talking about Sally Jessy Raphael.

Yes, people. Sally Jessy Raphael. Harry Potter wasn’t the first eyeglasses-wearing cultural icon; SJR’s famous lipstick-red frames held millions of audience members captive for nineteen years watching The Sally Jessy Raphael Show.

A quick Google search of Sally Jessy Raphael will reveal that she is either white, Jewish, Hispanic, or all of the above. Born Sally Lowenthal in Easton, PA (hey, that’s where my dad was born, too!), she was raised in Weschester, NY, and San Juan, PR; she actually worked for the Associated Press and hosted a Spanish-language cooking show.

But we all know (and love her) for being the first female talk show host. Without SJR, we wouldn’t have Ricki Lake, Caroline Rhea, or Tyra Banks. And of course, the new kid on the block, Rachael.

The Sally Jessy Raphael Show began in 1983. The most newsworthy episode involved a guest revealing he’d fathered a child with a 14-year-old girl; he was promptly arrested when the episode aired. Pretty tame compared to that Jenny Jones gay-rage murder incident.

In the end, her 4,000+ episodes couldn’t muster the ratings anymore, and was axed just short of its 20th anniversary in 2002. Now she hosts an internet radio show at http://www.sallyjr.com/, where you can find her receipe for stuffed french toast. Alas, there are no transcripts of her radio gigs.

Talk show hosts come and go, and one of these days, it will be Rachel’s time to go. While I seriously doubt that I will mourn that occasion (assuming she will still be safely ensconced in her cooking show on The Food Network), I will still fondly recall Sally Jessy Raphael’s spectacles.

Or not.