We feel truly remiss in not catching this sooner, but since when did the Grey Lady start covering the San Francisco drag beat anyway?

Local legend, national treasure, and at age 75 possibly the oldest living, continuously performing, transgender entertainer in the country, Vicki Marlane, was profiled in this past Sunday's New York Times as part of their (new?) Sunday Routine column. For those who weren't aware, Vicki organizes a show called The Hot Boxxx Girls who perform weekly on Fridays and Saturdays in the Tenderloin, and Vicki has been doing the female impersonation thing since she was 17. She got a sex change back in the early 80s, and the NYT is careful to point out that she is a "transgender drag queen," which basically means she still puts on wigs and gowns to perform and in real life she's just a plain Jane lady.

This past summer, a documentary was premiered about Vicki's life in drag called Forever's Gonna Start Tonight: The Vicki Marlane Story. And earlier this year, Vicki won the local honor of being named Best Drag Queen by SF Weekly, but we are far more impressed with this bit of national coverage for the great dame.

Below, a few of the choice quotes Vicki gave to the press about her post-performance routines: