I never met her. I have no anecdotes about her that aren't available from a hundred other sources. I slept through part of the one show in which I ever saw her in person. (It was the 1994 revival of Showboat, a production that was so long, everyone came out of the theater not only humming "Old Man River" but feeling like him.)
I just liked her…as a performer, at least. A couple of folks I know who worked with her said that was the best way to know her.
There's a video of her one-woman show called Elaine Stritch at Liberty which is quite wonderful, one of those things I wish I'd seen live. She sings, of course, "The Ladies Who Lunch," which is like my least favorite number Mr. Sondheim ever wrote. But she also sings great songs and tells wonderful stories. I have known and lost certain people in my life who I think might have benefited from hearing some of those stories.
The theater does not breed Elaine Stritches anymore. No one who becomes a star on the Broadway stage seems to stay there long enough to become an aged veteran, which was the point when she got to be real interesting. It wasn't because she starred in great shows. Julie Andrews was a star because of My Fair Lady and Camelot. Ethel Merman was a star because of Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and many others. Elaine Stritch was a star because she was Elaine Stritch.
The two most famous shows she did on Broadway were Pal Joey (the 1952 revival) and Company (1970) and in both cases, you could say she came on to perform one memorable song and otherwise had little to do with the rest of the play. But the point is she was there. And now, sadly, she isn't.