A very valid point was brought up regarding communication between Diana, Mary and Florence. They were very good friends and loved each other but they all have said the three of them had very different personalities. Remember, they started out together as three equal members of a group and became friends. Florence was earthy and outspoken, Diana was aggressive and needed to be the center of attention and Mary was the beautiful, peacemaker who never really let anyone know how she felt[[she herself said she was a bit of a chicken). Initially, when they became successful they were like the Beatles in that the press and the public knew all three of them, they all had name recognition and the press spoke equally with all 3 of them. Diana being the lead singer and so talented and unique she garnered more and more attention-this came about also because of some of Motown's orchestrations were people were directed to only ask Diana questions or when she would make appearances solo followed by Mary and Florence later. Even though it came from her talent, clearly this also helped her become a focus even though both Florence and Mary were initially covered as a part of the group and that they were also talented and unique. Motown was shortsighted in how this was handled and it caused internal tensions between the 3 of them even if they did love each other. Florence expressed her dissatisfaction openly by missing dates and finding solace in alcohol. Mary tried to keep the group together by supporting Diana and trying to be neutral peacemaker with Florence. She never really expressed how all of this was making her feel, she was trying to keep the three of them together. By the time it became Diana Ross & The Supremes, I am sure communication between the three of them was nearly nonexistent. Diana always had the need to control and be in the spotlight, she thought her bandmates would be happy for her and really didn't take into account how everything playing out made them feel. Mary probably never confronted Diana over what had happened but it would only be natural that she would not be happy that her friend was now using the group as a launching pad for her solo career. Mary may have never discussed how she felt with Diana but it had to be tense like anyone would feel during that situation they had during 1967-9. Clearly, that drew a wedge in their friendship that never recovered. There must have been minimal communication between the two. The fact that Mary and Diana did not reach out to each other to talk about Florence's passing obviously meant there was a wedge that happened that would never be bridged again if the passing of Florence did not cause them to reach out to one another and talk. The relationship between Diana and Mary must have had an unresolved problem once Florence left and the group was simply a launching pad for Ross' solo career. They didn't talk when Flo passed, when they joined together for Motown 25 or when they were negotiating for the ill fated RTL in 2000. Mary always said it was simply negotiations and she was not part of the planning. I remember that Mary was on television and said when Diana called it was not about let's get together and talk about what the reunion tour was together, it was Diana saying they wanted to do the business first. Diana said Mary answered her call with what took you so long without considering that Mary may have made her own tour plans and that she should be grateful that Diana called about it.She was surprised Mary was upset that she finally called thinking she would be grateful to be a part of it without thinking about Mary's thoughts. So, for something like that they were still not communicating even in 2000. The 1967-9 era that caused the break in their friendship was newer in 1976 when Florence passed, so the fact that they did not communicate at all when Flo passed speaks volumes. Yet, they all still loved each other and they all publicly said so, it was just personally and privately there was a break that could never be repaired no matter what happened. And that is truly sad on all of their parts.