Not much gets by her. For one thing, the studio occupies the first and third floors while her apartment is on the second, all connected by an internal stairway that passes directly by her lair, that is, her kitchen. She keeps a watchful eye on everybody going up and down those stairs. With each pass there is an opportunity to discuss the current situation in international affairs, or sample whatever she's whomping up in the kitchen (two of her justifiably famous recipes are reprinted below*).

If she is not busy reading foreign affairs rags, cooking, pestering the CR staff, or mastering the impressive alarm system, one will usually find her running her clipping service from the kitchen table. She pores over The Christian Science Monitor (her favorite) and the recycled New York Times (from downstairs) marking and clipping articles and then mailing them off to her far-flung "subscribers."

While she is typically very sociable and accommodating, we do offer one word of warning: don't even think about disturbing her during the Jim Lehrer News Hour. Even though she's pushing 90, she still packs a punch!

(* Well, as we went to press, it seems the old bird is not willing to give up her recipes just yet. Stay tuned to this page as negotiations are continuing.)