Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

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pages 5-10 Call Tht Way Wt Liv: 222-6610 Special report: Miss America Hickia McVhirtcr Gli glory, hen reality 9 Driving to Grand Rapids isn't for the faint of heart A look at Miss Michigan 1986, Page 3B. Diary of a beauty-contest judge, 4B. Your ballot for the pageant on Saturday night, 4B. Miss America 1939, was a natural beauty with a movie star smile. She was even in a few movies after her reign, but she doesn't spend much time talking about her past.

She and her husband, Robin Harris, are too busy as New York-based travel writers for Hearst Newspapers, and she would much rather talk about their travels. "Oh, I wouldn't mind talking about being Miss America if I had anything to say," notes Donnelly. "I just don't have much to say about it. It was so long ago! Some people know about it, some don't. I think about it now because the pageant is coming up, and if we're around maybe I'll watch it on television." She laughs a lot when she relays how she and her daughter, Amanda, get into "heated discussions" concerning her being a former Miss America.

"My daughter is quite a woman's libber. She's a little bit Ex-queens say it was worth it By CAROL TEEGARDIN Free Press Staff Writer Miss America 1939 disagrees with her daughter beauty pageants and their treatment of women. Miss America 1961 is divorced and remarried. Miss America 1970 is a single parent. Each is articulate, aggressive.

At one time each was exalted as the ideal Michigan woman. And each has learned that when the cheering is over, most Miss Americas are mere mortals, a fact that they seem to be able to handle far better than their adoring public. On Saturday at 10 p.m. the Miss America Pageant will air on NBC (WDIV, Channel 4 in Detroit) to a viewing audience of more than 60 million Americans. A new Miss America will be crowned.

Afterward, if she's lucky, she'll hang onto some fame, as did Nancy Fleming, Miss America 1961 from the tiny western Michigan town of Montague, who hosted a daily TV talk show in California; or Bess Myerson, Miss America 1945, who starred on television and became a champion of consumerism; or Phyllis George, Miss (s AP Photo The reigning Miss America, Susan Akin, waves during a parade in Atlantic City Tuesday. America 1971, who became well known as a sportscaster. Even if she ends up as a finalist, that's not so bad. So did Cloris Leachman, Susan Anton and Joan Blondell. Mainly, though, once the year of touring is over, Miss America will shed the glitzy ribbons and robes, comb out all that hair spray, and blend in with the rest of womankind.

The pageant has endured wars, social upheaval and change. Women have changed, including the three Miss Americas who came from Michigan. PATRICIA DONNELLY HARRIS, 66, disdainful of beauty contests if you will. See MISS AMERICA, Page 4B I was going to fly to Grand Rapids and back, but American Airlines wanted $230 for the round trip. So did Republic.

That seemed heavy. I would drive to Grand Rapids, instead. It's only about 1 50 miles, after all. Off I went through cheerful Tuesday afternoon sunlight. I would like to report that Lodge-ability is a caution! Barricades everywhere, no workers in sight.

I don't blame them. Many drivers have evidently gotten so used to the labyrinth twists and turns of the barrel-marked traffic lanes on the Lodge that they make a game of running the course at 80 m.p.h. and up. Maybe there's a weekly prize awarded for the fastest lap. I was clocking 45, as the signs suggested, and frenzied motorists passed me by at every minor bulge between barrels, with about one paint layer's clearance.

It was positively thrilling! Safe and sane 1-96 I was relieved to get off that whirligig and onto the relatively safe and sane 1-96. There, at least, when the cars and semis are going 80 mph they're going more or less straight ahead, and they have three lanes in which to pretend they are Mario Andretti. 1-96 is just fine, until mid-state. A few miles west of Lansing, the workers who are supposed to be working on the Lodge are working on about eight miles of 1-96 instead. Traffic has been rerouted.

It moves east and west on the same stretch of roadway, one lane each direction, just like the good old days. The only difference is that there is a low, concrete median where the center line ought to be painted. The median is yellow and has orange sticks bristling from its top surface. I think the sticks are plastic, designed to break away if they're hit. Several had broken away, here and there.

I don't like to think about it. Anyway, everybody goes single file in opposite directions on this two-lane and everybody is supposed to go no more than 45 m.p.h., although they all go at least 50 and sometimes much faster. But, there is definitely NO PASSING. Signs announce this rule. The signs are silly.

There is no way to pass with that concrete median on one side and a deep ditch on the other. Besides, each lane is only a foot wider than a car, total. That's how it looks. There's no room to breathe, let alone pass. I know this because an 18-wheeler hauling cattle passed me going the other way.

I could have reached out and milked a cow if I had wanted cow milking to be my last act on this earth. I did not. I didn't breathe for about 10 minutes after that. Miles of swirls From there on it was a piece of cake, except for the confusion of freeways swirling around Grand Rapids itself. Freeways swirl around all cities, you may have noticed.

I never know when to exit a freeway. Sometimes I just swirl and swirl for miles and miles. Then I pick an exit whose name sounds friendly. I exited at pleasant-sounding Ottawa Street, and found my destination after maybe another half-hour's meander on surface streets. I concluded my business that evening.

The next morning I reversed everything and drove home through the same highway fun house. This time it was even more exciting, due to a raging thunderstorm with torrential rain, and lightning. Next time the train! I 'is i it Pamela Eldred, after being crowned. Nancy Fleming, when she won the crown. I'd have to be more prepared Nancy Fleming, 44, of Montague, near Muskegon, was Miss America in 1961.

She now lives with her husband, Jim Lange, in Los Angeles. She is in Patricia Donnelly, about the time she won the title. A year was enough; life now is nice Patricia Donnelly Harris, 66, was Miss America in 1939. She grew up in Cass City in the Thumb and now lives in New York with her husband, Robin It's not the most important thing Pamela Eldred, 38, was Miss America in 1970. She's from West Bloomfield Township, still lives there, is divorced and has a six-year-old daughter.

the television business and has two children from her first marriage. What have you done with your life? Right now, I'm doing some free-lance television work. I just finished two projects for Major Productions, which is Ron Howard's company. It was for Consumer Rennrts: thev're pnine into Hilary. She is trying to start up her own facial and skin care salon.

What have you done with your life since Miss America days? I still do some speaking and traveling as a former Miss America. I'm presently a single parent and my daughter is six. I was married for 8' years. Your ex-husband's name is? Harris. They are travel editors for the Hearst Newspapers and have two children, Amanda and Steve.

Does it bother you aging as Miss America? Do you wish you could have held onto that year forever? Oh, no. And, as far as staying young forever, no one can do that. One year was enough. I lead a nice life now. I like my children and grandchildren.

Harris today. I've forgotten. What does that Eldred today, tell you? How does the crown wear over the years? See ELDRED, Page 4B the home video market. One is on Fleming today, how to buy a new or used car, the other concerns how to make your home safe. I also did a daily talk show on Channel 7 in San Francisco for eight years.

My husband See FLEMING, Page 4B Do you think winning the Miss America Pageant See DONNELLY, Page 4B Hit songs tune psychic in to the future mCTABBING PAIN IL V(im 0TuEN MV fQ' 1950, when "Mona Lisa" was No. 1. "I'm artistic and have a half-smile," he says. Song influences also tell much about personality problems and a person's favorite color, he says. For example, "Young Love" (tops March 2-29, 1957) identifies those prone to marry at an early age.

"Mr. Postman" (Dec. 11-17, 1961, Jan. 25-31, 1975) indicates people who frequently correspond. People under "Quarter to Three" (June 26-July 9, 1961) are night owls.

COHEN DISCOVERED his gift when he psychoanalyzed a cousin's girlfriend, Sherry, and found that "Sherry" by the Four Seasons was the top song on her birthday. Since then, he has analyzed 500 people, including several Pointer sisters, and uses his method when hiring staff. Not all prospects are positive. Those influenced by novelty songs, such as "Alley Oop" or "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," are "irreverent and of the wall," he says. Death records, such as "Teen Angel," "Big Bad John" and "Leader of the Pack," imply bad news and underscore the need to drive carefully.

By JON ANDERSON Chicago Trlbunt If Julius Caesar, the Roman general, statesman and conqueror of Gaul, had known Sherman Cohen, operations director and program manager for radio stations KKLZ and KRAM in Las Vegas, Julius Caesar might be alive today. Perhaps that's stretching it a bit, but Cohen says he has uncovered a new way to detect personality characteristics, including a tendency to be stabbed, that is light years better than what Caesar had to work with trying to make sense of messages from Cleopatra and hiring augurs to watch the pecking behavior of sacred chickens. COHEN, a state-of-the-art psychic, takes his cues from music, particularly the hit parade. "It pretty much works like astrology, which is the belief that the lineup of planets affects your behavior," he said in a phone Interview. "With musicology, as I call it, it's not just the song that was most popular on your birthday that affects your life.

It's hit songs on every birthday after that." For example, Cohen was bcrn July 16, trjj mm I "Yes. I live in Grosse Points, but it's the really, really tough section of Grosse Pointe." 1 1 free Pr Dkatratkm by CHCK gAYER.