SHORTHAND WITH CHAMPAGNE: Memoirs of a Beverly Hills Stenographer

This kid has really had her hand in! Operating out of the Beverly Hills Hotel when she wasn't flying off to the East Coast or Europe at the personal request of some financial wizard or international celebrity, she has spent a lifetime as a pseudo Boswell- ""As a child, growing up in Minnesota, I was both fascinated and overawed by the famous people I read about...I am no-different today."" And she must have had a tape recorder tucked into her typewriter as she recalls sessions with Mickey Cohen, Serge Rubinstein, Lerner and Lowe, Francis X. Bushman, Sarah Churchill, Bette Davis, etc. She has finagled her way into meeting Presidents and Princes and has a candid quip about everyone. Her experiences, ranging from A to Z- ""Absolutely Business, Business and Zany"" make Lucille Ball look like a piker. Then there's the hotel itself and Miss Ruby does a fine job of typecasting with observations on party crashers, play, party and call girls (there is a difference), hotel detectives, ""operators"" and of course the guests. As a public stenographer, her job has led her into many a bedroom scene and there's even a chapter ""Take it from me, girls!"" on how to handle almost any situation. For writing such a fun book Miss Ruby deserves a diamond mink-lined pen and of course, more champagne.