Evening star., 1954-01-17
7 exos Senator'S Wife
Has Varied Talents
She Manages Family, Rodio-TV Station,
Three Houses, With Greatest Of Ease
By lsobeIle Shelton

When you hear that there is a
woman from Texas named Lady
Bird johnson, you are likely to
conjure up a picture of a tightly.
fluttery little Southern lady, IN
the tradition immortalized In
the movies by Billie Burke.
Nothing could be further from
the truth, in the case of Lady
Bird johnson, who is known
more formally as Mrs. Lyndon
johnson, wife of the Texas Sen
ator and Democratic minority
leader.
She actually was christened
Claudia Alta Taylor. But few
people have called her Claudia
since she was 2 months old,
at which time the family's col
ored nursemaid began calling
her Lady Bird as pet name.
Even the Senator's official biog-
raphy in the Congressional Di-
rectory solemrIly reports: Mar
ried Lady Bird Taylor, November
II. 1894"
The Senator's Lady Bird Che
calls her Bird) is a petite, at
tractive woman with black hair,
friendly brown eyes and a soft
TEXAS drawl. She is a calm.
steady ballast in the household
of the sometimes tempestuous
Senator, who on occasion re-
sembles Texas whirlwind.
Conny Businesswomon
She also is a canny, efficient
businesswoman, who operates
her own radio and television
station-KTBC- in Austin, Tex,
as well as supervising johnson
households in Austin and Wash
ington, and their ranch nome
outside johnson City, Tex.
No one is more conscious OF
her virtues than the Senator.
"She's a wonderful woman" ne
SAYS. "She manages that radio
business. the houses, the kids and
me-and you know. I guess I'm
not the easiest person In the
world to live with"
The Senator likes to start his
day about 7:30 in the morning,
and he wakes up bursting with
ideas. These he begins acting
on by about 7:35, from his bed
side telephone. Long-sufterlng
staff aides are used to getting
calls from him at odd hours OF
the day or night.
If inspiration should chance
to strike him late in the evening,
when there are no secretaries
around. Bird is pressed into serv-
ice to use the shorthand she
learned 20 years ago at the Unl-
yersity of Texas. 1t might be an
outline for a speech, or a list OF
ideas.
MY shorthand isn't very good
anv more, but I manage" she
says.
The daughter of wealthy
Texas rancher, Lady Bird pur-
chased the radio station in l943,
with money inherited from her
,rother who died when Lady
Bird was five.
It was then a small, debt
ridden. station beseiged by its
creditors and not able to attract
much of an audience because It
was on the air only during day.
time hours and had no network
connection.
Lady Bird worked night and
day for the next three years. by
which time the station was on
its feet, free of debt and boast
ing an evening schedule and a
CHS connection.
She still devotes several days
a week to the station during the
six months (July through De-
cember) each year that the fam
lily spends in Texas. During the
six months they live here she
carries on a voluminous corre-
spondence with the station man
ager. Shes receives a long, de-
tailed weekly report. signs most
of the checks. and in addition
makes few trips to Austin each
winter and spring.
Her tipping, which she also
learned at Texas u, comes in
handy for the correspondence
which she carries on in a second
floor study in their attractive
white brick home on Thirtieth
place. She thinks her college
major. journalism, is also a help
in running the station.