Author, Author: Fifth-grader Eleanor Ray of Fountain...

Author, Author: Fifth-grader Eleanor Ray of Fountain Valley launched her writing career with an exclusive interview from former President Ronald Reagan, held at his Century City offices last week. The 10-year-old, representing a national children’s magazine, quizzed Reagan on tough issues: Could he play a musical instrument? Reagan pulled out a harmonica and hit some notes. What was the worst part of being President? “Sending soldiers into battle,” Reagan replied. What was the best part?’, “Being able to change things,” he said.

Ray’s parents accompanied her and videotaped the event.

Senior Version: Fresno entrepreneur Max Wegerbauer, 53, has come up with a Sensuous Seniors calendar featuring “golden oldie” women, ages 50 to 73. The calendar “girls,” all from the San Joaquin valley, include a former Ice Capades skater, an artist who lifts weights and plays the flute and a school employee who bounces on a trampoline.

“First I thought of using people like Jane Fonda, Tina Turner and Lena Horne. I couldn’t afford them. And people would say they were the exception to the rule,” said Wegerbauer, whose goal is to show that older women can be, well, womanly.

Cold Warrior: Author Tom Clancy, master of Iron Curtain thrillers, says he’s not worried that warming relations between the super-powers will put his career on ice. Pretending to point a gun at a questioner, Clancy said, “I stand like this for 30 years, and then the 31st year I say, ‘Hey, you’re not such a bad guy after all,’ but I don’t move. Would you still be worried?”

Clancy said he’ll find plenty of grist for his best-selling novels of U.S.-Soviet conflict as long as the Soviet Union remains a communist military power.

Red Baiter: A gigantic lobster named Lobzilla was spared a date with a pot of boiling water after a wave of public sympathy. He was flown from North Carolina to Maine by an animal rights group, and there returned to the ocean. The 21-pound lobster almost got cooked and served in Shucker’s Oyster Bar in Charlotte, but the animal rights group raised a cry and restaurant manager Kurt Larkins gave Lobzilla to the group, gratis. The lobster measured more than 3 feet.

“He’s beautiful, truly majestic,” said Cam MacQueen of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She accompanied Lobzilla, who traveled in an icebox labeled: “Eat beans, not beings.” She estimated the creature is 150 years old.