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The World of Miss Universe by Ana Maria Cumba. 1975. Manyland Books, Inc.

CHAPTER 7: FAREWELL AND HAIL

      Ieda and I walked the long concourse at Kennedy Airport in thoughtful silence to board our Pan American flight 201 bound for Rio. This was Ieda's last appearance as Miss Universe, and supposedly my last trip as a chaperon. We were approaching the end of a year that had been full of excitement, travel, turmoil and joy, ecstasy and agony which neither of us had expected. Now, here we were heading toward the last leg of this glorious unexpected assignment. However, neither of us felt that we had been spoiled by the luxury living that was offered to us, for we had known quite well that it was only temporary and we would soon have to return to our normal lives. "The title of Miss Universe is really a contracted glamorous job and sometimes not so glamorous as it sounds. For every victory, there is a penalty," Ieda said.

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       "I mean, when are we going to see each other again? I feel as if it is all over, and I miss you already, you have been a real mother to me," she said, and then she took my hands and with a voice as if she were choking, went on, "there is no adequate way to thank you."

      There were tears in her eyes and I was crying, too. However, I managed to whisper, "I am going to miss you, too, Ieda, and thank you for being so nice and making my job so easy and pleasant."

       The crying continued on and off all the way down to Rio, and I am sure that the people sitting across from us thought we were going to a funeral, and not to the Miss Brazil pageant where Ieda was going to crown her successor as Miss Brazil."

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       My task, as Ieda's official chaperon and interpreter, was not too easy at times. I was included in all the official functions, was seated next to her, and had to act as an ambassador-at-large. Ieda was very fussy about food. Many times after those elite dinners with all the trimmings of caviar and champagne, we went back to our room and ordered hot dogs, french fries, and cokes. However, at dinner she was always gracious, tasting and appearing to enjoy the food. On certain occasions I had to explain to our host that the reason she didn't eat it at all was because of her allergies or that she was a vegetarian.

      The European beauties had arrived in New York, all twenty-two of them, and were touring the big town and the World's Fair. On July 12, Doris called me again and said that Miss Luxembourg was ill. She said that Herb Landon, who was in charge of the group in New York, was sending her to Miami and asked me to take care of her when she arrived.

An hour later, Mr. Landon called me in a state of panic, for he thought the girl had hepatitis.

I told him that I would take care of her. "But," I said, "if it is infectious hepatitis, I will have to take her directly to the hospital."

"No, I don't want this known to the public. Will you please keep her in your home?" he asked.

On Wednesday, July 13, 1964, a new person entered my life.

Doris and I drove to the airport to meet Mariette Stephano, Miss Luxembourg, 1964. There stood this tall, thin, beautiful creature, wearing a black suit and white blouse, and she looked like a very scared Mickey Mouse!"

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      Ieda came to visit Mariette and brought her brother, Jose Miguel, who was very curious to know where Luxembourg is. Mariette told him that one of the reasons that she entered the contest was because she wanted to show the rest of the world where her country was. "It seems that only the war veterans know that Luxembourg is a country and a city in Germany," she said. "I am proud of my country and my people. Luxembourg is one of the smallest and oldest independent countries in Europe. We have our own language, we also speak French and German, but we have nothing to do with Germany."

      On Saturday, August 1, 1964, Ieda turned over the Miss Universe crown to Kiriaki Corinna Tsopei of Greece, and while the excitement was beginning for Miss Greece, we left through the back door and went to a party at the home of Dr. Mietus, in honor of Ieda and his special guest, the Ambassador of Nairobi.

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      And then on August 12, I drove Ieda and the whole Vargas family, including the dog, to the airport. In the midst of our farewell tears, Ieda opened her purse and pulled out a small gift wrapped in red and told me not to open it until I got home. When I did open it there was a note, "This is your medal, you sure earned it. Thank you for the year of your life that you spent with me. Love, Ieda." I was numb. Inside the box was a gold medal with the Miss Universe insignia and the date that she had won the crown. Needless to say, I felt like catching the next plane and going after them.

CHAPTER 8: IT WAS GREEK TO ME

       I had met Corinna before and after she became Miss Universe, and I liked her. As I recall, the morning of the swimsuit measuring, she took the tape from June Montagna, who was in charge of this particular task, and measured herself. Corinna also made a practical change in pageant procedure by suggesting that the girls be measured after they had their swimsuits on to avoid embarrassment and conflict in the dressing rooms. Her suggestion worked out well.

      My first trip with Corinna was to Dublin, Gerogia, where she toured the wards of the Veterans Hospital and visited the special treatment areas, responding graciously to the greetings of staff and patients along the way. When that was over, we were driven to East Dublin, where was again honored with another key to that city and more beautiful roses.

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      Our next stop was Boston. By this time Corinna spoke a few more words of English, and we were invited to various Greek social affairs. There were a lot of proud Greeks in Boston.

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      That same day, we flew to Milwaukee and were mobbed by thousands of Greeks. Suddenly, everything became Greek to me! Everyone was talking in Greek, and no matter how many times I told them that I didn't understand a word, they still kept speaking to me in Greek.

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      On our way to Rio, Corinna wrote a speech and asked me to translate it. It was amazing how well she memorized it and at her presentation at the Miss Brazil Pageant, which was part of the Rio Centennial celebration, she made her speech in perfect Portuguese.

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      After a tour of the city, we went back to the airport where an Air Force plane flew back to Belo Horizonte to pick up Miss England. When we landed, she and her consul were there waiting, and he brought her onto the plane. She looked well enough to continue the tour, but then she told me that she had only one lung. She was only 19 years old but had the misfortune of having had a lung removed. I was extremely worried about her and relayed this to Mr. Bottfeld, telling him that we had to exercise caution with her activities. She had to blow into a paper bag four times a day and was allowed to participate only on the last night of the Miss Brazil pageant. It was sad that she had to miss so much!

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      And so ended my second Miss Universe year. If it didn't have quite as much excitement as the first year had, it was mostly because I spent much less time with my second winner. But if I ever thought for a moment that I had become at all jaded, the years still ahead would prove how wrong that idea was!

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CHAPTERS: 1, 2 | 3, 4 | 5, 6 | 7, 8 | 9, 10 | 11, 12 | 13, 14 | 15, 16 | 17, 18 | 19, 20 | 21, 22 | 23, 24

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