European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily a Magazine Here she is miss America 1958 by . Guffey associated press w Hen she was 20, the Denver newspaper gushed Over the Hometown blonde Beauty  today the slightest glint of ice comes into he Aegean Blueey s when she hears that phrase. The remarkable smile never goes away but it is obvious Marilyn Elaine Vanderbur Atler could have lived quite Well without the nonsense that went with being miss America 1958. It never was a Beauty contest insists the woman who got onto the miss America track almost by default and later made it Clear to pageant officials she never wanted to pose in a swimsuit again. Today the title is Queen of motivation. Long before the me generation of the 70s discovered self help Marilyn Vanderbur had made a business of it. For Many years she was the nation s highest paid female Public speaker. She May still be but she does t discuss speaking fees in 1982, it was $2.000 a shot several times a week nine months of the year. She Heads the Marilyn Vanderbur motivational Institute of Denver. It offers a Library of Marilyn Vanderbur motivational films considered the tops in their class by Many corporate leaders and High school Counselor. Television stations can buy 75 second spots of inspiration to inject Hope into their newscasts. It takes just a few minutes of listening to know Why. When this woman Speaks everyone who hears her wants to be As Good As they can be. For 48 years. Marilyn Vanderbur has grabbed hold of each Day and wrung More from it than Many get from a week a month or a year. At a child she was a standout swimmer. She was a High school Honor student who became a Phi Beta Kappa when she returned to College from her yearlong reign. As Host at later miss America pageants or in other television specials she astounded the film Crew by never needing Cue cards. Marilyn says he s very Good now because once she was t very Good at All. In her talks she often Speaks of the Success and failure found in every life. This is the real theme of her work that people can be motivated to do their Best in part by learning that others Aren t always what they seem that even the most successful have failed at some Point often big. Her listeners know that a newspaper editor one told Walt Disney he had no drawing Talent that Winston Churchill failed three times to get into the British military Academy that babe Ruth had a record Lor strikeouts As Well As homers. I could take a couple of hours and give you support for this but generally speaking i believe there s plenty of evidence that most people who Excel do so because they be had a Handicap she says. Hers was shyness. Numbing agonizing shyness. She got very Good at Public speaking Marilyn says now because she feared it so much. Being miss America was a Fluke of sorts. She was nominated As the i Beta Phi entry in the miss University of Colorado contest while she was out of a meeting answering a phone Call. She tried to decline and was told she could t. Told the must have something for the Salent Competition she played Tea for two and tenderly on an Organ so Many times they finally sounded As if she had composed them. Her family was As surprised As she was when she won the miss America Crown in Atlantic City. One of her three Sisters sent a telegrams roses Are red. Violets Are Blue Flat chested girls can be Beauty Queens  Marilyn laughs remembering How she and a Friend spent the afternoon filling out the required Beauty Marilyn Vanderbur allot 48, in or Denver Horn. Queen forms. When it came to the vital statistics we ust put Down what we thought sounded  going on to serve As what Andy Rooney Calls his favorite miss America of All  Marilyn unknowingly began shaping her future. Marian Mcknight of South Carolina. Miss America 1957, had dazzled crowds with her Southern Belle style. Marilyn found her a hard act to follow. I d get off the plane and they d say. Where s miss America it was t enough Lor me to just stand up there smile and say thank you Lor having me Here today some before me had been Able to do that and make it sound like a lot More. I could t. I got so that i d close my eyes on the plane and think about what was coming up next. It was role playing visualizing but i d never heard of those words then. Nobody every talked to me about it i just did it. When i got somewhere to speak i d already been them 50 to a Hundred times before. I worked hard. I prepared prepared  she Calls the two yes at the University alter her reign the most difficult t tie in Rny me. I did t know who i  lucrative television work in now York came after graduation then a three month marriage to a College sweetheart a much publicized divorce and still More television work. One night she came Home irom being Host at a network special and decided it was t enough i had no purpose in my me she remembers i was famous. I could go into a supermarket in Omaha and people know who i was. I had Money but i m not a spender. I had everything most people think they want but i did t go Home and feel. I be done something worthwhile today " cautiously she renewed her relationship with Larry Atler. A classmate at Denver s East High. On St. Valentine s Day 1964, Marilyn and Larry were married at her parents vacation Home in the Rockies my life did t pull together until i married Larry she says her husky voice trailing Oil. After her daughter Jennifer was born in 1971, when Marilyn was 34. The schedule was trimmed. Summers and weekends have always been off limits to those who schedule her time and As Jennifer gets older. I Lind myself cutting Back still  for 17 years the Atler family has made its Home within a few blocks of both Marilyn s and Larry s parents in a Section of East Denver where families roots and wealth stretch far Back into the City s history. Marilyn and Larry bought the House they live in completely furnished and Little has changed since the former left. The Blue velvet club chairs still Nestle among the White carpet across from the White piano. A few years ago. She says a sister in Law walked in and said. Marilyn your House looks  so she got plants. She laughs about her disdain for nearly everything Domestic. When Jennifer was 9. Her Mother remembers she piped up with mom you just Don t have a sense of  since then it is not uncommon Marilyn says for Jennifer to put things together Lor  we went to a party recently and a Friend came up and said i like that dress tonight just like i liked it 22 years ago once i was previewing this film i had just made. I was very excited about the message. The lights came up and the Man sitting next to me turned and said. Are your eyes really that Blue i was so exasperated i just wanted to take a chair and hit him with it. I Only want you to care about what i say hot what i m wearing Marilyn loves her work. If i did t love it i could t stay in another Holiday inn. I could t eat another Chicken Glunk  someone once asked Marilyn who she admired most. Alter thinking just a moment she said Eleanor Roosevelt. I think you have to consider her within the context of her generation she says. And i think we have to look at me in the context of my generation  saturday september 14, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13