European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine friends of House speaker Jim Wright say Hia wife is Ana of the Lew people Able to Tell my what to do. Betty Wright the House speaker s overseer by Andrew Mangan associated press Etty Wright a former chorus girl fumed businesswoman once found it Boring Lobo the Wile of a congressman bul now Hal her husband is speaker of the House she s enjoying her new status. I m really popular now says the 62-year-old wife of Jim Wright the Democrat from Texas. I be started keeping a diary she says. I list thought it might be historical i started in with the swearing in Day and have been writing personal things in in about what happens to us. There Are luncheons every Day then when i get Home the answering machine is hied with messages. I like change. If you did t you would be very unhappy in this  in a 1978 interview however mrs. Wright was a Lille less enthusiastic about her role As a congressional wife. You Don t have the Opportunity to make Good close friends she said then. There s a superficial Quality to life Here. The social life in l As glamorous As people think because it s really just a continuation of work. And As a wife you Are in such a supportive role just land my there smiling a lol and being bored " friends of the speaker say mrs Wright is one of the few people Able to Tell him what to do Jim is consumed by his Roo in Congress says fellow texan Bill Newbold. A housing and health care lobbyist ii Betty Iversen 1 around he would t care where a slept venal he ale or much of anything other than his responsibilities in Congress Betty has upgraded him. He no longer dresses like a Racehorse Loul. She has forced him Lobo nol just a political Leader bul a human being As  Wright agrees. To Calls his wife his Besl  mrs. Wright describes her husband As a Man who thinks to Himsel a to. Who Lites to formulate ideas in his mind and carry them to their logical conclusion he does l Lido to  Wilh her husband now spending practically ovary waking minute attending to his speaker ship mrs. Wright has become even More of an overseer keeping an Eye on his health attending political functions and making sure nothing important escapes his Folicu her no. 1 approach to Lite is to assist Jim said longtime Friend and business associate George Mallick. She s very supportive by Reading things for him and pulling those thai she Levels Are important by his bedside for him to read at night Belore he goes to  Betty Hay Wright is a woman of timeless features Wilh Crisp Brown eyes brushed Back Black hair and a steady Houghl Ful gaze. She says she is a homemaker at heart and takes Pride in Carinn for her husband and his our children whenever pose in. Be. Though she never had children Erseil Jim says t m a frustrated Mother she says she grew up in St Louis during the depression. The Only child in a broken Home. The Only father figure in her life was  divorced her Mother when belly was 1 / years old and did t reappear until she was 15. Her Mother had rheumatic fever and was unable to hold a Job to help pay the Bills Betty turned her Leen ago Lap dance lessons Inlo a moneymaking von Luro working in night club chorus lines. Wien her Mother diet the 20-year-old Betty and her Dusl husband a Pilot moved to fort Worth Texas. Following i heir divorce. Belly wont to work As an executive Secretary Al the hotel Texas now the Hyatt Regency. I 11965, the Texas employment commission placed her in a secretarial Job in Wright s Washington congressional office where she says she found him to be very Nice very Friendly very police very much a  after a Short stint in which she left to work for a Cone Truclio company. Betty returned to Washington As an administrative assistant with the Public works committee on which Wright was a senior member. Unlike belly. Wright s first Wile never Quile made the transition from Dallas Forl Worth to the Tough Lilc in the nation s capital friends say. Afler 30 years of marriage Wright divorced and in 1972 married Betty. She Ril Amod hor$24,000-a-Yearjobunlil Iho press raised questions of a conflict of interest soon alter Wii Ghl became majority Leader Lour years later Lile As Wile to one of the country s legislative leaders has meant Little Lime Lor Romance or getaways Tor the Wrights but she says neither of them allows thai to got i hem Down. We have very Tittle time for ourselves mrs Wright said. Worgiss his life he s so dedicated to what he s doing. Bul j m Independent and you Vegol to be the changing Vine Lype would be very unhappy Here. So far we be had a couple of weekends she said. We do by to get one week a year bul usually some staffer will Call and hell get Back to Washington or spend he Venliro Lime on the  mrs. Wright has immersed herself in business ventures including joining a psychological Institute Hal leaches techniques of self motivation. Human psychology has always fascinated her. Even As a child and when she Carne across the teachings of the Pacific Institute in Seattle she saw an Opportunity to fulfil a longtime need. The Institute run by Lou and Diane Tice. Offers a video based curriculum on How to think Tike a successful  the Wrights attended a three Day seminar several years ago and have since become Good friends of the Tice s. Mrs. Wright serves As a customer representative for the Institute. I d really Tike to see i in the schools to gel children to think about themselves in a positive Way she says. In addition mrs. Wrigh is vice pros Ideal of Matli Gusco inc an invest Insil irm she and her husband formed if h their fiend Mallick a fort Worth Developer. To assuage her interest in the theater she agreed to serve As a financing co chairman of the National theater As Well As serving As a member of he Heater s Board "1m constantly growing she says i love  monday june 1, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 13