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.