It was very forgiving at that time, there were a lot for women in the sport and covering it. It is the hardest sport to cover in terms of accessibility–there are no teams and some players just don't have any incentive to talk to the press–but there were great people to work with.

I am still so busy with the Compassion Club. I have been a feeder of the Compassion Club's cats for years. They really need our help and protection more than ever.

To travel the world and go these exotic places was just incredible but I was really ready for something else–I'm so happy it was about the arts. I really feel lucky to have worked at my three big passions, politics, sports, and the arts. My mantra has always been making the arts accessible to all. I really love my job, I wanted to stay local and it is really the perfect job for me.

This was after Watergate and everybody wanted to be an investigative journalist and there were just no jobs available.

I wanted to be a political or legal reporter and to be assigned the Seale trial was just unbelievable. At that time I was one of the few women reporting. The main beat reporter was covering another story so I was assigned the pre-trial coverage but I was surprised that they gave it to such a young person. I leaned so much–it was right up my alley.

Nice to meet you. I don't want to waste anyone's time but my name's Laurie Hanna, I'm from the Daily Mirror , have you got time for a quick 10-minute chat?