HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(THEME)

This is Doug Johnson.

On our show this week ... music for Mother's Day -- it's thisSunday. And a question about the actress Kirsten Dunst. But first,we remember a woman whose products are used by millions of peoplehoping to look their best.

Estee Lauder

HOST:

America has lost one of its most successful businesswomen. EsteeLauder died on April twenty-fourth in New York. She was ninety-sevenyears old. Bob Doughty looks back at her life and work.

ANNCR:

"Beauty is an attitude," Estee Lauder once said. But for her itwas also a big business. Estee Lauder spent more than seventy yearsin the beauty products industry. Today, the business she founded,Estee Lauder Companies, is worth about ten-thousand-million dollars.Its products are in stores around the world. And, it employs morethan twenty-thousand people.

Estee Lauder once said, "I never dreamed about success. I workedfor it." That business drive came early. She was born JosephineEsther Mentzer in Queens, New York. Her parents came from Hungary.They owned a hardware store. They did not have much money. But theydid have a beautiful daughter.

Her uncle was a chemist. She worked with him to develop skin carecreams. This was in the nineteen-twenties. She was a teen-ager. Butshe sold the products in New York City. Often, she stopped women onthe streets. She let them try the creams for free. She called herproducts "jars of hope."

Soon, she was selling to large stores visited mostly by wealthywomen. She would say things like "I have the secrets" and "start theNew Year with a new face."

She also employed many smart sales tricks. For example, sheinvented the "gift with purchase" marketing idea. If you have everbought a product and received another for free, thank Estee Lauder.

She linked her makeup and perfumes with images of wealth andculture. She sent her products to influential women to try. This wasthe way she got Princess Grace of Monaco to use them. Estee Lauderalso put her products in pretty containers. And, she employed someof the world's most beautiful women as models.

Her business partner was her husband, Joseph Lauder. They gotmarried in nineteen-thirty. They divorced at one point, but threeyears later got married again. Mister Lauder died innineteen-eighty-three. Missus Lauder retired innineteen-ninety-five.Their two sons are both leaders in the company.When Estee Lauder died, her sons said she was as great a mother asshe was a businesswoman.

Kirsten Dunst

HOST:

Our VOA listener question thisweek is about Kirsten (KEER-stin) Dunst. Millions of movie-watchersknow this young actress best from "Spider-Man." Mai Lien in Vietnamasks how old she is, where she is from and what is her latest filmproject.

Kirsten Dunst was born in nineteen-eighty-two in Point Pleasant,New Jersey. In fact, she just had a birthday, on April thirtieth.She is twenty-two years old.

Kirsten began to work in television at the age of three. Sheappeared first in commercials for different products. She got herfirst movie part in nineteen-eighty-nine. It was in a film by WoodyAllen called "New York Stories."

In nineteen-ninety-three, her family moved from the East Coast toCalifornia, to live in Los Angeles. Kirsten was now in the capitalof the American movie industry: Hollywood. The following year, shegot a part in the movie "Interview with a Vampire: The VampireChronicles." Kirsten worked with actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Movie critics praised her performance in "Interview with aVampire." The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated her fora Golden Globe award. Not bad for an eleven-year-old! Next, Kirstenwas in the movie "Little Women."

In nineteen-ninety-six, she began to appear on "E.R." That is apopular television series about a hospital emergency room. Sheplayed a kid who lived on the streets. Again, she received praisefor her acting.

Since then, Kirsten Dunst has worked in more than twenty movies.Right now she appears in the film "Eternal Sunshine of the SpotlessMind." And she recently finished work on "Wimbledon."

But her most popular movie so far has earned more thaneight-hundred-twenty-million dollars worldwide. Kirsten Dunst playsMary Jane Watson, the love interest to Peter Parker. He is betterknown as Spider-Man. Actor Toby Maguire plays the crime-fightingsuperhero. He and Kirsten Dunst return in "Spider-Man Two." It opensat the end of June.

Mother's Day

HOST:

Sunday, May ninth, is Mother's Day in the United States. ShepO'Neal has that story.

ANNCR:

Mother's Day began with a woman named Anna Jarvis. She started acampaign in the early nineteen-hundreds. She and others wrotethousands of letters to important people. In nineteen-fourteen,President Woodrow Wilson and Congress finally agreed. They declareda national observance to honor mothers.

Since then, the second Sunday in May has been a day for publicexpressions of love for Mom.

Here is a song that expresses that love. The recording is by LouReid. The song is called "Mom's Picture Book."

(MUSIC)

On Mother's Day, children of all ages give special gifts. Popularones are flowers, or books, or candy. Some young children learn aMother's Day song in school. This song also helps them learn how tospell.

(MUSIC)

Even children old enough to have their own children will notforget their mothers this Sunday. Mother's Day is one of the busiestdays of the year for telephone companies.

Fathers have their day, in June.

HOST:

This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Orwrite to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.,two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.

Please include your name and postal address. We'll send you agift if we use your question.

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver. PaulThompson was our producer. And our engineer was Wagner Roberts. Joinus again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine inSpecial English.