It all started in 1951. Mrs. Chandler was a member of the Board of the Southern California Symphony Association. The orchestra at that time was performing in the Baptist Church auditorium which was catty-cornered from the Biltmore Hotel at 5th and Olive Streets.

Mrs. Chandler was asked to be on the Board of the Hollywood Bowl Association in June, 1951. That was a fortuitous move because the Hollywood Bowl was forced to close in July, 1951, due to lack of money.

Mrs. Chandler set up an Emergency Committee to get the Bowl open and to complete the summer season. After 12 days, it was possible to re-open because artists had forfeited their fees, and the season was able to finish.

It was in 1952, that as President of the Southern California Symphony Association, Mrs. Chandler was successful in merging the Southern California Symphony Association and the Hollywood Bowl Association Boards, thus enabling orchestra members to have year-round employment. Up until that time, musicians were forced to find other employment mainly through the studios to supplement their income.

Three separate bond issues were placed on the ballots in the early '50s in an attempt to get a symphony hall built, but all failed because a 2/3 vote was required.

It was then that Mrs. Chandler decided she would raise the money herself.

She, Mrs. Henry Salvatori, and Mrs. Lemuel Bancroft co-chaired an event called the Eldorado Party which was held at the Ambassador Hotel on March 17, 1955. Tickets were $1,000 per plate and a Cadillac Eldorado was the door prize. That night $400,000 was raised which was the start of Mrs. Chandler's campaign. This money was the leverage she used in her meeting the County Supervisors to interest them in allocating land between Grand and Hope and First and Temple Streets for the auditorium. She promised the Supervisors that she personally would raise $4,000,000.

At the outset, it must be remembered that Mrs. Chandler was a Regent of the University of California, a Trustee of Occidental College, served on several Presidential Commissions starting with President Eisenhower, and was a Vice President of The Times Mirror Company and responsible for overseeing the building of Times Mirror's corporate headquarters at 2nd and Broadway.

Working for The Times Mirror Company, she transformed the Society Section of the Los Angeles Times into the Women's Section where the accent was on women who were accomplishing things for Los Angeles.

She initiated the "Women of the Year" Awards which were sponsored by The Times, and were popular. She was interested in elevating women to think beyond themselves and their families and work for the betterment of their communities. The Awards ceremonies were held in The Times Auditorium. These stopped when Sandra Day O'Connor became a member of the U. S. Supreme Court. Women had arrived!

In 1951, 1 had gone to work for J. Edward Murray, the Managing Editor of the Mirror, the afternoon paper of The Times Mirror Company.

By 1955, and her first successful fund-raising event, Mrs. Chandler made The Music Center her first priority and began the daunting task ahead of her in a letter-writing campaign.

She and Mr. Chandler knew all of the "movers and shakers" in the business world and knew how much to ask from a company and/or wealthy friends. Mrs. Chandler had a small office next to Mr. Chandler's on the 4th floor of The Times Building. I was offered the position as her secretary in 1955 by Paul Bell, head of Personnel. Mr. Bell told me that if I went to work for her I would always have the feeling that I had helped build Los Angeles because she was going to build that auditorium.

It took several weeks for Mr. Bell to get me on her schedule for an interview. Interviewing was not her "cup of tea." She really didn't know what to talk about. When we parted, she said, "Well, I think you'd do."

I didn't hear another thing for over two months so I assumed someone else was hired. I received a call from Wilma Drake, Mr. Chandler's secretary, telling me that I should come over to the office and start going through the files since the Chandlers would be back from Russia in a couple of weeks.

I started working for Mrs. Chandler in August, 1955. Her letter-writing campaign began. She worked constantly at home and weekends, sketching out letters to business heads.

Her letters were not form letters, unsigned, or E-mails as in today's business mode. She wrote individual letters on her own beautiful stationery and signed them. These were all dictated and perfectly typed.

The Chandlers moved from Arcadia to Hancock Park in Los Angeles in the late 1950s. By 1959, Mrs. Chandler opened her swimming house called "The Pub" as an office for volunteers.

That was the hub of activity for public fund-raising from 1959 to 1964. The volunteers were women from both the Symphony and Bowl affiliate groups.

Eve Craig, who had been active on a Hollywood Bowl committee, headed the volunteers. I personally was amused by their going "to work" at Mrs. Chandler's, with hats and gloves on their way to a luncheon or shopping.

They eventually compiled 20,000 names and addresses for invitations, mailings, etc. Any listings of names for events in Los Angeles were used in amassing files. The volunteers also addressed invitations by hand and on a good day for Eve got all the stamps straight on the envelopes.

Those who were there in the afternoons looked forward to 4 o'clock when Mrs. Chandler's maids brought in tea and goodies for an afternoon break.

The first public fund-raising event was the two Cornerstone Concerts in the Hollywood Bowl featuring Van Cliburn. He had won the first Tchaikovsky award in Russia so naturally people in America were anxious to hear him. His fee was $10,000 for performing, but Mrs. Chandler prevailed upon him to make it a contribution to the Building Fund, which he did.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Mrs. Chandler's "Command Post," work went apace on letter-writing, keeping her on a formidable schedule of appointments, meetings, and travel. Some days she had as many as six meetings in a day.

The Chandlers had a trailer at the Dana Strand Club at Dana Point called "Gypsy Haven" for their weekend escapes. Theirs was #1 on the beach with a beautiful view of the coastline in both directions, and I might add the trailer was furnished in oriental antiques. Driving down and back on the Santa Ana Freeway, Mrs. Chandler wrote names of companies that they passed, either built or under construction, so that I could get their complete names and addresses, plus the name of the person to contact for money. Fund-raising came about in different forms.

One day I received a call from George Skouras, who wanted to meet Mrs. Chandler and bring her a check because he admired what she was trying to accomplish. He and his brother, Spyros, built the Greek Orthodox Church on Normandie Avenue. An appointment was set up, and he came to her office with a $25,000 check in hand. He remained a staunch supporter of The Music Center through the ensuing years.

I remember receiving a call one Christmas from a woman who told me that she and her husband had been to a party the night before and everyone was talking about The Music Center and what they had contributed, and she said her husband told her on the way home that they should contribute, too. However, she said that Mrs. Chandler must see him today or he won't contribute. She said, "I know him." He owned a meat-packing plant in Inglewood. I called Mrs. Chandler at home and conveyed this to her, and she said, "You go."

I called and made an appointment, and Mrs. Chandler sent her driver to pick me up at The Times Building. When we got there, her driver couldn't find the front door so I went in the only door I saw, and there were carcasses hanging all around the room. A butcher went to find the man I had an appointment to see.

The owner had a partner and they took me into a tiny office just large enough for two desks and two chairs, they had to bring in another chair for me to use. To make a long story short, I came away with two $5,000 pledges.

On a trip to Paris, the Chandlers had dinner one evening with columnist Art Buchwald. In his book, "I'll Always Have Paris," he related a funny story about how Mrs. Chandler got $50,000 from Paul Getty who was living at the George V Hotel at the time.

When they returned from that trip, Mrs. Chandler announced that she would complete the funding for two more buildings in the complex.

Enter Mark Taper and Howard Ahmanson. They were each tapped for $1,000,000.

David Parry, publicist for The Music Center, came up with the idea of taking over the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for the premiere of "Cleopatra" starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This would give Hollywood celebrities their chance to help fund The Music Center. Seats were $250 each.

We didn't have names and addresses of the Hollywood contingent. Those were all kept at the Motion Picture Academy offices on Melrose Avenue. David was told that no addresses were ever given out by the Academy and that the invitations would have to be addressed there. An appointment was made for me to meet the woman who was in charge. Mrs. Chandler told me before I went that I had to impress upon her that our volunteers would address and assemble the elaborate invitations at "The Pub" because we were equipped to handle it all. She sent me out with her car and driver with instructions to bring back those lists. The woman kept me waiting at least 15 minutes before I was ushered into her office. She was very reluctant to give up the lists, but I prevailed. Having a driver and a Rolls Royce certainly didn't hurt.

The premiere was held in June, 1963, and the Theatre sold out. That enlarged the building fund coffers by another $1,000,000.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Chandler was busy setting up a Blue Ribbon Building Fund Committee headed by Mrs. Albert Leland where women could either contribute $1,000 a year to the Building Fund themselves or get someone else to contribute. These ladies had no offices but met in each others' homes. They were busy recruiting friends and setting up musical soirees.

Mrs. Chandler was relentless in her fund-raising. She had her hand out everywhere she went. So much so that Anna Bing Arnold, a benefactor (one who gave $100,000) had a tin cup (the kind you would find on a farm at the old well) etched with Mrs. Chandler's name and gave it to her to carry with her on her forays.

The Buck Bag Drive was launched at the Dedication Ceremony of The Music Center in September, 1964. Mrs. Chandler mentioned at that time if everyone in Los Angeles each gave $1, the fund-raising would come to an end. Walt Disney was impressed by those attending who willingly pressed dollar bills on Mrs. Chandler and Bill Severns, the Chief Administrator. Disney had bags designed by his studio for the Buck Bag ladies to carry with them when they went shopping.

Mrs. George Behrendt was the head of the drive, and it proved a huge success in bringing in over $1,000,000.

The Pavilion opened December 6, 1964. Mrs. Chandler wore a dress and coat made from a gold sari Zubin Mehta brought to her from India.

The motif for the elegant ushers' uniforms was Indian. This was the inspiration of Tony Duquette, who also designed and made the sunburst curtain

The Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre were opened in April, 1967 -- three days apart.

Mrs. Chandler had raised $19,500,000 in five years -- a remarkable feat. She didn't stop there because she wanted to make certain that the Resident Companies had the backing needed for their successful operations. Consequently, a Music Center Foundation was established.

When the Pavilion opened, there were approximately 20 affiliate volunteer committees working for the Philharmonic.

Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Lloyd Nix who was the head of the affiliate committees, and Mrs. Draver Wilson who headed the volunteer office came up with a list of 22 names of women in executive or administrative positions in the professions in Los Angeles and invited them to a luncheon in the Eldorado Room.

Mrs. Chandler spoke about how she believed that working women would enjoy belonging to a group interested in music and in attending concerts. Since all were working full time and most of them were caring for elderly parents or young children, they were not expected to raise money.

From that luncheon in January 1965, a new enthusiastic group blossomed and is flourishing today - now one among twelve affiliate groups. This is the Committee of Professional Women.

Anita Priest, who was the organist for the Philharmonic, was asked to join and brought the musical world alive to its members. At luncheon or dinner events prior to concerts, members and guests enjoyed previews of the music to be played and special guests who were interviewed.

The Committee felt the interviews were so interesting that they should be open to the public. The orchestra section of the Pavilion was opened to the public prior to those few concerts.

Anita's last public preview was with Aaron Copland. Every seat in the orchestra section was filled. She was the forerunner of today's "Upbeat Live" previews in the Grand Hall prior to all concerts.

Another member of the Committee of Professional Women was Patricia Martin, head of Personnel for Adolph's Ltd., who served as General Manager of the Music Center Opera Association from 1978-1983. Lawrence Deutsch of Adolph's Ltd., paid for himself and brought the New York City Opera to Los Angeles yearly to perform for the Music Center Opera Association.

Following her stint with Music Center Opera Association, Pat became the Manager of The Joffrey Ballet for the years it performed at The Music Center.

The Committee of Professional Women became known as the one committee which did not return unsold tickets to the box office before a concert. Committee members assisted other committees in their fund-raising events.

The Jacques Lipchitz sculpture, "Peace on Earth," was unveiled on the Plaza in May of 1969. It was paid for by Adolph's Ltd., which was co-owned by Lawrence Deutsch and Lloyd Rigler.

I got a kick out of Matt Weinstock's column in The Times following the unveiling. He strolled up to the Plaza to see the sculpture, and a man standing nearby said, "Do you think if we fed it, it would be more friendly?"

Blue Ribbon 400 emerged from the former Blue Ribbon Committee in 1970. These ladies pledged to pay $1,000 a year to belong, and Helen Wolford became its first President. The members were hostesses at events starting with President Nixon's visit to the opening of "Cavalcade" presented by the Civic Light Opera Association in August, 1970.

Other dignitaries who have visited The Music Center are Henry Kissinger, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret with Lord Snowden

The City of Los Angeles and Mayor Bradley honored the Emperor and Empress of Japan, who were on a State Visit in October of 1975, at a luncheon in the Grand Hall of the Pavilion.

Mrs. Chandler resigned from The Times Board in 1976, and I went to an office in her home.

I retired as her Administrative Assistant in August, 1985, on the same day I had gone to work for her 30 years earlier.

I not only "would do," but I guess I did!