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Show his prescience, not her presence, that earned Stephenson the cover. The editor would have been lying. I know, because was the editor of Sport who decided to put Jan Stephensons features up front. In the late 1970s, while her game did not appreciably improve, Stephenson got more publicity for her social life than more skilled female golfers got for their birdies. She didnt know a thing about American football, but she knew she liked quarterbacks, particularly quarterbacks from Atlanta. She dated the Falcons Steve Bartkowski, a pairing of strong young athletes that delighted columnists and photographers. More recently, Stephenson's personal life generated less cheerful publicity. In 1982, the same year she appeared in another controversial Fairway fashion layout (this feature displayed one young pro as Jane Russell, another as Rita Hayworth, and Stephenson as Marilyn Monroe the classic pose, windblown dress sailing up to her waist, exposing valiant legs), she also appeared in a batch of legal papers. Suits and countersuits sw irled around her. Within a period of a few months. Stephenson temporarily ended her relationship with her then common-lahusband, Eddie Vossler, a Texas businessman; briefly married her business manager, Larry Kolb; then, a few weeks later, left Kolb and had their marriage annulled; spent one day in a psychiatric hospital (the stay was instigated by Kolb, who charged she had been brainwashed); returned to Vossler and formalized their relationship in conventional marriage. The couple honeymooned in Scotland and, true romantics, buried her bridal bouquet in the rough along the historic golf course at St. Andrews. If this semicomic soap opera werent incredible enough, at the very height of the confusion and the countercharges, Stephenson won tournaments, the LPGA Championship and the Lady Keystone Open. She used her father as her caddie and the competitions as diversion, focusing completely upon golf to keep her mind off her marital and legal entanglements. "Ive always been able to put golf ahead of my personal life. says Stephenson, which may explain why her golf has nourished when her life has not. Since 1982, Stephenson's social life has grow n calm. Her marriage to Vossler seems steady. He supervises her business interests, which, centered around an equipment contract with Tavlor-Madare very diverse and very remunerative. The Vosslers maintain homes in Fort Worth and in Phoenix and travel back and forth and along the golf tour in their own Cessna Citation II. They share the e controls of the jet. and ala license have not Jan does yet though to fly solo, I can testify that, with a pilot at her side, her takeoffs and landings are as smooth as her swing, and the swing is getting better all the time. "I couldn't possibly do it without 1 w back-to-ba- e, twin-engin- PARADE MAGAZINE MARCH 18, 1984 PAGE 7 Eddie, Stephenson says. "I dont have to worry about business matters. I dont have to worry about hotel reservations. I dont have to worry about plane reservations. All I have to do is play golf." Vossler is the son of a fairly n golf pro, Ernie Vossler, and even though Eddie himself never played the professional tour regularly, he knows the game well. He'H play once or twice a year, Stephenson says, and then well go out for a round, and hell beat me. It makes me furious. Jan Stephensons stature, especially among the women she plays with and against 30 weeks a year, has changed dramatically. Resentment has given way to respect, in fact, not only among women golfers but also among women in other sports. "She's become a role model for many of the younger golfers, suggests Carol Mann, veteran of the LPGA tour, a former president of the organization and a member of its Hall of Fame . They want to be attractive and rich too. They think theres nothing wrong with looking good and being rich." She capitalizes on her looks and her sex appeal, which, personally, I think is fine, says Nancy Lieberman, the former basketball star who now trains Martina Navratilova. I think all of us in womens sports are taking our appearance more seriously. We realize it's part of our marketing. There are two keys to the acceptance of Jan Stephenson: first, the acceptance of all women athletes; and second, the blossoming of her golf game the realization, by even her former critics, that she works as hard, and plays as well, as any of them. Somehow, posters and calare endars of a leading money-winneasier to accept than posters and calendars of an also-raOne more word must be said. In all honesty, Jan Stephenson is probably not the most beautiful athlete in the world. There are surely Swedish swimmers and Japanese gymnasts and dozens of rising young American athletes who are even more attractive than Jan Stephenson. But why quibble? She deserves the title. No one in womens sports has ever used her looks better and blended them better with true talent. But there is a limit to how far Stephenson will go to preserve the title. A few years ago, Playboy offered her $ 0,000 to pose for some of the magazines revealing photo layouts. She said no. The offer went up. She said no again. The offer is now up to $50,000. I told them there w'as not enough money in the world for me to do that, she says. "I wouldnt want to do anything that my parents would be ashamed of. You know. Id never do anything where Id really, truly expose myself." Its too late. Jan Stephenson already has exposed herself, in the best sense. She is open, with the press and with her galleries, hiding neither her opinions nor her emotions. And she has revealed, especially in the past couple of years, an absolutely beautiful golf game. 03 well-know- er n. 1 i Tiio Lenox China. Las tor Egg The First Lenox Easter Egg handcrafted of fine ivory ch :r.a and pure 24 karat gold. A Limited Edition. $32. The crafting and collecting of precious eggs has a long history. And, for over 100 years the Presidential Gardens at The White House have been opened at Easter for the traditional egg rolling contest. Now, to celebrate Easter, 1984, the artists and craftsmen of Lenox have created the perfect gift a commemorative fine china Easter Egg of extraordinary beauty and quality. 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