M.G. Lord, 24, remembers herself as "the rotten kid who did drawings of the teacher behind her back." Now M.G. (she was born Mary Grace) is the youngest and first female political cartoonist for Long Island's Newsday, the 11th largest newspaper in the country with a daily circulation of 500,000. Her editorial drawings, whose satirical targets range from Ayatollah Khomeini to women's lib, usually appear five times a week. "I like sitting around and watching fools," she says. "In government there seems to be a plethora of them." Born and raised in Southern California, Lord is the daughter of a retired aerospace engineer. Her mother died when M.G. was 14. She drew for her high school newspaper and in 1973 enrolled at Yale majoring in politics, the graphic arts and letters. She was tutored every week over tea by Garry (Doonesbury) Trudeau and caught the eye of another Pulitzer Prize winner, Bill (Willie and Joe) Mauldin, who ran a seminar for 15 aspiring cartoonists. "She was outstanding," he recalls, "the only student I allowed back for a second term." After a year as an editorial artist at the Chicago Tribune, Lord, who is single, headed for Newsday. Several national syndicates are now courting her, but M.G. proclaims, "I'm saving myself for Mr. Right."?
Riccardo Chailly, 27, was an "unwilling" piano student who used to tell his father, noted Italian composer Luciano Chailly, he'd rather be a scuba diver or an elevator operator. But there was never really any doubt that Riccardo would have a musical career. Now, with more than 300 conducting assignments behind him, he has signed to be one of the principal guest conductors with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and will open its concert season in 1981. His schedule also includes La Scala, Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Hamburg and the Met in New York. Born in Milan, Chailly began studying piano at age 8 and as a teenager was a conducting student at a conservatory in Perugia, then in Rome and Milan. He was only 21 when he made his U.S. debut conducting Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He says he gained his most valuable conducting experience as assistant to maestro Claudio Abbado at La Scala. Chailly's violinist wife, Anahi, is concertmaster at La Scala, so the couple live in Milan with their daughter, Luana, 2. Riccardo often zips through the streets on his huge Honda motorcycle. It apparently is easier to handle than the strong personalities he confronts from the podium. "You must allow musicians to express themselves," Chailly explains, "yet dominate them."
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