"Ok, the story behind it is, that I entered a competition to write a short 

story for some hospital kids at Westminster Children's hospital. My story 

won it's category & was included in the official book "The Much Better Story 

Book" which was sold for the charity. I had to go to the launch of the book 

& Jane Asher had made the cake for the occasion (a cake of the book). She 

spent loads of time talking to me and asked me to cut the cake with her. I 

was soooo nervious cos I'm naturally REALLY shy & I was only 10. She totally 

put me at ease and was so sweet to me. I don't really remember what she said 

(cos it was nearly 10 yrs ago now) but do remember thinking she was the nicest person ever!

Ooh, by the way, I didn't know that she had been Paul McCartney's fiancee at 

that time. It was about a year before I got into the Beatles and when I did 

find out, I couldn't believe I had held the hand that Paul probably held for 5 years!!!!!"

Pictures:

(Lottie is the girl in the white jumper with the word "PANDA" on the front)

2. Jane meets Jane:

"Jane Rutkowski" beejayr@earthlink.net 

"Hi Marie.  Just checked my messages and got yours.  Well, I'll tell you my story about meeting Jane Asher!    I'm 52 now and It was a long time ago, so I don't remember all the details,  but I'll do my best.   I was about 14 or so and lived in Queens, New York at the time.  Along with about 3 or 4 friends (all about the same age) we decided to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center in the city.  We took the subway and got off the local train,  at I believe Roosevelt Avenue, to wait for the express train . I don't recall what we talked about, but I'm sure it must have been about the Beatles since we were all love struck teenaged girls.  Anyway, while we stood on the platform we noticed a tall, thin young woman with long red hair waiting as well.   She had on large sunglasses , nicely dressed, and wearing a long light green tweed coat.  We stared at her for quite a while, and although it seemed unlikely,  we began to wonder if she could possibly be Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's girlfriend.!  We knew quite a bit about her, and had seen her in Alfie and Masque of the Red Death.   Even though she was wearing large sunglasses, she seemed to fit the description perfectly.  We moved closer to her to get an even better look, and then one of us asked her if she had the time?  She looked at her watch and told us the time in what was very distinctly a British accent!   In just a matter of moments someone asked her point blank if she was Jane Asher?  She said "yes", which left us all totally shocked.  I can only remember bits and pieces of the conversation, but I recall her saying that she had taken a cab from the airport (probably LaGuardia )  to the Roosevelt Avenue station so she could take the train into the city.  She said something to the effect that she sometimes liked to travel "incognito".  I remember asking her what the Beatles were really like? and her answering that "they were all very nice."  Someone asked her what it was like to work with Vincent Price in Masque of the Red Death? and she said he was a "wonderful actor".  When the express train arrived, we all got on and continued asking her questions .  Instead of getting off at our stop, my friends and I rode with her all the way to 34th Street where she would be getting off.   Before we reached our stop, she happily signed autographs for all of us,  When we reached 34th Street we all got off the train, with Jane heading toward her hotel and my friends and I heading back up to Rockefeller Center.  I remember now that it had been a very long walk back to the ice skating rink, but at the time, my friends and I had been so excited about just having  met Jane Asher it probably didn't seem long at all!   As I said, this all happened  a long time ago.  I no longer have the autograph she gave me written on a little piece of paper, but I will always have the memory."