WONDERLAND • The Ultimate Wonder Woman Site

	Faith has gotten me through the last eight months," says Lynda Carter of her recent split with her manager/husband Ron Samuels. "The Lord in my life has made tremendous changes and has affected what I do. It has affected the way I feel about myself, it's affected my relationships with my friends and also my family."

	The actress/singer continues, "I think that's why I stayed married for five years. I had a lot of faith. The fact that my husband and I worked together had nothing to do with our breakup. It's really very personal."

	Lynda's sister is facing divorce these days too and they are helping one another stay strong. "Divorce is not easy. It is very painful. I was married to the man for five years and I loved him.

	"I think I'm over the initial shock; in fact I like living alone." Yet the actress hardly lives alone. She has hired help who live on the premises and five Dobermans who are trained to kill when a stranger approaches her premises. They are such avid guard dogs, in fact, that our interviewer and Lynda's press agent were requested to stay in their car until the dogs were out of sight!

	"It can be frightening out there," Lynda refers .to the single life. "First, it's frightening as a woman, then as a single woman. This industry has a tendency of having so much focus on itself, that you forget that there's a whole world out there. There is

another world outside of show business."

Lynda has always been a workaholic. "I have been working so much, doing a tour and reorganizing my life. I now talk to my agent directly, an agent who I've had for four years! I talk directly to my lawyers and I deal with my finances the same way. I sign my own checks. I'm getting involved in an assertive way with my life as well as creative for my career. I still give my agent the bulk of my work but I do have a say in what I'm doing.

"It was very frightening at first to be flung out there, gulp... I have hired two people to work for me now just to keep up with correspondence."

The brunette beauty is not one for the Hollywood scene. She prefers to spend time with close friends rather than go to premieres. "I'm not dating that much but am having fun going out with lots of friends. I like to play sports. I love tennis and rigorous exercise."

Donned in exercise gear-leotard and sweatpants-Lynda still looks beautiful. There is not a trace of makeup on her face. Her hair is shorter and permed. "I cut it after the split. I needed a change. But you know what? I think I prefer it long and straight. Oh well, it will grow back!

"This is more grueling than typical exercise. I hadn't worked out in the past eight months because of all the things that were happening. I looked at myself and said, ah! I now get up every morning and do Nautilus work-outs one day and aerobics the next. I alternate. I've been doing it for "three weeks and already I see the difference!"

Lynda explains what her exercise does. "The aerobics burn calories and the Nautilus tones. You can't do Nautilus everyday, anyway. Your muscles won't take it. My instructor is a killer. I will say to him, I can't do it anymore. He will say, yes you can, one more. It's not easy, I'm trying to do well. I hear stories about Raquel Welch and I say, Lynda, you are not in that league at all!"

Ms. Carter also loves to dance. "I sometimes go to Studio 54 when I'm in New York and pal around with friends and dance up a storm. I've been really enjoying my friends and working-that-basically takes up all my time."

Lynda just returned from a trip to the Philippines and Hong Kong. "I love being on stage. Singing is an immediate joy. Acting is more of a panic. You are doing take after take and working on a scene. They may not be connected-you'll do scene 7 and then scene 3. You are trying to work with the director and the whole process is different. On stage, you can be crazy if you want to. There's something about interaction with the audience."

Although the actress only admits to spending time working, enjoying friends and exercising up a storm, she does spend lots of time doing good for others. "Last night I was with Valerie Harper, Harvey Korman and Dennis Weaver. Jack Lemmon and John Ritter are also involved. We are setting up a model program for the rest of the country to feed the people in our country who are hungry. There are 1.5 million people who are starving in this area who are eating way below in nutritional levels. We are going to feed 30,000 people in the Los Angeles area for two special days. I have been involved in the hunger project for five years. What I had done in the past was send a contribution to the Hollywood branch. I send a card and say instead of a gift I am sending a donation this year. They like it much better. It's better for instance than a Christmas basket with junk food. I've gotten letters back saying how much they appreciate the cash.

"I feel badly for some families. I would love to have my own children some day. I love kids. Right now is not the time for me to start a family; I am not a married person. As a woman, I would like to think that sometime in my life, I will experience motherhood. I want to be loved and to love some one. As I get older, it is more important to have a well rounded life."

Lynda also has been involved in an environmental project, that of her home environment, the Santa Monica Mountains. "I am a member of the Property Association of this area (Malibu). I live in the Mondo Vita Valley and as you can see the mountains, you see it's very peaceful. The county spent $25,000 on a report about the area and significant ecological areas in the Santa Monica Mountains. They said 18,000 acres had significant ecological value and could be maintained. At the same time they wanted to delete 1,900 acres to build condominiums.

"I consider it rape, rape of the land. There are plenty of places to go build. You don't need to build roads and freeways, office buildings and condos in this area. You also don't have to live here to enjoy it. There are trails; you can ride horses all over. There's the Golden Eagle, the California Condor; there's all kinds of wildlife, from mountain lions to deer. There's a buck that comes down to this lawn to eat ... of course, the dogs chase him away!

"I've enjoyed this canyon for the 10 years that I have lived in Southern California. That's why I have bought acreage here. None of the areas that the government is trying to rape is right next to my property, so it's not as if I am worried about somebody building next to me.

"Hopefully I have made some kind of impact (she went down to City Hall to. fight) and I will continue to work with the property owners in the area. I'd like to get other celebs to voice their stand. The industry that we are in-we have a voice-it's time to stop the dumping of chemical wastes; it's time to stop the ecological destruction and balance. I can enjoy it, you can enjoy it, everyone can. enjoy the area."

Lynda admits, "I have never spoken for a cause. I went all the way downtown to the County Board of Supervisors and I was so nervous. I told them all, I have never done anything like this but I am here to prevent a rape! They now have to vote on it and I will fight it tooth and nail all the way through to the State Supreme Court, if necessary.

"Some of the people have lived in the area for 25 years. There are a few homes here over 100 years old. It's for the people who live around here, their children, their horses-to keep it urban or suburban. I'm going to talk to others like myself-Barbra Streisand, Michael Landon, Olivia Newton-John ... I need some people to stand with me.

"I feel for the first time in my life that my work has given me a gift in terms of being able to seriously make a change in what's happening that affects anyone who comes to this area. That is a significant fact. I am very grateful for that and that the industry can do things that's enjoyable for everyone."