GIN, GENES FUEL LUST FOR LIFE AT 100.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

ENCINO - I won't lie to you. I fell for Elizabeth Radar the moment she told me she always has two martinis before dinner.

Any woman turning 100 still sipping martinis and enjoying life is a woman who can teach us a thing or two.

Talking to her, I figured Nora Charles was back, and that Nick and Asta were in the other room taking a nap before cocktail time.

Gin and good genes - that's what Elizabeth credits for still being around to take this whirlwind victory lap she just finished Sunday - making the rounds last week of parties and celebrations with family and friends congratulating her on reaching 100.

``I'm completely done in today, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world,'' said the ex-switchboard telephone operator on Monday, resting at her Encino home. ``I might stick around for another hundred.''

No one who knows her is betting against it.

Not the people over at the Kenneth Jernigan Library for Blind Children in Tarzana, where Elizabeth started volunteering when she was 85.

Not the hair dressers at the Sherman Oaks salon where she arrives by cab every Friday afternoon to have her hair and nails done.

And certainly not the bartenders and waitresses at the Valley Inn, where she dines every Saturday night - after two martinis in the bar - with a couple of old friends who were AT&T telephone operators with her on the switchboard.

``I've never seen her not have a good time,'' said Patti Saxon, head of waitresses, who has been at the Valley Inn for 30 years.

``It's a miracle in itself,'' she said. ``People her age are usually in an old folks home. She's here having a couple of martinis and dinner.

``The lady has a lot of life left, and she's definitely enjoying it.''

Over at the Jernigan Library in Reseda, the largest source of reading material for blind children in the United States, librarian Lucille Abbazia sees that incredible lust for life every week.

``Most older people are done volunteering by the time they reach 85, but that's when Elizabeth started, walking in one day about 15 years ago, and asking what she could do for us,'' she said.

The library staff there, and the crew over at Los Angeles Radio Reading Service in Fallbrook Mall - where they read books over the radio to visually impaired people - threw one of three birthday parties Elizabeth went to last week, celebrating a century of life.

``Everyone who meets her is just charmed by her,'' said Theda Reichman, who reads for the station.

Charmed and a little envious. Who doesn't want to still be active and sipping martinis at 100?

``Yes, I've been very lucky and fortunate to still be able to live on my own, keep up the same house I've lived in for 40 years and do some volunteer work,'' Elizabeth said.

``It's the martinis and good genes, I think.''

She was with the phone company for 46 years before retiring and getting involved in Republican politics.

``I was pushing doorbells for, uh, who the hell was it? Nixon, I think. It was a long time ago.

``Anyway, I liked volunteering, and when I heard about what the Jernigan Library was doing for blind kids, I knew I wanted to volunteer there, too, so I did,'' she said.

``On Saturday night, two girlfriends and I who worked for the telephone company a long time ago meet over at the Valley Inn for a couple of martinis and dinner.

``Let's see, one of them was born in 1913, and Sally is 91 or 92, I think, but I'd better not guess.

``Whatever it is, we're all using walkers, but we're all movin', and that's the best part,'' she said.

With that, Elizabeth Radar excused herself. It had been a tough week, and she was tired.

Three parties and everyone wanting to take a picture with you can take a lot out of a 100-year-old woman.

``I've got a frozen smile still stuck on my face,'' she said.

She wants to get rid of it before Saturday night, when she meets the girls over at the Valley Inn for a few martinis and dinner.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: Elizabeth Radar of Encino happily turned 100 last week.