The Nation: Voices in Passing

Throughout the National Women's Conference, Houston hummed with talk—pithy and pompous, funny and infuriating, occasionally memorable. Samples:

> Margaret ("Midge") Costanza, public liaison aide to Jimmy Carter: "I felt more important being a woman than being an assistant to the President."

> Liz. Carpenter, former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, at a fund raiser for the Equal Rights Amendment, still three votes shy of passage: "If I die, don't send flowers. Just send three more states."

> Gloria Steinem, feminist fatale, at a press conference with black, Hispanic, Asian and native American...