Lunch with June Foray

Even with this book finished, and also having retired from a 25-year service on the board of the Motion Picture Academy, June has been as busy as ever. Recently, Disney has hired June to voice Magica once more in an educational DVD teaching English to Japanese children. She's been reprising Granny for various Warner projects, like "Baby Looney Tunes," "The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" and the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action. She voiced Natasha and Nell Fenwick for slot machines in Vegas, as well as characters for online Bullwinkle pop-culture spoofs like "Desperate Moosewives," directed by Xeth Feinberg. To top it off, she recently appeared on CNN with Larry King for the first time.

It was an amazing experience talking with June. Parting ways at the end of the afternoon and waving goodbye, I felt like I had been in a time machine, an inspirational seminar, and the company of a new friend all at the same time. And as I drove my rental down the Southern California expressway, I remembered some of June's last reflections that day. "I enjoyed everything I did. You know, people say, 'well, how did you do this?' Inside of every person, there is always a mixture of anger and love and compassion and hate, and whatever. So any of the characters I did who had that, part of me would come out and do it in that manner. So it was easy to be somebody else."

Modest words from a girl at the top. Thanks for sharing your gifts, June.