Saleswoman

WHITE PEOPLE.Allan Gurganus.Knopf.252 pages. $21.95. In 1989, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All," an epifirst novel by Allan Gurganus, was published. Bridging roughly 140 years of Southern history, "Widow" told all with such sustained intensity and elan that one wondered what Mr. Gurganus possibly could have left in his creative coffers.That question is answered in "White People," a collection of short fiction written between 1974 and 1989. Although not without flaws, these 11 stories display much the same range in tone, theme and inventive storytelling found in the novel.

SEATTLE -- Here in its hometown, shopping at Nordstrom is virtually a religious rite. The company is as much a source of civic pride as fine coffee and fresh salmon.After all, how can you not love a place that will sell you a size 9 left shoe and a size 10 right shoe, at no extra cost, if that's what your feet need? Where a cup of coffee still costs 25 cents in the lunchroom? Where salespeople smile at you -- and seem to actually mean it?From modest beginnings as a downtown shoe store, Nordstrom has grown to a retail powerhouse that rang up $664 million in annual sales last year, about half at its 25 California stores.

Ann Wright Burdett, who worked in sales and was an avid bridge player and volunteer, died of lung cancer Wednesday at her home at Oak Crest Village in Parkville. She was 86 and previously lived in Annapolis. Ann Eugenia Adams was born and raised in Baltimore, and graduated as valedictorian from Western High School in 1939. During World War II she worked in a factory, but her outgoing personality led to a career in sales, her family said. She worked as a sales manager at World Book Encyclopedia and was later in sales at Monumental Life Insurance.

Services took place for Glen Burnie resident Margaret Lyons Handschuh April 22 at Singleton Funeral Home.Mrs. Handschuh, 74, died April 18 at Harbor Hospital Center.A resident of Glen Burnie for 46 years, she was employed as a saleswoman at Hecht's department store for 19 years until her retirementin 1971.She was a member of North Glen Baptist Church.Her husband, John M. Handschuh, and her daughter, Doris E. Hein, preceded her in death.She is survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services for Nelda Jo Adamson Wilkinson will take place at the Singleton Funeral Home Chapel at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 27.Mrs. Wilkinson, 48,died Jan. 23 at her home.Born in Salina, Kansas, she graduated from Kansas State University in 1965.Mrs. Wilkinson worked for the Home Interior and Gifts Co. as a demonstrator and saleswoman. She was also a member of the First Christian Church of Glen Burnie and the Ladies Koinia.Her other interests included flowers, gardening and decorating, as both a career and a hobby.

Services for former Hecht Co. saleswoman Marie Hern Hepner of Severna Park will take place at 11 a.m. today at the Barranco and Sons Severna Park Funeral Home.Mrs. Hepner, 84, died of cardiac arrest April 16 at the Meridian Nursing Home in Severna Park.Originally from Greenup, Ky., she worked for Hecht's for over 40 years before retiring in 1970. She had lived in the Glen Burnie Senior Citizens apartments before moving to the nursing home.Mrs. Hepner's interests included sewing, crocheting and cooking.

Helen Louise Thomas, who sold cosmetics in her Lauraville neighborhood, died of complications from diabetes Jan. 2 at her Northeast Baltimore home. She was 68. Born Helen Louise Murray in Baltimore and raised on Poplar Grove Street, she attended St. Cecilia Parochial School in Walbrook and was a 1953 graduate of Catholic High School. She sold Avon products for 31 years throughout Lauraville. She was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, where a funeral Mass was offered Tuesday.

Margaret M. Wilzack, a retired saleswoman from Hutzler's department store on Howard Street, died of a heart attack Monday at a daughter's home in Bel Air. She was 88. Mrs. Wilzack worked in the notions department at Hutzler's for more than 30 years, said her daughter Jane M. Schroeder of Bel Air. Mrs. Wilzack retired in 1981. "She was feisty and outspoken," Mrs. Schroeder said. "She loved the contact with people." Born Margaret Antkowiak, she was raised in Canton, the youngest of 10 children.

Anna H. Leatherwood, who as a sales associate at the Children's Bookstore helped youngsters discover the world of books, died Sunday of breast cancer at her home in Hunt Valley. She was 52.She had worked at the store on Deepdene Road in Roland Park from 1987 until she was diagnosed with cancer in 1992."It was curious how I came to hire her," said JoAnn Fruchtman, owner of the bookstore, which was founded near the Cross Street Market in the late 1970s and moved to Roland Park in 1986."Our children were at Park School together and she came by my home one day and asked about my collection of children's books.

Daisy Marie Bellamy, a retired sergeant with the Army who served in the Gulf War, died Tuesday after a four-year battle with breast cancer at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. She was 41. Born and raised in South Baltimore, Ms. Bellamy received a General Educational Development diploma from a community college in 1981 after attending Edmondson High School. She then joined the military. "She loved the Army," said her mother, Sarah Canty of Baltimore. "She was watching a commercial one day and said, `That's what I want to be.'" Ms. Bellamy served for 20 years, much of it in the reserves.