Top of Mind: Lydia Shire, Extended Version

JLJ: What do you do with your down time? For instance, what TV shows do you keep up with?

LS: The only thing I use television for are sports and news. That’s it. I have never watched the Seinfeld show. I’ve worked nights all my life! I have never seen Desperate Housewives. I’ve never watched the one that Sarah Jessica Parker was in. My daughters think I’m crazy.

I come home, flick on the news—CNN or local. In the fall, Sundays to me are all about football…Red Sox…just sports in general. It’s my real escape—it’s the only thing in the world that takes my mind off any problem.

JLJ: College football, or professional?

LS: No, I don’t like college. I like only professional.

JLJ: I’m assuming the Patriots?

LS: Yes, the Patriots—yeah. And, I mean, the Red Sox. I love basketball…I kind of slipped on basketball for a while but now I’m back, loving basketball. And hockey—originally the first sports team I ever fell in love with was the Bruins back in the days of Gerry Cheevers, Brad Park, and Wayne Cashman, Terry O’Reilly.

JLJ: What else?

LS: Well, I collect antiques. I have quite a culinary antiques collection. I also collect antique cookbooks—from the’40s or ’50s, I mean. I love reading them. …There’s one book that I really love in the world: Albert Stockli’s Splendid Fare cookbook. It was written when he was the original chef at the Four Seasons in New York. He was Swiss, and he was groundbreaking….It’s just a great book. If you ever find it, buy it.

As far as music goes, I’m a Motown girl. I don’t spend much time listening to it, though, because I listen to news in the car.

JLJ: We’ve got the mayoral election coming up. Are you following that? Are you a political person at all?
    
LS: I don’t spend too much time on politics. But for Mayor Menino, I would do anything. He’s a great guy. …I roasted him once—I got up on stage and I had a tom turkey, and I was stuffing M&Ms in my mouth, because he loves M&Ms. And I was mumbling, of course. It was very funny.

JLJ: Is there anything that you would like to see Menino—or his successor—make a priority in Boston?

LS: Downtown Crossing. Absolutely. It’s hurting me, and it’s hurting a ton of other people to see that gaping hole where Filene’s is. We very much want to bring back cars to that area. It’s been proven time and time after that these walking zones actually don’t really help business. …It’s just sort of a nightmare.
Other than that, I wish they’d let cigar smokers smoke cigars again.

JLJ: What does a typical day look like for you?

LS: Well, my office is at home. I didn’t plan it that way, but it was good for me in the 15 years that I’ve lived in Weston. For me to be home in the morning and be able to see my son get off to school—and sometimes be there when he got out of school—was good for me. Then I would go into the restaurant….typically right about now [midafternoon].

JLJ: How late do you stay?

LS: Pretty much till the end. I try to make it home for 11 to watch news.
 
JLJ: Have you ever thought about what retirement might look like? Maybe opening that culinary antiques store?

LS: Well, yesterday on the news Elizabeth Edwards opened a furniture store and her husband was even there helping her. He didn’t look too happy about it…but, whatever. I suppose I could.

I surely don’t think about retiring, at all. I have pretty much as much energy as I had all my life. …Are my knees a little creakier? Could be. I saw an ad on TV, one of the hospitals doing knee surgeries for women now or something, and I think about my knees when I get out of bed. And maybe someday I’ll be one of those people, but for now I just push it aside.