Right to the Heart

The lowly soap opera this week enlisted the services of a superexpensive fictioneer. Kathleen Norris, with 30-odd years of highly paid slick-paper romancing behind her, took over the job of grinding out Swan Soap's Bright Horizon (CBS, Mon.-Fri., 11:30-11:45 a.m. E.W.T.).

The grande dame of magazine heart-tuggers had never paid much attention to the radio until last summer, when Novelist Husband Charles (Brass, Bread, Salt) became ill and had a spell of enforced listening. When Swan wanted a new writer for its 3 1/2-year-old forenoon romance, indefatigable Mrs. Norris, 64, jumped at the chance to "start a new line." She found it easy work: "In magazines you have to fill in with long, luxurious descriptions. . . ."

The first Norris-concocted episode, aired this week, was in the sudsy tradition: teen-aged Barbara and young Steve toy with the idea of eloping to Hollywood, but Auntie Carol offers Barbara a trip to Manhattan instead. What to do?

Says Veteran Norris of soap operas in general: "I feel they are reaching the very heart of American women . . . and that's where I want to be." To get her there, Swan Soap will give her $750 a week for the first 13 weeks, $850 for the next 13, $1,000 a week thereafter.

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