RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A former model and ballerina is
making headlines across Brazil after being identified as John
McCain's lover 51 years ago.
Maria Gracinda Teixeira (tex-ER'-ah)says she's the woman the
Republican presidential candidate fondly describes -- though never
by name -- in his 1999 book ``Faith of My Fathers.''
In the book, McCain says he met a ``Brazilian fashion model'' as
a young Navy sailor in Rio de Janeiro when his ship, the destroyer
USS Hunt, docked in the city for a week in 1957.
Local reporters tracked Teixeria down late last week, turning
her into an overnight media sensation.
Teixeria, who's now 77, declined requests for an interview
today. But she told Brazilian media last week that the young McCain
was a romantic and a ``good kisser.''
McCain wrote that he returned to Rio after the short stay and
saw her again, but that the romance didn't blossom for long because
of ``youthful impatience and short attention spans.''

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)