Many thanks to Kym Masera Taborn for the transcript 
below.

Copyright 1998 Tower Media, Inc.    
The Daily News of Los Angeles

January 19, 1998, Monday,  VALLEY EDITION

 Pg. N1  

LENGTH: 461 words  

HEADLINE: 'XENA' FANS FLOCK TO SEE THEIR HERO  

BYLINE: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer  

DATELINE: BURBANK  

BODY: 

   As grown men and women eyed plastic ''Xena, Warrior Princess'' dolls
behind her, 9-year-old Hannah Pell tried to describe Sunday why several
thousand people had descended on a Burbank hotel to celebrate a television
show.  

   The fans, she said, could recognize a good role model when they saw one.
How many other television shows starred a karate-kicking,
quasi-mythological girl who could fight even better than the boys? 

     ''It's because they like strong women,'' said Hannah of Santa Monica.
''I like her spirit.''  

   Although the weekend convention at the Burbank Airport Hilton was for
fans of both ''Xena'' and its brother show - ''Hercules, The Legendary
Journeys'' - it often seemed a gathering of Xena's own tribe.  

   Perhaps it was the presence of series star Lucy Lawless, fielding
questions from about 2,000 people packed into an auditorium. Or those fans
who greeted Lawless with the sincerest form of flattery, mimicking her
character's warrior garb down to the armored bustier and trademark black
bangs.  

   Even the adults, some from as far away as Canada and the Philippines,
said they came out of love for a show that celebrates female strength. With
karate kicks.  

   ''As a female, I like the fact that she can kick a guy's butt and then
make love to him,'' said Diane Barsuhn of Thousand Oaks.  

   As represented at the convention, the tribe is remarkably far-reaching,
containing every demographic twist Los Angeles can throw. Despite the
capes, armor and occasional loin cloth, more people came in college sweat
shirts or button-downs. Despite a smattering of kids, more conventioneers
looked to be comfortably cruising through middle age. Parents with
strollers hogged the auditorium's aisle seats.  

   They weren't disappointed. Convention guests Sunday included New Zealand
resident Kevin Smith, who plays the evil Ares in both mythology-inspired
series. Lighted by flashbulbs, he answered more than a half-hour of
questions, almost all from women. Which show do you like to work on more?
How do you stay in shape? Could you sing the New Zealand national anthem?
Do you have any sons? 

   The applause that greeted Smith, however, couldn't compare to the
pounding roar that rose as Lawless took the stage. Camcorders whirred,
flashes flared and people rushed forward to dual microphones for a word
with their idol.  

   What are your career plans? Any movies coming up? What have you learned
from doing the show? How'd you get that tiny scar above your bustier?  

   With questions coming at her from both sides of the stage, Lawless
sought to show the tribe that she was, in fact, human, not the object of
modern, televised myth.  

   Lawless said she, too, goes home and scrubs out the tub, when needed.
''I do the dishes because my daughter won't.''  

GRAPHIC: 2 Photos;
     PHOTO: (1 -- color)Actress Lucy Lawless belts out her ''Xena'' yell.;
      (2) Lisa Couper of Placerville and her daughter, Samantha, 8, sport
matching Xena outfits.;
      Evan Yee/Daily News