The first thing I said to Anne Hilburn was, “I like your dog.”

Apparently that was the right thing to say.

“I don’t trust people who don’t like dogs,” she said in a thick New York accent. “She’s an Akita. Sweetest Akita that ever walked the world.”

Anne grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York. Her father was an NYPD homicide officer. She says, “You’re probably too young to remember, but do you know the gangster Willy Sutton? Probably the most famous bank robber that ever lived.” One time his captain told her dad, “Joe. I want you to interview Willy Sutton.” He said, “Why?” And his captain said, “Just to get a slant for the newspaper.”

Her dad had a way that he considered was a foolproof to test whether or not he could trust a person. He met Willy and said, “So tell me, Willy, do you like dogs?”

“Dogs? Dogs are my life! Dogs! I want to get out of the joint because my dogs are staying with my sister.”

After that, Anne’s dad put a little star next to his name and put in a good word for Willy Sutton.

Anne used to work as a stewardess on D47’s,”vomit comets” as she called them. She said one day, Frank Sinatra was on her plane, sick as a dog and really laying on the call button. She came over to him and said, “Mr. Sinatra, I wish I could help you more. I have another Benzedrex inhaler or some chewing gum I can give you.”

He looked at her and said, “You know what. I’ll have your god damned job.”

Now, Anne is the daughter of a homicide cop and he always taught her to be as tough as any guy and not to take any crap from the clowns on the plane. So she said, “You know what, you can have it Mr. Sinatra. And for $175 a month, you not only can have my job, but you know what you can do with it.”

Good lady.