People: Sep. 22, 1986

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When she turned 50 two years ago, it was clear that time had passed by neither Gloria Steinem nor her causes. A co-founder and editor of Ms. magazine, she is still going strong on every front. All this week she will be sitting in as a guest host on the Today show, and she has a new book being published in November on Marilyn Monroe. The screen sex goddess, says Steinem, was "one person on the outside and totally another on the inside. I think there needed to be a book about Norma Jean, what made her like she was." Steinem's special sensibilities will be evident on Today, where she will do pieces on such atypical topics as men who have been the prime rearers of their offspring and the psychological effects that adopted children have on parents. "My hope with TV," explains Steinem, "is always that you can offer some fact or insight that the person on the other side of the tube would not otherwise get." Not to mention the other sex.