“I’M IN LOVE WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL BLOND in the middle of the front row. Please get me her phone number. I’m going to marry her!”

FALLING IN LOVE WITH A PHOTO on the front page of a Skyline issue more than 30 years ago was dynamic trader/civic leader Wally Auch, who raved about a Patricia Mullady, chic, adorable and a standout among 10 other attractive young socialites at a luncheon charity affair. The pix was as glamorous as any Hollywood starlet layout.

WE KNEW WALLY AUCH from his work on the Chicago Board Options Exchange but we didn’t have Mullady’s number. As luck would have it, we saw her the next week at an American Cancer Society luncheon at the Hilton, and crawling over a dozen tight tables to her side, we asked if she was dating and could “a very smitten, very nice guy call her?”

BLOND, BUBBLY PATRICIA was flattered and gave me her phone number. Wally called, brought her flowers, romanced and wooed her and they were married.

My husband and I had dinner with them a year later at their home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, where they played golf, walked their two dogs, enjoyed the good life with Auch, a giant in his field, still active with the CBOE. They returned to Chicago each summer to see friends and relatives.

WALLY AUCH DIED OF CANCER DEC. 14. He was 89 and a fighter to the end. At his side were Patricia and his three sons plus other family members.

THROUGH THE YEARS WE’VE FIXED UP a few other couples but to our knowledge none ever married. Can you fall in love with a photo, then meet the person and fall in love for real? Yes. A psychiatrist once told us that the basic attraction that draws two people together can last a lifetime if other factors are compatible. We often told friends about Wally and Patty and their happy years together. (Reading Skyline can bring love into your life, well, maybe.)

A PILLOW ON THEIR COUCH said it all — ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE, TOGETHER.

WHO IS THE NASTY, RICH MOTHER-IN-LAW of three darling daughters-in-law who cater to her and get zilch in return? She constantly derides them, complains, and tells her sons unflattering untruths about them. She gave expensive jewelry to her maid and cousins and let the girls know the family gems are not for them, even when she dies.

WHEN YOU’VE GOT BIG BUCKS you can launch a jewelry line and now a shoe collection. Ivanka Trump, The Donald’s darling now wed to major wealth as well, has created shoes to be sold at Macy’s and Nordstrom’s from $50 to $250. Ivanka did a licensing deal with Marc Fisher Footwear so she gets expert help with her line. It includes leopard print pumps, $150, and evening pumps with fake stones so your toes sparkle.

THE SUDDEN DEATH of Sally Becker, 79, a Gold Coaster known for her feisty, principled opinions, has saddened friends and her children, Robin and Steve. Sally, a valued real estate ad expert with Sheldon Good for many years, was a singular support system for her many friends who are devastated, myself among them. A true original, Becker was the widow of well-known Robert Becker, and after his death she maintained a wealth of buddies who relied on her for warmth, knowledge, friendship, advice. A memorial service is planned. This diminutive dynamo, a style icon in designer duds, is up there now telling the powers that be how to better run heaven, and they’ll love her for it.

LAST WORD ON LURA LYNN RYAN … THE JUDGE WAS RIGHT to deny ex-Gov. George Ryan early release, but we’re sorry for his family — as we are for the kin of all convicted criminals.

MELINDA JOSEPH SURPRISED PAL Cece Gonzalez with a birthday luncheon at Hugo’s.

THE INCOMPARABLE NAN MASON sings New Year’s eve at the Drake Hotel.

THE JOE BIDENS HOSTED A BOOK LAUNCH for author Graham Moore, son of Susan Sher, Michelle Obama’s chef of staff. Moore, a first time novelist, penned “Sherlockian,” a mystery about a mystery. Valerie Jarrett, White House senior advisor, also hosted a get-together to hype Moore’s book. Sher and Jarrett are Chicago pals from their days working in Mayor Daley’s corporation counsel office. Moore, 29, is a U. of C. Lab School grad. Sher will give up her job and return to Chicago next year.

POPULAR PERSONAL TRAINER Marianne Ronquillo will have hip replacement surgery Jan. 3.

OUR ACTOR JOE MANTEGNA has a stunning daughter, Gia, who is a Teen Nick star at 20, and will be this year’s Miss Golden Globe for the show’s 68th annual broadcast Jan. 16.

AS DECEMBER DRAWS TO A COLD CLOSE, these celebs will be marking birthdays: Ryan Seacrest, Ricky Martin, Sienna Miller, Denzel Washington, Jude Law, Tiger Woods, Meredith Vieira.

BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL ROBERT DICKSON and wife Teresa, with the English-Speaking Union, will host a membership event at their residence Jan. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m.

LIVE A BETTER LIFE — SLIMMER, SMARTER, SWEETER. OF COURSE YOU SHOULD MAKE GOOD RESOLUTIONS for 2011. Remember in 1996 when Oprah looked like this after losing a ton of weight? We show her with her personal trainer Bob Greene inspiring others to eat lean and exercise. We must all try to get in shape or keep what we have dieted for, in this new year. And we wish there was less of Oprah.

“50 YEARS OF THE PLAYBOY BUNNY,” is the title of Josh Robertson’s new $35 encyclopedia of all things rabbit-tailed and Hefner-ranched. With photos, stories, anecdotes, Josh, who was editor of the After Hours section in Playboy magazine, knows where all the nude bodies are unburied. He tells the rabbit’s tail, er tale, of how bunnies were birthed, then thrived, prospered, died out, and were reborn through amazing branding. The Playboy Clubs of yesteryear, with the sexy Bunnies, were popular in Chicago as food expert Arnie Morton created the $1.50 (or was it the $2?) filet sandwiches that even dieting dollies loved to munch.

ADDING ANOTHER CHAPTER to the Playboy legend, Hugh, 84, has announced he will wed Crystal Harris, 24, making her his third wife. With Viagra and chutzpah, no one is ever too old for love with a beauty 60 years younger.

EX-PLAYBOY BUNNIES ABOUND in Chicago and the most attractive to this day is the still-stunning blond Kathy Leventhal of Ronsley Florists, who was a Bunny on Hef’s plane. She’s still slender and drop-dead gorgeous. Playboy mag covergirls and centerfolds, like society blogger Candace Jordan, add starshine to our dull lives. And the stories we love to tell about legendary parties at the old Playboy mansion on State Parkway, where nude girls swam in the grotto, and dozens of Bunnies lived in dorms above the action. Today, the building is several swank condos. Hugh’s daughter Christie Hefner and husband, ex-senator Billy Marovitz, are pictured with Hef and wife Kimberley at a recent birthday party for Christie.

HUGH HEFNER WROTE THE FORWARD for Robertson’s book, as he winds down his amazing life as the sex fantasy king of the world he created.

MARTHA PLIMPTON WILL BE HONORED March 15 when Steppenwolf Theater salutes women in the arts at a luncheon in the W Chicago-City Center. Her stage, TV, and film career will be hailed.

BRENDA SEXTON TELLS US that the Sundance Film Festival Chicago party is Jan. 22 at Denis John Healy’s fabulous home in Deer Valley. The Peninsula Hotel is sponsor and Chicago faves like Eli’s Cheesecake and Garrett Popcorn will make sure no one is homesick. The festival begins Jan. 20.

AND THE RICH GET RICHER … America’s highest earners, the 74 people who made more than 50 million last year, saw their pay more than quintuple on average to more than $519 million each.

MARKING THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the earthquake in Haiti, the UNICEF Message of Hope gala will zero in on that event Jan. 29 and the ways victims have been helped. Event chairs are Brendan Burke and Laura Myntti, planning a special evening at the InterContinental Hotel.

OUR MANDY PATINKIN, of TV’s Chicago Hope, and Criminal Minds, will perform a New Year’s eve concert in West Palm Beach, Fla.

WHAT TURNS MEN ON? NO, it isn’t Hooters or bikinis, it is the smell of pumpkin pie! So says the Chicago Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. Men ages 18 to 64 were exposed to 24 different scents and their penile blood flow was recorded. Pumpkin pie and lavender caused arousal, followed by black licorice and doughnuts. Perfumes hardly caused a dent in reactions.

THE LYRIC OPERA PATRON SALUTE section of its magazine/program recently profiled opera singer Evie Glieberman, Gold Coast personality and wife of lawyer Herb Glieberman. It detailed Evie’s years singing with stars like Liberace, Eddie Fisher, Arthur Godfrey besides her triumphs in opera and in show biz. For years Evie has supported Lyric’s Operathon. Other Chicagoans cited in the Lyric article were heavy duty supporters including: NANCY KNOWLES, THE RICHARD KIPHARTS, STEFAN EDLIS AND GAEL NEESON, THE MELVIN BERLINS, THE MATTHEW BUCKSBAUMS, THE JAMES COZADS, THE LESTER CROWN FAMILY, JIM AND VIKCKI MILLS, THE PATRICK RYANS, THE JOHN NICHOLSES, THE MEL GRAYS, THE FRED KREHBIELS, THE CHRIS REYESES, THE JOSEF LAKONISHOKS, THE ED BRENNANS, THE FRANK CONSIDINES, ROBERT MALLOTT, MARLYS BEIDER.

AN AMERICAN STORY: THE PRITZKER FAMILY, is told in a new exhibit at the Chicago History Museum. Persecuted in Russia, the Pritzker family escaped to Austria and eventually boarded a steamer bound for America. They rebuilt their lives here after Nicholas taught himself English, enrolled in pharmacy school and later, law school. Several generations later, the Pritzkers have made a major difference in Chicago and are respected for their civic mindedness and contributions. Abe, Harry, Nick, and Jack led the way for many immigrants and Nick’s memoir, “Three Score After Ten,” details the struggle and the growth.

WHAT SERIOUS AND WEIGHTY TOPICS occupy the minds and hearts of our fellow citizens as we reach 2011? According to Bing, searches for Kim Kardashian, Sandra Bullock, Tiger Woods, Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, Kate Gosselin, Justin Bieber, bedbugs, Betty White, got the most hits.

“IT IS OUR FAULT. We should have given him better parts.” — JACK WARNER on hearing that RONALD REAGAN had been elected governor of California.

CONTACT: annbgerber@gmail.com or 847-677-2232