"I can't believe that you are not unreal." This lyric by Carol Connors from the Maureen McGovern/Placido Domingo duet, "A Love until the End of Time" is more than the words to a great love song, they are an accurate description of the diva who immortalized them. Maureen McGovern possesses one of the greatest voices ever recorded to music since the invention of the phonograph. She is an amazing artist, with an incomparable vocal talent who is comfortable performing jazz, classical, pop, or ballads. She is one of the most sought-after performers, both domestically and internationally.

She is often invited to perform with the nation's most prestigious symphony orchestras. Two of her songs, "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure and "We May Never Love Like This Again," from The Towering Inferno, both won Oscars.

She writes children's music and Co-hosts the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon annually. On stage, she has co-starred with Sting and the late Raul Julia on Broadway, and she played Sr. Angelina, the guitar-carrying nun in the comedic films Airplane. She shares her heart and her home with two Yorkies, both of which she acquired while on tour in Florida. Read on as Maureen shares with us about her love for music and her pets.

Photo Credit: Eddie Garcia

KT: How many pets do you have?
MM: I have two little Yorkies, Nicodemus Bebop Dickens is 6 years old, and Rockwell Duop St. Armande is 2 years old. I call them Mr. Nick and the Rocket. While I was on tour with Mel Torme in Naples, Florida, I was on my way to a health food store in a mall, and this magnet pulled me into the pet shop, which I never used to go into, and third cage from the end was Nicky and it was love at first sight and I knew I wasnÕt leaving there without him. I went back to the hotel, and told Mel who has a Yorkie, and he said come on bring him along. So Mel and his wife went with me to the store and told me I couldn't let him go by. Then I was touring with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in Sarasota, Florida and I had a few hours to do some shopping at St. Armande Key, and when I got out of the cab and started walking, around the corner came these people with 11 dogs in a baby carriage. I fell in love with him. I named him after Rocky White, the drummer in the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

KT: Have you always been a dog lover?
MM: Absolutely, since I was a kid. When I was first married, we got a prowler and then a German Shepherd. My ex-husband was the drummer in the first group I toured with. Shortly before we went on tour, I came home one day and he had given the dog away. My mother used to give my dogs away when I was at school so it was sort of a pattern in my early life. So these two never leave my sight.

KT: Do they travel with you?
MM: Yes. I am on the road about 80% of the year and they almost always go with me. I take them on the planes in bags, and they are quiet. I've sneaked them into many hotels but it's okay because they are better behaved than most people.

KT: Do you work with any animal organizations?
MM: Well, here in LA there is a great organization called PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) that works with and helps care for the pets of AIDS patients and takes them to the vet, get them food, etc. I think pets are so important especially for the sick. My puppies are on the Purina Hall of Fame and their paws and my hands are at Manns Chinese Theater and they help the elderly and the sick, so it seems worth it.

KT: You have recorded many memorable songs; do you have a favorite?
MM: Well I love "Can You Read My Mind" because I love John Williams' work, but obviously the "Morning After" is still a hit 25 years later. I still get letters saying how it helped them. In the 1970's, albums were different. You did not have much say in what went in, and I felt some albums were over-produced. So it wasn't until 1986 when I did an album called "Another Woman in Love"--that I co-produced--which was just piano and voice with a brilliant New York pianist, Michael Renzi. I consider it my first album, because we did it for the love of music.

KT: What kind of music do you listen to?
MM: I love jazz and classical but in the pop world I enjoy Annie Lennox and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I think Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald are great. I really like a little bit of everything.

KT: If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?
MM: Probably a Zebra or a polar bear because they are so pretty. I think I may want to be an eagle because to have the freedom of flight is amazing.

KT: What would you like to be remembered for?
MM: My humor and my heart. I obviously would like people to remember I could sing.

KT: What is the hardest thing for you to do as a pet owner?
MM: There are some days that my schedule is so busy that I don't even have time to eat, but I make sure they eat. Some days ease up, but others are pretty hectic, and I wish I had more time to play with them.

KT: Who is Maureen McGovern?
MM: Well, I'm a person who loves what I do. There are so many people who can't wait to retire, but I want to sing till I drop. If you have a passion for life and for what you're doing, it makes for a happy life.

KT: What can we expect next?
MM: Well, I am developing a children's concert, and am working on another piano voice album. Last year I was featured in the book "The Bond: People and Their Animals," and that was lots of fun. Of course, I am always touring so I keep myself busy.

-Kareem Tabsch is a freelance writer who specializes in celebrity interviews. He has interviewed celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope, Joan Rivers, Julio Iglesias, Barbara Mandrell and others. He writes frequently on animal related issues as well as on the entertainment industry.