At 14, the author altered her given name (below) by changing the first letter...

by Judy Miller

then forgot to use the letter in this quote!

       
             
           
     
         
       
       
         
         
         
         
           
       
         
       
       
     
       
         
             

A.   soda fountain favorite

B.   "Be gone!" (3 wds)

C.   dried

D.   type of recess during school hours

E.   item on a checklist before leaving home during a
cold spell (3 wds)

F.   parents often think middle-school teachers qualify
for this

G.   tool used to study patterns of gene expression

H.   "Affordable Solutions for Better Living" store

I.   sitting pretty (with "in," 3 wds)

J.   genuine appreciation (2 wds)

K.   FBI warning wording (3 wds)

L.   video game company

M.   a quality of God`s mercy

N.   it can be hipped or half-hipped

O.   "Everything`s got a moral, ___." (Lewis Carroll,
6 wds)

P.   cockney rhyming slang Basil uses to describe Sybil
(3 wds)

Q.   creation

R.   indigent

S.   parents` hope for their children after 16-plus years
of schooling (along with happiness) (2 wds)

T.   [grin] alternative

U.   develop

V.   ransomed

W.   inane

X.   PIs often make them

Y.   fit for highway travel

Z.   stenography

AA.   "We all need money, but ___." (Anthony Burgess,
5 wds)

AB.   fathers and sons are often each other`s

AC.   bizarre

AD.   type of homicide

AE.   happiness

AF.   secular

AG.   often used before "on or about" in the questioning
of a witness

AH.   part of the "two bits" jingle

AI.   hormone secreted by islet cells

AJ.   pub facilities (2 wds)

AK.   papal letter

AL.   Harriet the Spy, for example, or Jo March

AM.   resilience

AN.   close observer

AO.   Conway`s backup band (3 wds)

AP.   preparation