Martha entertains ... and hundreds come to visit

The line was hours long. The temperature was dipping low.

But these were her heartiest fans. So they zipped up their windbreakers. They tucked in their scarves. And they waited — several hundred of them — for a few seconds' time with their role model, Martha Stewart.

"She's the first woman who showed you can use a power tool and not be afraid," said Michelle Selberg, 36, of Lakewood.

It was close to noon on Saturday when Selberg spoke outside Sur La Table in Kirkland. She had been waiting in line since 8:30 a.m.

Somewhere inside the store, Stewart was sitting in her trim brown suit and her sleek slingback shoes, signing copies of her new "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook." It includes more than 200 recipes, from cookies and cakes, pastries and yeasted baked goods to pies, tarts, cobblers and crisps.

The mother of modern living was moving at a clip, autographing about 240 books an hour. Ten of her public-relations staff were at the store. Security guards and police officers were on hand to monitor the flow of customers.

Outside, workers from a nearby cafe catered to the crowd, taking orders and delivering coffee to various places in line. It was a well-mannered, good-humored crowd, a mix of doctors and homemakers, business owners and autograph collectors. One woman had left her house in Portland before dawn to drive the nearly 200 miles to stand in line.

Another fan, Norm Vener, stood snapping pictures of the window display posters.

"It's Martha mania," he said.

Stewart, a former model turned stockbroker turned caterer, cuts a colorful figure in the business world. She has launched magazines and television shows and home-furnishing lines. Nearly every fan on Saturday described her as an icon for women trying to make their way.

"She's not all about making cupcakes, that's for sure," said Lisa Kiichle, 35, of Lakewood.

Stewart has attracted plenty of criticism through the years. Most recently, she served a five-month prison term starting in 2004 for lying about a stock sale. But that did not make much of an impression on the Saturday crowd. Few believed the sentence was just. And those who did approve of the prison term said Stewart emerged from it with her grit and grace intact.

Some thought the sentence may have even softened her a bit. Sandy Sterken of Kirkland said she has noticed a difference on the television show.

"I think she's not as brash as she used to be," said Sterken, 55.

But shy she is not. This week, Stewart got into a war of words with her longtime friend Donald Trump. He hit back so hard that Vener was still stinging from it on Saturday. He wanted to tell Trump to leave her alone.

But he knew Stewart could take care of it herself. That, he said, is part of the woman's appeal. "She's not going to let him pounce all over her," said Vener, 50. "She's got the guts to stand up."

For all her power, some fans described Stewart as more of a soothing presence in their lives. There's something about the way she talks to them in her syndicated column, about how to make the holidays happier. Or the way she walks them through the making of meals on her television show, "Martha."

Michelle Ruelas, 52, will not miss one episode of that show. When she is running late at work, she calls home and makes sure her daughter tapes it.

Ruelas has been employed for decades as a social worker for Child Protective Services. Sometimes, after a long day's work, the sound of Stewart's voice is the only thing that helps her unwind.

"It makes me feel like I've been invited to a good friend's home," said Ruelas.