She had previously been director of corporate communications at Lang Communications.

Discussions are under way for Lang Communications to buy out Time Warner's 50 percent interest.

"They made promises as employees of Lang Communications," he said.

As it happened, Dale Lang, the owner of Lang Communications, was in desperate need of a buyer.

Under its previous owner, Lang Communications, Sassy had somewhat lost its way, people in the industry said, affecting its circulation.

It was acquired by Lang Communications in October 1989, at which point its circulation was 450,000.

The publication was bought in 1978 by Dale W. Lang, chairman of Lang Communications, "and we turned it around," she said.

And while virtually all magazine companies have been hard hit by rising paper costs, the effect is even more drastic on a three-magazine company like Lang Communications.

Last year, though, Lang Communications started Dirt, a magazine for teen-age boys.

Now published by Lang Communications with a circulation of 682,000, it is still the most provocative of the four.