The first woman would have been a much better manager if she had ended up offering her best candicate the position, assuming this position is purely technical related.
As for people's feeling about age, not all Americans are so aware of it. Many of my colleagues and aquintants are comfortable talking about their real age (and I am one of them). It's good to be young, it's better to be old(er). I was once asked the exact same question "is she your daughter" when I was with my best friend, who is two years older. And I totally didn't think it was because I looked old or my friend looked young or both, the actual reason was that she is really small and sweet, and I took good care of her since she was visiting me. Well, I am not Linda after all.
In some situations, we probably can even use such tricks to test people.