Show THIS MONTH’S tidbits Honest: Clifford Irving returns with a true tale His new ‘Daddy’s Girl’ tells of a wealthy couple’s murder very well but the screen rights to one (Tom Mix and Poncho Villa) were bought by Oliver Stone (Platoon Wall Street) Q What brought you into Texas to write your first since the hoax? A A friend wanted me to work with Kim ftris (a detective who helped break the case) Since I had to go to the dentist up there anyway I thought what the heck At first I fell in love with the idea of a young beautiful female private eye winning the day for justice I quickly fell out of love with that but became fascinated with the other characters in the murder Q In the preface you seem to take extra precautions to establish the credibility of the book Was that intentional? A I would do that anyway In the past when I have written non-fictiI have always been scrupulous In this case it was absolutely necessary because of THE TRAGIC If you thought Clifford Irving died from embarrassment 17 years ago when he got caught fabricating the biography of billionaire recluse Howard Hughes look again His new book Daddy's Girl (Summit $1995) comes out in the next few weeks It is the true account of the 1982 murders of a prominent Houston lawyer and his wife and the conviction of a daughter and her for those murders Here Irving talks about the book Q So where have you been all these years? A Most of the time I’ve been in a little town (Guana Juato) about four hours from Mexico City where I have my home I’ve also been busy — I’ve written four novels They didn’t sell 1MW A name to know in coining weeks He won the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature but Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is not exactly a household name in the USA All that may change with the appearance next month of Love in the Time of Cholera (Knopf $1895) a Club main selection for April This comic novel is about a 50-yelove triangle — and how age and unrelenting lust affect it Here's an excerpt A B the hoax The book is accurate Unless someone has an old ax to grind I don’t think there’ll be a question about my credibility Q You were very closely involved in this case — even galled to testify because of what you’d uncovered Did that make you uncomfortable? A Very I worried that I’d overstepped the line as a reporter I talked to two lawyer fiiends a lot about what I was doing whether it was my role to bring in witnesses to be such a part of it They said to go after it Q What’s next for you? A I’m working on a screenplay For baseball fans it’s like being in on a triple play: The season opens soon new books are popping up like fly balls and the authors are making rounds In April and May alone Hall of Famer Jim “Catfish” Hunter hits 10 major cities the Yankees’ Dave Winfield catches 1 1 former American League ace umpire Ron Luciano calls on 12 Willie Mays says hey to eight and is to appear on NBC’s Today show in mid-Ma- y Here’s a lineup of new baseball books that will be showing up in stores in April and May Bleep! Larry Bowa Manages by Larry Bowa with Barry Bloom (Bonus Books $1595) He lost 97 games last year as the San Diego Padres’ new manager he writes about that and his 16 years playing shortstop 11 They were together in silence like an old mar-ne- d couple wary of life beyond the pitfalls of passion beyond the brutal mockery of hope and phantoms of disillusion: 'beyond love For they had lived together long enough to know that love was always love anytime and anyplace but it was more solid the closer it came to death ? by USA WEEKENDMARCH 1988 Wizard Ozzie Smith with Rob Rains Books $1695) The St Louis Cardinals’ shortstop HEW: Mays and Ryan tell their stories above whiz — baseball’s highest paid player for 88 at $234 million — talks about himself Catfish: My life in Baseball by Jim “Catfish" Hunter (McGraw-Hi- ll U and a novel about a Texas lawyer in a murder case who is defending a client he knows is guilty I know Houston pretty well so set it there Q Houston again? Will they welcome you there? A Very much so: Judges have allowed me to sit at the bench allowed me to help select the juries for defenses I was pretty straight and upfront with what I was doing (for Daddy’s Girl) and I have a pretty good reputation Daddy’s Girl has opened up all sorts of doors By Jan Pogue great lineup for baseball fans Get into the swing of things for the season with these sure hits TRUTH: Irving's book on the Campbell murder case is his first since the Hughes hoax non-ficti- $1695) From the ball fields to the cornfields the former Yankee pitcher and his life in and out of baseball Winfield A Player’s Life by Dave Winfield with Tom Parker (Norton $1695) The Yankees’ All-Stoutfielder tells his story Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays by Willie Mays with Lou Sahadi (Simon & Schuster $1795) Sixteen pages of photographs grace this story of the legendary player Throwing Heat: The Autobiography of Nolan Ryan by ar Nolan Ryan with Harvey Frommer (Doubleday $1695) The story of the power pitcher who at age 40 still throws 100 mph for the Houston Astros Remembrance of Swings Past by Ron Luciano and David Fisher (Bantam $1795) A funny view of “The Luciano Era" from the p r’j Anybody's BaUgame by Joe Garagiola (Contemporary $1795) You’ve heard him on the air read his Baseball Is a Funny Game Now die baseball broadcaster gives you more humorous anecdotes King talks llealreveals Who will be hot in the coming weeks? Here are two authors to watch: In the 30 years that Larry King has ruled radio’s late-nigkingdom thousands of famous and ht have passed by his throne Now he offers tales of those guests in Tell It to the King (Putnam $1695) Look for excerpts in April’s Playboy and Ladies' Home Journal and for King on ABCs Good Morning America April 18 Patricia Neal’s triumphant acting career pales compared to her tragic personal life: a brain-damag- ed son a daughter dead of measles three strokes divorce Her story along with a candid portrait of her relationship with married Gary Cooper during filming of 1 949’s The Fountainhead is all there in As I Am (Simon & Schuster $1895) Excerpts will be in the April issue of Good Housekeeping By Karen Ridgeway |