People

COUNTRY REBEL WAYLON JENNINGS DIES

Waylon Jennings shunned awards, claiming that it wasn't right for musicians to have to compete against each other. He didn't even show up when he was inducted into the prestigious Country Music Hall of Fame. He thought about music as a private thing ... from the heart. Even after becoming an international star he never forgot his roots and his friends, often playing free dates in honky tonks and clubs, just to "perfect his art." Music was something you GAVE to others, although he didn't mind the fame and personal comforts that it afforded him. Though remembered as a pioneer in the "outlaw movement" in country music, he was there when rock was born. He was Buddy Holly's bass player. He was as close as you can get "the night the music died." Legendary is the story that Jennings might have been on the light plane that took the lives of Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Vallens on Feb. 3, 1959, had he not offered The Bopper his seat because the star was ill. If ever anyone played "just for the hell of it," it was Waylon Jennings. If ever a man didn't have the word "compromise" in his lexicon, it was he. Jennings once boycotted the Grand Ole Opry for a decade because its rules would not allow any group to have a full drum set on stage. Tradition be damned! His music became the life blood of juke boxes in honky tonks from Fresno to Florida, the anthems of other hard-living souls who found a champion in the bearded singer-songwriter. Along the way he befriended others of his ilk, from Willie Nelson to Merle Haggard. His songs became as comfortable as an old pair of boots, a dusty Stetson or a favorite shirt. For millions he epitomized what's left of Texas, the West, saloons, going home, friends, smoke-filled dives and no speed limits. Seventy-three albums. Sixteen No. 1 hits. Texas-born. A troubadour whose career spanned three decades. In addition, he was the narrator for "The Dukes of Hazard" in the '70s. His singing career was one of hard-driving, hard-playing, and hard-living excitement ... for himself and his myriad fans. Many said he could have been country's biggest star had he not lived life full-tilt. Forced to have a foot amputated in recent months, he was fighting his way back from the increasingly devastating effects of diabetes. We all assumed he was better, preparing to resume his career in a month or so. But Wednesday the often rowdy, fun-loving Jennings showed how rebelious he really was. In a manner unlike his boisterous on-stage persona ... he just slept away. Waylon Jennings was only 64.

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY, CHARLIE BROWN

It's been a while since much-loved cartoonist Charles Schulz died. And, if you'd wondered if his death signaled the end to the much-loved Peanuts TV specials, not to worry. But something of the old Charles Schulz isn't there in the franchise's latest epic, "A Charlie Brown Valentine." Reviewer Steve Johnson, writing in the Chicago Tribune, says that there are couple of lines in this first post-Schulz presentation that might bother dyed-in-the-wool Peanuts fans. For one thing there are a couple of modern-day references. Not that Peanuts was an anachronism, but during Schulz's watch he made sure that, for the most part, the humor was timeless, not bound to any specific era. Hearing the phrase "bungee-jumping from the moon" or discussions of the non-health benefits of eating french fries might rankle Peanuts purists. The few "dated" references might make the cartoon not play any better decades from now than episodes of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in" do today. The special is from Schulz's long-time collaborators Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez. It's airing on ABC.

PETER PAN, STILL YOUNG AT AGE 98

Lovers of author J.M. Barrie's beloved "boy who never grew up," Peter Pan, have a great week ahead. A special "restored" edition of the 1953 Disney animated film is out on DVD and VHS. And, before the week is over, "Return to Never Land" is due in theaters ... and it has nothing to do with Michael Jackson. The sequel, also by Disney, looks very much like the original in its style of animation. A clip of the trailer is viewable at the Internet Movie Database site, imdb.com, in cyberspace. The re-release contains some un-released footage, a two-minute look at the new movie and an interesting 16-minute featurette released to theaters about the making of the 1950s movie. Meanwhile, the character continues to be as popular as ever, nearly 100 years after its creation. The name has even entered our vocabulary as a synonym for perpetual childhood. In the early 1980's Dan Kiley's book "The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up," etched it even further into our psyches. As the Houston Chronicle points out, over the past half century the Pan concept has been revived several times. After the initial movie there was the musical with Mary Martin, then in the '70s it was revived with Sandy Duncan and in the '90s with Cathy Rigby. By the way, Martin used to love to tell the story of a rehearsal for the Broadway show that went wrong. The men who controlled her "flying" got mixed up and let her crash into a wall. Rehearsals were called off for several days while she recuperated. Upon returning she found that stagehands had nailed a mattress to the place on the wall where the "collision" occurred. On it was a big sign that said: Mary Martin schlepped here."

FRAIL POPE USHERS IN LENT WITH ASHES

The traditional chant "Dust you are and to dust you will return" echoed throughout much of the Christian world this past day as Ash Wednesday was observed. The calendar for adherents exited the happy time between Christmas and Lent that had culminated in the orgiastic celebrations of Carnival and Fat Tuesday around the world. (They're still cleaning up in Rio and New Orleans.) In Rome on Wednesday Pope John-Paul the Second, frail and increasingly showing the signs of Parkinson's disease, went to an early Roman basilica to don the purple robes of repentance and repeat the ancient ceremonies of the day. He received ashes, in the Sign of the Cross, from a cardinal. Then, too weak to go to the congregation, many were invited forward to receive ashes from the pontiff. For many the next 40 days will be one of fasting and sacrifice until the mood changes with the lighting of the new fire and the celebration of the Resurrection on Easter, March 31. In this country, one week later, Daylight Saving Time begins.

WILL ROSIE'S PRIVATE LIFE SCUTTLE HER MAG?

According to Rosie O'Donnell's publicist Cindi Berger, the TV host isn't worried that revelations about her personal life in her upcoming autobiography will have a detrimental effect on readership levels of her magazine. But, according to the New York Post, it's not clear whether the German-based publishing house that funded the conversion of venerable McCall's into Rosie anticipated what would happen next. During the past months O'Donnell has come out of the closet, one small step at a time. She finally leaps out in her soon-to-be-published book, "Find Me." A sampling of publishing experts tells the Post that it's hard to judge what tack the public might take -- especially fans in Peoria. Even so, it's a given that many "conservative" fans of O'Donnell can watch her on TV without the neighbors knowing and not mind her private life. Heck, they might be gay themselves, might have a son or daughter who is, or think that the entire "preference thing" is a dead issue. But whether they would be willing to walk into the corner bookstore and pick up a copy of Rosie's book is a different story ... at least in small-town America.

STREET-SMART GIRL ESCAPES FROM TRUNK

A 14-year-old Livermore, Calif., teenager has her dad and a cool head to thank after successfully getting away from a would-be abductor. The San Francisco Chronicle says that the girl was forced into the trunk of a Jaguar by a man who wanted to "get a closer look at her fingernails." She was reportedly abducted early Wednesday morning while walking to school. Remembering an odd conversation with her father, some years before, about how to get out of a car's trunk, she began pulling wires and tugging at metal. Soon she was able to get the lid unlocked. But, remembering more of her dad's instructions, she didn't let the lid open enough for the driver to know what was happening. Swinging an arm out of the partially open trunk lid garnered enough attention that someone phoned 911 and turned in a description of the car and its license number. When the car eventually slowed at an intersection the girl jumped out and was rescued by a passing motorist. The suspect in the kidnapping was arrested 30 minutes or so later.

BY THE WAY: Comedian Jack Benny -- born Benjamin Kubelsky -- would be 108 today, were he still alive. "Now cut that out!"

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 269

In one of my other columns, Watercooler -- available daily on upi.com on the Internet, then click on the Life and Mind File -- I mentioned that scientists in Boston had detected a way to correlate the chances of getting Alzheimer's disease with the presence of a certain chemical that can be found in blood tests. ShoeJunkie e-mailed me to suggest that I do a question on that topic. So, thanks SJ, and here goes: "If a blood test is perfected to tell a person if he or she is a likely candidate for Alzheimer's disease, would you take it?" Put TEST in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 264 (PEANUTS)

Last week we asked your memories of the Peanuts characters and cartoonist Charles Schulz. At that time the idea for the question came from a story about the completion of a huge mural at a museum to honor the late cartoonist in Santa Rosa, Calif., about an hour north of San Francisco. It could have just as well been asked today because of the story about the latest Peanuts TV special. Here is a sampling of replies to last week's question: RB says that her earliest memories of the gang was the comic strip "when I was about 10. It appeared in our local newspaper and, of course, I have always watched the cartoon specials on TV. Even today, in my 50s, I enjoy the repeats." Petrohd says that "Peanuts has always been a major part of my life ... from the time I was a kid to even today. The wit and wisdom of this simple comic strip is always topical ... and will be sure to entertain generations to come." NH commented on Linus's adventures in the pumpkin patch, waiting for The Great Pumpkin. It was the first-ever mention of Halloween that NH had ever seen. Being from Australia he says Halloween wasn't very well known when Schulz put it in the strip as a plot element. Now, on the other side of the coin comes a comment from Merry K (the only negative one I found). She says that "I am one of the very few that absolutely HATED that stupid comic strip and ALL of the TV shows that were generated ... gasp! How un-American of me." Well, Merry, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion in this column. But, good grief! TOMORROW: The meaning of "GBA" and Monday your predictions about the future of the British monarchy. GBA.