People

IN PRAISE OF BROADCASTER CHICK HEARN

Twenty-four hours ago long-time Lakers play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn lay dying in a Los Angeles-area hospital. The deathwatch ended at late afternoon Monday. When the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, four decades ago, Chick Hearn was chosen to be the chief play-by-play man. Over the years his voice became synonymous with NBA play. He coined the terms "slam dunk" and "air ball." For an amazing string of more than 3,330 games he never missed a broadcast. Through illness and travel problems, every time the L.A. audience tuned in to the Lakers, Chick Hearn was there. That magnificent string ended last fall when he was forced to leave the mike to have open-heart surgery. After regaining his strength he returned to the broadcast booth. A standing-room-only crowd hailed his return. Countless millions of others rejoiced in his return to broadcasting. Over the years Hearn was an example for many in his industry. In his simple, understated way he was able -- much as the late Jack Buck -- to describe the action without intruding on it. Just as Ray Scott did for decades on the college football game of the week, Hearn described but did not demonstrate. He conveyed without condemning. He may have been in the booth, but in many ways he was still in the stands ... one of us, letting the players do their thing. He thought of his job as clarifying only when necessary, adding a stat or two. But we somehow knew that he was in there playing ... with the boys. Over the weekend he fell in his garden. The blood-thinning medications he had been taking in the wake of his surgery caused problems in his brain. Two emergency surgeries were carried out. The Cardinal-Archbishop of Los Angeles, Roger Mahony, went to Hearn's bedside on Sunday. By Monday morning his condition had deteriorated. We kept the deathwatch, hoping the aging broadcast veteran could simply rally. He could not pull it out in the final minutes. His condition was too grave. His age too advanced. His strength too drained. This was one rally that was not to be. The clock ran out. No one is smiling. Chick Hearn was 85.

MARILYN FORGOTTEN ON 40TH ANNIVERSARY

It was 40 years ago Monday that movie queen Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Hollywood bungalow. One would have thought that with all the continuing fascination over the star there would have been some remembrances this week. But few were presented. Taking notice of this seeming lack of tribute is United Press International's veteran Hollywood correspondent Vernon Scott. In a major treatise on Monroe, Scott laments that "mystery surrounded the circumstances of her death at age 36. She was found nude by her housekeeper, lying on her bed with a telephone in her hand. Today she would be 76 ... yet only four decades after her death there were no stories in local newspapers, nor heed paid by radio or television to the anniversary of one of the best-known, most-publicized and most-photographed women of the 20th century." All of this does seem somehow ironic in light of the fact that the world can't seem to let Monroe rest in peace. In Scott's words, she was a "dazzling, shapely blonde with large, wounded blue eyes and compelling vulnerability (and) was the personification of the ideal American woman, a desirable icon the world over." Maybe it's the times, the preoccupation with terrorism or our love of digital effects and modern-day grit. Let's hope it's not that 40 years was too long ago for a baby boom generation that remembers her death as if it were yesterday.

CONTROVERSY GOOD FOR TOBY KEITH

Singer-songwriter Toby Keith has been at the center of a lot of controversy in recent weeks. ABC's "banning" of him from a Fourth of July show because of the use of a rather crude word in his immensely popular recent hit got him a lot of ink and not a few invitations to perform the song at other events. Now, according to the folks at Billboard, his new CD, "Unleashed," is now the hottest-selling album in the country ... of any kind. It's sold a third of a million copies in just a few days. Going to the No. 1 spot in the first week of release puts him in a select circle of country artists who have achieved that feat. Only eight others went to the top on week one. By the way, his previous CD, "Pull My Chain," which had fallen off the charts, has resurfaced in the No. 8 position.

'STROKE HERO' HONORED IN ARIZONA

There's a great article in a recent issue of the Arizona Republic that may cause us all to think about our state in life. It profiles Bruce McVey, a 47-year-old man who has lost a great deal of his early memories and ability to think after a series of strokes. But, as the story tells, he has returned to leading a productive existence. McVey, who lives in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, was a student at Purdue Univ. when he first starting having problems. They got worse. He eventually was able to go to work as an aeronautical engineer, but his mental deterioration continued. Eventually he was left with limited brainpower and an IQ of less than 100. Now McVey is giving hope to people hit by strokes as a spokesman for the American Stroke Association. He suffered what are called "silent strokes," often caused by stress. McVey calls stress the big killer and admonishes his audiences to just "chill out." Some 600,000 Americans are hit by strokes each year; that's one every 53 seconds, nationally. Someone dies from a stroke every three and a half minutes in this country. The biggest risk factors are advancing age, heredity, high blood pressure and smoking.

FONDA HEADED BACK TO HOLLYWOOD?

There is talk that actress Jane Fonda may be flirting with the idea of heading back to Hollywood to make another major movie. She has, according to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, been looking at a novel called "Evening," written in 1998 by Susan Minot. Fonda, who is now 65, has spent the past years as a socialite. The main character in "Evening" is a similarly aged socialite, with three failed marriages, who is on her deathbed. Except for the deteriorating health aspect of the novel, Fonda can likely relate to the scenario. The actress has long lamented that there just aren't any good roles in Hollywood for female stars "who are past their prime."

COUNTRY MOURNS LOSS OF REAL PIONEER

Some people shy away from controversy. Others seek the limelight. During his years in country music Joe Allison was one of those who usually worked behind the scenes. His career started in the 1940s when he became a popular music disc jockey at a variety of stations around the country. He finally landed a job at Nashville's WSM radio, home of the Grand Ole Opry. According to Country Music Television, he then dabbled in song writing, but found his greatest ability was as a producer of music. Now, remembered as the man whose producing credits are on some of the biggest hits of Tex Ritter, Roy Clark, Willie Nelson and Hank Thompson, Joe Allison is being remembered as one of the most influential men to have ever worked in Music City. If the name still doesn't ring a bell, let your mind wander back to the late 1950s and early '60s. No matter where you went it seemed that one haunting song was playing on juke boxes ... Jim Reeves' monster hit "He'll Have to Go." Allison (with an ex-wife) wrote that song. It was so popular that others began doing their own rendition of the ballad, from Elvis to Guy Lombardo to Tom Jones to the Mills Brothers. It remains today one of the biggest hits in the history of country and pop music. Joe Allison was 77.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 387

Well, for the second time in three months my car has been stolen. The first time I got it back within hours with only the ignition switch damaged. This time I may not be as lucky. During that initial theft report I asked for your "missing car" stories. So today, in light of the repeat, here's today's question: "Have you ever had your car or any other major item stolen more than once?" Put REPEAT in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 382 (WAIT)

Last week we wondered what horror stories you have about waiting in line. From a quick, random dig into the e-mailbox, here are some replies: DMD says that when he applied for unemployment in Washington many years ago he spent nearly six hours waiting in line. Many there were smarter; having been through the process before, they brought books to read and something to eat. When he finally got to the head of the line he was told that the line he was in gave out no information other than which line to get into tomorrow. CathyM, who lives in Los Angeles, voiced the sentiment of many saying there's nothing worse than being caught between exits in a freeway jam that just sits there. She was stuck for nearly two hours last year while police cleared a major mess. From crissybabe comes a sad story about waiting at a traffic light that never changed. It was only after a lot of "locals" went around her that she realized it was out of order. Finally, a horror story from BW (a fellow reporter). He tells of a time when he suddenly came to a stop after rounding a corner in a museum (where he had gone to do an interview about a new exhibit). A massive man was blocking the door. He didn't want to ask him to move. He was in no hurry and the library-esque atmosphere of the museum wasn't conducive to a loud protest. After the passage of time he realized that he had walked up behind a wax figure of King Henry VIII, which was not about to move. TOMORROW: Time in a bottle. GBA.