people

GIBSON INVOLVED IN 'SECRET PROJECT'

Just because multitalented Mel Gibson is basking in his recent biggest-ever success in "Signs" does not mean he's resting on his laurels. He is reportedly in Italy, working on a secret project, behind the camera. The film will mark his third stint as a director. His best directorial work won him an Oscar for "Braveheart," even though for that film he took turns on both sides of the lens. Additionally, columnist Liz Smith is reporting that after his Italian project is wrapped up he'll head for another soundstage to work in a movie with Robert Downey Jr. That film is to be called "The Singing Detective." It's based on a long-running British TV show of the same name. Gibson will produce and co-star in the movie. By the way, Downey was to have worked with Gibson on another project before Downey's most-recent round of addiction problems. At the time he promised Gibson that when he got "straightened out" they would work together. The "Detective" project seems to be the fulfillment of that promise.

RACHAEL CARSON REMEMBERED

It was an amazing 40 years ago that author-environmentalist Rachael Carson brought to the world her book "Silent Spring." That book, according to Canadian documentarian David Suzuki, touched off today's modern ecological and green movements. The work, dealing with the way humanity was spoiling the environment through pesticides and pollution, suddenly had a dramatic effect on the way people looked at the world. It was instantly viewed as being far more fragile and extremely smaller than before her book. The contents notwithstanding, the book's title, "Silent Spring," was a stroke of genius. In two simple words Carson encapsulated the entire thrust of her treatise ... a world so polluted and mismanaged that someday there would be no buds, no new plants, no birds chirping ... the long nuclear winter had arrived. By the way, Suzuki blasts this country for dropping out of the so-called Kyoto Protocol at the just-completed Earth Summit in South Africa. He says that too many countries want environmental protections, but "only when possible."

COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER COMES CLEAN

Loretta Lynn loves to tell her story ... the rise from obscurity in Butcher Holler to a worldwide megastar. The movie version of her life, "Coal Miner's Daughter," was an Oscar winner and brought her even more fame. (It's easy to close your eyes and see her dad walking toward her house calling: "Lorretteee!") Now, according to CMT, Lynn is about to tell her rags-to-riches story again. This time she will be profiled in the network's "Inside Fame" series. The broadcast is filled with rare footage of the 67-year-old star in the days before her name was a household word. There's also film of her young children when they were toddlers. (She had four children by age 18.) The project is being shown just as Lynn comes off an exhaustive summerlong concert circuit. Now wealthy enough to fly everywhere, she still prefers to take her own bus ... or should I say buses. The band and her twin daughters -- Patsy and Peggy -- travel in one. Loretta has the other to herself. "More private time to write songs," she says.

'BIG D' MAKING HUGE STAMPEDE PLANS

Summer isn't over yet. And to hear the people in and around Dallas talk, it's never over until they've taken down the tents and cleaned up the cages after the annual Texas Stampede. This year the rodeo-centered festival will take place Oct. 24-27, with some major music stars signing on to participate. According to country.com, organizers have put together quite a lineup. The intitial concert will feature Brooks & Dunn, with the proceeds to go to the Children's Medical Center of Dallas and pediatric programs of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The headliner the next night will be Willie Nelson, no doubt with stories to tell about this year's FarmAid benefit. Vince Gill will perform the afternoon of Oct. 26 with a concert that night featuring Lyle Lovett. The final musical act will be a matinee performance on Oct. 27, featuring Gill. The stampede will take place at the American Airlines Center. And, oh yes, there's rodeo galore for those who have extra time between concerts.

KANSAS CITY SCHOOL HONORS NFL STAR

There's a new school in Kansas City, Mo., this semester. It's a tuition-free charter school named in honor of NFL player Derrick Thomas. The Derrick Thomas Academy is offering a full slate of instruction. The school tells United Press International that a group of local dignitaries and NFL players was on hand for the opening this week. Right now the academy has about 600 students ... kindergarten through grade 5, but during the next three years there are plans to expand the enrollment to all eight years of grade school. The project is a partnership between the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise and the Third and Long Foundation (set up by Thomas as a literacy program in the metropolitan area).

FORMER HOCKEY HONCHO STILL NOT SORRY

Alan Eagleson isn't apologizing to anyone. According to the Toronto Sun, Eagleson has been in jail for fraud and theft, stripped of the Order of Canada he received some years ago, disbarred from practicing law and banished from the Hockey Hall of Fame. But in Eagleson's opinion: So what! The publication says the controversial former hockey head feels that the FBI is full of "the worst guys around." He says he was framed and that the U.S. investigation into his financial dealings was "a farce." Eagleson reached a plea bargain with an American court four years ago, pleading on three counts of fraud and theft. Lawyers' fees cost him $1 million, and he lost the deed to all of his U.S. holdings. His comments were part of the first interview he has had with the press in four years. Eagleson was also the subject of a controversial "tell all" book called "Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey," written by Russ Conway.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 410

Here's today's question: "What are your personal feelings about the omnipresent use of cellular phones, both in traffic and in restaurants and other "shared" places?" Put CELLULAR in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 405 (USO)

Last week we asked about your experiences in the military being entertained by visiting USO troupes. AISchuller says he remembers seeing Ricky Nelson perform when a group of entertainers visited his camp during basic training. ClarkB was in Germany many years ago and says that when word got out that a troupe was coming to visit there was a real sense of excitement. IMTU remembers seeing Bob Hope's traveling group entertain during both WWII and Korea. Finally, Marie in Michigan says she was a nurse during the Vietnam era and has vivid memories of a group of Hollywood stars coming through her islolated camp ... with the sounds of mortar fire in the distance. NEXT: More from the mailbag. GBA.