— Memo to state AFL-CIO president Robert Gibson: Dear Bob: Bet you wish you could stuff the letter down someone`s throat you sent union members in the 14th Congressional District. The letter urging them to vote for Kane County Coroner Mary Lou Kearns for U.S. representative. The one that stated: ”We couldn`t have a clearer choice between candidates. Both served in the state legislature. Mary Lou Kearns was solidly for programs helpful to workers and our families and to our neighbors. . . . She had one of the best records in the legislature.” Guess what, Bob. Mary Lou Kearns never served in the legislature! Ouch.
Hmmmm . . .
— A new version of the Carter prayer breakfasts? INC hears a lot of noise emanated from Room 507 of a city public works facility at 320 N. Clark St. around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday. And when an INC. passerby tried to find out what mayhem was happening, she discovered what she described as a form of ”revival meeting” being conducted on city property. There were 10 people engaged in a rather lively religious session, with Bibles on the table, said the INC. source. ”They said they were a Bible study group,” said the surprised city worker. ”And they claimed they got permission from the city to conduct their meeting. Christmas creches at City Hall are out, but Bible study groups are in?”
— The great compromise? INC. hears top GOPers are talkin` Jim O`Grady as a mayoral candidate. Why? ”Our polls show O`Grady ahead in his bid for Cook County sheriff,” a very top GOPer told INC. ”But if he loses–and it`s a squeaker–he could be a lightning rod for the Republicans. Dan Webb and Richard Ogilvie`s names are always bandied about, but O`Grady could be the compromise candidate.” First things first, boys.
— President Reagan intends to right what he considers a wrong in Evansville, Ind., Wednesday. INC. hears he has chosen Rick McIntyre`s re-run in the 8th Congressional District to spotlight the abuse of Dem power in the U.S. House. ”This is the only congressional race he is targeting for a personal visit,” said a top GOP source. ”He feels the election was stolen last time in a recount.”
Television trivia . . .
Michelle Phillips, formerly of the Mamas and the Papas, will play (what else?) a mama on ”Knots Landing.” She begins filming Monday in her new role as series regular Anne Winston Matheson, the mother of Paige (played by Nicolette Sheridan), who`s the daughter of the character played by Kevin Dobson. Yes, we know, it`s all very confusing. . . . Friday`s episode of
”Miami Vice” was written by Chuck Adamson, who co-writes every episode of
”Crime Story.” . . . The budget for ”We Are the Children,” an ABC-TV movie filmed in Africa and starring Ted Danson, Ally Sheedy and Judith Ivey, included $9,500 for water for drinking and bathing during the shooting. . . . Telecom has purchased ”Sweetie Baby Cookie Honey” and plans to turn Freddie Gershon`s expose of the record racket into a six-hour, three-night miniseries. The small screen version will generate a soundtrack album (a first for a TV project) and will include, according to Gershon, a ”sprinkling of rock stars: Sting, Elton, Peter (Allen), Eric Clapton maybe.” That Freddie. Such a name dropper.
On stage . . .
Joan Day Dykman, Mickey Rooney`s girlfriend in ”The Laugh`s on Me” at Drury Lane Oak Brook, commutes to Los Angeles on her days off for her role as chief psychiatric nurse Joan Clark on ”General Hospital.” . . . Stage mother alert: The Chicago City Ballet will hold open auditions Saturday for children 5 to 11 years old whose mothers want them to have parts in the ballet`s production of ”Cinderella.” The auditions will be at 10 a.m. in the 5th floor studio at 223 W. Erie.
Chicago faces . . .
Congrats to political strategist Steven Brown and his wife, Eileen, on the birth of son Brian. Thank goodness they didn`t name him Cleveland. . . . Ed Minisian, the manager of Ditka`s restaurant, appears as a gangster in four scenes with Robert De Niro in Brian De Palma`s ”The Untouchables.”
Eddie and Brian are pals. . . . Nice timing: Just before the snow starts flying, Burson-Marsteller`s Howard Bragman is moving to Los Angeles to become director of media relations for the company`s office there. . . . Civilian Vietnam Veterans, a nonprofit organization to address the needs of nonmilitary (Red Cross, U.S.O., etc.) vets, has just been chartered in Illinois, with Joan Maiman as executive director.
INC.lings . . .
The national board of the Directors Guild of America voted last week to authorize that $2 million be put into a strike fund. The union`s contract expires June 30, and cable and video payments have become a Major Major Issue (as they have been with writers and actors). . . . Wednesday birthdays:
Melba Moore, 41; Richard Dreyfuss, 39; Ald. Joe Kotlarz, 30; Kate Jackson, 36; CATOE`s John Peters, 38. . . . Last Saturday`s fire at First St. Paul`s Evangelical Church, 1301 N. LaSalle St., hasn`t canceled plans for Joseph Cardinal Bernardin to attend Friday`s 7:30 p.m. Reformation Day service–a truly ecumenical gesture, because the services mark Martin Luther`s 16th Century break from the Roman Catholic Church. . . . The Pretenders` tour has been postponed. . . . Watch for U.S. Auto Leasing to unleash a new generation of limousines with computers having access to every stock and commodity exchange in the country.
