A radical American terrorist cult has control of an atomic bomb and might explode it in the U.S. Almost sounds like a standard newspaper headline, but it’s the plot of a new thriller by first-time novelist Mike Hatch. What makes the new book, “Horseshoes & Nuclear Weapons,” compelling for us is this: The terrorists seek to detonate the bomb in Chicago.
Hatch, a Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor, says he has been fascinated by terrorism and bombings since his student days at Wisconsin-Madison, when the school’s math building was blown up by protesters. He has already completed a sequel, “Take It to the Limit,” in which a bomb is snuck aboard an airplane at O’Hare. “I spent a day at the airport doing research on my own on how it could be done, but I was real careful not to ask questions,” he said.
Stop the presses: Jenny Jones has kept a low profile since the “ambush murder” trial revolving around her TV talk show. But publication of her presumptuously titled book, “Jenny Jones: My Story,” is set for November after it was apparently set back from a spring date.
Tiger arrives: Tiger Woods will kick off his Western Open week with a breakfast auction Monday at Planet Hollywood. It’s a benefit–at $1,500 per table–for his foundation. There will be an auction, and we’ll be curious if anyone’s as generous as Bryant Gumbel. During a similar Tiger Woods Foundation event in New York, Gumbel shelled out $8,000 to spend a day with Tiger at a clinic.
Pol watch: While state Comptroller Loleta Didrickson waits for Gov. Jim Edgar to decide on his political future, we’re hearing state Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) is casting an eye on her job.
Model city: Mayor Richard Daley has been in San Francisco for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, but Chicago has been on his schedule:
– He asked Bank of America Illinois CEO Bill Goodyear to address the conference on his company’s investing plan for cities. Goodyear refers to inner cities as a “promising emerging market.”
– The mayor cited WITS (Working in the Schools), a Chicago-based non-profit tutoring program, as a model volunteer program for others to consider–and, coincidentally, the group is having its appreciation luncheon Tuesday at the Field Museum.
Life goes on: Marilyn Miglin, widow of slain real estate developer Lee Miglin, will participate in a Shaare Zedek Medical Center reception July 14 at the Palmer House Hilton. Special guest will be Eliahu Ben-Elissar, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Shaare Zedek honored Miglin with a humanitarian award shortly before her husband’s death. “She’s very upbeat about being at the event,” said an organizer.
The Sphinx: INC. hears the White Sox’s Sultan of Silence, Albert Belle, got heavy response–more than 5,000 hits–when he went on America Online to answer questions in a Warner Bros. promotion. Given Belle’s history of shunning fans as well as the media, he probably won’t say another word until next season.
Tuesday birthdays: Sherry Stringfield, 30; Nancy Allen, 47; Peter Weller, 50; Mick Fleetwood, 50; Jeff Beck, 53; Georg Stanford Brown, 54; Michele Lee, 55; Jack Carter, 74; and Al Molinaro, 78.
Eye-opener: If you’re drinking your early-morning coffee and rushing to work Wednesday on the Near North Side, you might bump in to Benny thBull. Starting at 6 a.m. and going for several hours, Benny will be in front of the Sutton Place Hotel passing out breakfasts and certificates in a United Way promotion.
EAVESDROPPING
“The momentum is so large you can cut it with a knife.”
Promoter Don King on the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson rematch
