The parallel in Sweet Smell of Success between the leads and Ike and Tricky, Eisenhower and Nixon, is humorous to say the least. Where Sunset Boulevard the musical merely stimulates yearning for the film, The Sweet Smell of Success may actually supplement and stand on its own.

A new version of my ghost story, "The Eleventh Hour," opened Friday the 15th at the WAH Center to a warm response. Congratulations to John Seroff and all involved. The date also marked my grandmother's 97th birthday.

"In the stillness of suspension, as the suspense continues, onto other matters including tending to the matters of the day." (The utterance of that line ended the 1999 version.)