The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 133

Pg. 6 See. 8 The Pittsburgh Press, Sunday, Nov. 23, 1969 South Af rica Author Hates Apartheid Paton Hero Of FOR YOU DEPARTED, by Alan Paton. Scribner's.

$5.95. By DAVTD S. CALDWELL Every nation has its statesman heroes. Every nation has Its soldier heroes. Few nations have "conscience" heroes, for It seems that what a nation can spare the least it Invariably spurns the most.

mm i.n ii ilium ii ii i ii Li iy Jf iiiwiiim jib iimii i ft i i A Id mm hi if it And conscience hurts. Con- In a deeper respect, this fs definite Paton comoas-sionate, caring, witty, thankful (bitterness surfaces only once, fleetingly), insightful, accepting with alacrity the "joys and vicissitudes" of life, able to fall in love time and again with life's "strangeness and beauty and terror" In short, thoroughly the humane man we have met elsewhere as a fiction writer and political essayist. It is too bad that Paton's beloved wife would not be alive at his death to write about him. No need for lament, however, for this book is it his elegiac memoir for Dorrie is finally an expression nonpareil of his compassion and decency and humanity and a revelation of Paton's own greatness and grandeur. Pa ly that he could only be an Instrument of peace, even though he always finds himself on the "wrong" side of South African social justice and law.

In one respect, this book is not the usual Alan Paton. For this is a book, written not about South Africa per se, but about Paton himself. This is a book written to and about his wife Dorrie, who died in 1967. From Post To Present In contrapuntal shifting from past to present and back again, Paton extols their life together, finding in the hurting science reveals sham and dry rot. Conscience embodies compassion, and every nation has yet to learn to be compassionate toward all its citizens.

What Makes Him Hero South Africa's hero of conscience is Alan Paton. Paton hates apartheid. He hates degradation of one people by another. But what makes Paton a hero of conscience, and not a bombthrower, are two things: He is truly a lover and thereby a true patriot) of his suspicious, troubled native land. And he has absorbed St.

Francis of Assist so thorough Latest But Tebaldi Greatest' Debated 'Festival' Rates With '69's Best By WILLIAM ALLAN Penata Tebaldi has a new album on the market, and she is making it increasingly difficult for Tebaldi lovers to be objective. The new album is a two-record set on the London label (OSA-1282). It is made up of nrias from operas by Wagner, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Verdi, Puccini and Rossini, plus some more popular tunrs as modern as Richard Rodg-ers' "If I Loved You." London labels It "Her Greatest Album." That's saving a lot, for Tebaldi. To be certain, there are (some magic moments: "Lie-bestnd'' from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde;" "Musetta's Waltz" from Puccini's "La Poheme;" Cardillo's "Cntari-Catari;" "L'Oiseau Qui Fuit" from Massenet's a nnd "Mon Cocur S'Ouvre a ta Yoix" from a i -S a "Samson et Palila," to name five which will send shivers up (he spinp of a 2000-year-old Greek statue. ALAN PATON "Conscience hero." grayness of the winter days following her death enough warmth and light from his memories to rejoice in her life.

Titles For Your Bookshelf Harold Robbins' Third Ranks First On List IRA WILSON WALTER. HENDERSON Preparing jor annual variety show at Western Penitentiary. ii Books I i i ii Music 1 -i Louis XIV Scandals Recounted By SYLVIA SACHS, Press Book Editor In case you've been in Outer Mongolia the last few weeks, you may not know that Harold Robbins' new book, "The Inheritors," has recently been released. It tops the list of new fiction below. A wide-ranging choice of non-fiction has also been published and some are described here- Musical xAngel' Refuses To Fly Over Prison Wall: with.

FICTION The Inheritors, Harold Robbins. Trident Press. $6.95. The third in a trilogy of novels about the mo-tion picture industry, this one centers around men; gruff, dynamic Sam Benjamin and houghtful, el i berate marital crises are all mixed up. Timothy Baines, John H.

Culp. Holt, Rinehart Winston. $6.95. An action-packed novel about Oklahoma when it was Indian Territory. 1 title figure is a wise hunchback who narrates the love tale of a fiery woman and a halfbreed doctor destined for tragedy.

Fast reading. Aftershock, Elen Wolfe. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

$5.95. Wen-written, deeply personal, this book is also frightening. It is a story of the mental breakdown and recovery of an intelligent New York City wife and mother. NON-FICTION Truth Is the First Casualty, Joseph C. 1 n.

Rand McNally Co. $6.95. The 1964 Tonkin Gulf affair, with its subsequent escalation of the Vietnam war, was a deception, charges the author. This look at the secret world of H. Robbins whenever they passed the pianos.

Only one piano survived, It is for orchestra use and had to be put under heavy guard. In former years convicts were permitted to practice Instruments in their cells. But non-music lovers put a stop to that. They wrapped one slide trombone around the cell bars. And a heavy-lipped trumpet player who played "Nearer My God to Thee" on his golden horn each night before he retired found concrete poured into the bell of the instrument.

Of course, musical therapy doesn't help all the men to go straight upon their release. One convict choir member was back in prison six months after his release. Obviously a man with music in his soul, he picked up a record player in a Downtown department store. He forgot to pay for it. Those not rehabilitated by Mr.

Wilson may possibly be helped by his son, the Rev. Ira J. Wilson Jr. Mr. Wilson is a Lutheran minister who is a counselor at the prison.

As a Protestant minister he may succeed in making harp-playing angels out of convicts who failed to make the grade as earthling harpists. Sixth Fiat Favorite Any member of the U. S. Sixth Fleet who attends Nana Mouskouri's performance here Friday at Carnegie Hall, can claim to be a member of the group which started her successful career. In 1958, Miss Mouskmiri was an obscure Greek singer, part of a troupe of young performers in Athens who were called upon to Stephan Gaunt.

Their struggle for power provides the plot. Admirers of "The Carpetbaggers" will like this one. The Temple, Arkady Leok-um. World Publishing Co. $6.95.

A novel set in a wealthy New York suburb, it features a traditional rabbi who tries to instill meaningful values in his congregation. A battle develops in which scandal, racial tensions and espionage Indicates America was plunged blindly into what might have been an avoidable Asian conflict. The Ship They Called the Fat Lady, William M. Hardy. Dodd, Mead Co.

$4.50. A realistic and tightly-told account of an. old American submarine tender and her crew during the first five months of World War II. The problems related are those that were faced by all our troops in the Philippine area after the devastating Japanese attack. One Man Alone: Richard Nixon, by Ralph de Toledano.

Funk Wagnalls. $6.95. A political biography, done by a friend, which brings to light little-known facts of Nixon's life. He is drawn as an introvert in an extrovert profession. Also written by this author, "The Seeds of Treason.

Across the Russias, John Massey Stewart. Rand McNally. $6.95. A well-illustrated book about a journey across the Soviet Union. It describes not only the Russians, but also such peoples as the Georgians, Turkmens, Uzbeks and the Armenians.

The history and legends of these countries ara Interwoven into the description. Gomulka: His Poland, His Communism, Nicholas Beth-all. Holt, Reinhart Winston. $5.95. A down-to-earth, no-nonsense biography of the current leader of Poland.

He is painted as a statesman and patriot, as well as a Communist. The Lost Prince, Hank Searle. World Publishing. $6.95. A sentimental, fictionalized biography of Joseph Kennedy Jr.

who is portrayed as a romantic, ambitious young man destined by his family and his own wishes for the office later attained by his brother. A little sticky for others than terribly ardent Kennedy fans. By CAUL A PONE, Tress Music Editor Ira Wilson, 71, has been in prison since 1951 and the end of his stay is not in sight. He is musical director of Western Penitentiary and finds the work so interesting he is reluctant to retire. In his work at the prison, Mr.

Wilson has developed dance bands, concert bands and glee clubs. And presently his musical proteges are hard at work putting together the annual variety show, to be presented Friday for the prison population and on Dec. 5 for a selected group of outsiders. Work Hard On Show No theatrical group anywhere works harder than the convicts do on their annual show. The show means a good deal to the men.

One lifer who sings in the show said: "We see men come into the theater carrying all their worries with them. But at the show they laugh, have a good time and go back to their cells feeling better." It is this sort of enthusiasm for entertainment that brought and keeps Mr. Wilson in prison. The veteran Carnegie trumpeter made his first trip to prison in 1922 when his combo played there. Convicts were so appreciative he returned often to perform and finally to work full time in 1951.

Mr. Wilson continues to bring in top local groups such as Walt Harper and Harold Betters to perform. The local musicians union foots the bill for these programs. froud Of 'Maestro' The affection of the convicts for Mr. Wilson is readily apparent.

And they don't forget him when they leave. One ex-con who worked as a professional musician sent an engraved plaque to "Old Maestro Wilson" as his way of showing gratitude. Mr. Wilson's proudest achievement is that "29 of my boys now on the outside earn or augment their incomes as professional musicians." One convict, who had never had his hands on a horn before entering prison. The performances are engaging, sensitive and vital.

But Tebaldi's best obviously is a personal thing. Her'first "Butterfly" (Richmond fi.mil) or her current "La Gio con da" (London, would have to be counted. And her recital tvpe recordings, "The Best of Tebaldi" (IiOiidon, aS-25720) and "Tebaldi" (London. 1 2 contain one magnificent aria after another. The new recording, "A Tebaldi Festival," is onp of the high points in the current recording season and will he up near the top when lOfiO's best recordings are considered.

And Miss Tebaldi will have to be satisfied with that. Ivan Rebroff, the Russian basso who is the sensation of Europe, has been recorded by Columbia, Rrbrnff's range is amazing and Columbia wisely has caught him in some of the more popular Russian folk songs. "Evening Bells," "Two Guitars," "Dark Eyes," "Mead-owland" and "Over the Steppes" are included, with a touch of the modern such as "Lara's Theme" from "Dr. Zhivago" tossed in for soma spice. Teresa Stich-Randall is heard in a German lieder recital in a new Music Guild recording (WST-171R0).

Miss Stich-Randall's pure soprano is at its best in both the serious and the light in alien In all there are eight Schubert selections and eight Schumann songs. THE AFFAIR OF THE POISONS, by Frances Mossi-ker. Alfred A. Knopf. $7.95.

By TEMPLETON SMITH This lively account of the private life of Louis XIV gives us, through the skillful use of comments by eyewitnesses, a revealing view of the polish as well as the brutality of the courtiers of the "Sun King" at Versailles. The book climaxes around the king's efforts, through his honest and effective chief of police, to clean up a black magic and poison ring operating out of the Paris underground. The outcome, much to his dismay, was a scandal which rocked the nation, implicating as it eventually did a large number of prominent aristocrats, some of whom had access to the person of the king himself. The role played in all this by Mme. de Montespan, the most fascinating of the king's mistresses, the "radiant companion of the most glorious years" of his reign, becomes increasingly dramatic as the trials arising out of the cleanup progress through the special court appointed by the king to bring the prisoners to justice.

Perhaps the outstanding sex symbol of her generation, she held Louis' interest longer than any other woman partly because, as he put it, she was "the most beautiful woman in the kingdom" but also because with her brilliant conversation, her keen ability to recognize merit in art and literature and her sound judgment on matters of state, she filled a need at Versailles which the queen could not. For reasons of state, one key figure in the drama was shielded from prosecution by express order of the king, who thought that he had destroyed the pertinent evidence. The fact that the truth can now be told despite diligent efforts by one of the most absolute and efficient mon-archs in history may encourage us to hope for similar results regarding some of the suppressed scandals of our entertain the U.S. Tells All She Knows Bracken. Book Is Full Of Fun.

1 DIDN'T COME HERE TO ARGUE, by Peg Bracken. Harcourt, Brace World. By CHARLOTTE CHENEY Peg" Braeken has that rarest of treasures, a genuinely funny book, In "I Didn't Come Here to Argue." "This book began as a compilation of what I know," says Miss Bracken, "until it became clear that the book would be too skimpy." Sixth Fleet. She was scheduled to sing only one song aboard the carrier Forrestal, but the thunderous applause and shouting kept her on stage for two hours. This performance for American sailors led to her debut on Radio Athens where she met a all brag about corporations it." She fills it out with quotations in the Supplementary MISS MOUSKOURI Hadjidakis, composer of the musical score, "Never on Sunday." Two What People Are Reading This Week In Music Reading that follows some of the chapters and they include those of such diverse personalities as Jes-samyn West, Chekhov, Thomas A.

now is a leading trombonist In Cincinnati and owns his own nightclub there. Another convict who learned his music in prison went on to study at an Indiana college upon his release and is now a high school music teacher in Florida. A few years ago the entire five-piece combo in one night spot was made up of former West Pen inmates. Mr. Wilson is a former member of Stanley Today Ann S''.

erain r'T'fa', Carnpg Hall, OaiUiol, 3 p. m. Monday Jpm Fa-nai rn. i F-rst 8pKt Church, 8 p. Qii'iK hVi.

C'i'aH. p. m. 6 p. r-i.

Wednesday of the songs he wrote for Miss Mouskouri helped her win first prize at the Greek Festival in 1959, and first prize in a Barcelona Festival in 1960. After that she became a favorite all over Europe and was brought to this country by Harry Belafonte. Miss Mouskouri's "White Wine of Athens" became West Germany's biggest hit in 1961. The same song won her Radio Luxembourg's award as the most popular singer. The singer is married to musician George Petsilas, whose combo, The Athenians, provides background music.

Penn Concert Sod Out Obviously Pittsburgh area residents are enthralled at the prospect of hearing the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the Penn Theater, which may become the orchestra's future home. All 3426 tickets for the Dec. 12 pension fund concert have been sold. The orchestra had to return checks to some 300 others who wanted to attend. Orchestral concerts haven't and t'enn pit bands, the Civic Light Opera, and Maurice Spitalny's Tap Time orchestras.

The 5-ft. 180-pound musician calls music "terrific therapy for these men in prison." Choir Member Repeots One convict fold a reporter: "Classical music lets me fight, hate and love without involving anyone else." In all Mr. Wilson has 245 convicts in his music program. Instruments are available for those who wish to study. All instruments, that is, except pianos.

A few years back (here were not enough Instruments to accommodate all those who wished to study piano. So those who were refused lessons grabbed up a handful of keys a Mrs- cc Bestsellers nationally according to Publishers' Weekly: FICTION Th Godfather, P1170. Lov Machine, Susann, Andromeda Strain, Crichton. House On the Strand, duMaurier, Seven Minutes, Wallace, The Promise, Pntolr. Nalted Came the Stranger, Ashi.

The Pretenders, Divis, Portnoy's Complaint, Roth. In This House of Brede, Godden. NON-FICTION Peter Principle, Peter Hull. My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy, Gallagher. Present At the Creation, Aeheson.

The Selling of the President, Me- Making of the President, White. Kingdom and the Power, Telese. My Life and Prophecies, Dixon. Prime Time, Kendrick. Between Parent and Teenager, Ginott.

American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton. time. The book should appeal alike to lovers of history, high tragedy and true mysteries, being a happy blend of all three. Car Introspection is not neglected in this glad bag, for Miss Bracken adapts the Buddhist system of listing 108 sins, number 11 of which is "Bringing a baby to any public performance other than a bagpipe concert." The middle-aged woman will be comforted in many ways by reading this delightful book. Memory fading, she is reminded that there is no one as absent-minded as a teen-age girl; most men forego the joys of a native girl on a South Seas island to stay home and pay the i for straightening the kids' teeth; the sexual revolution is hardly worth it: "just keeping a house going takes so many pesky errands that if you had to work an affair in around everything else, it would be just one 1 too much." You can't have your hands lifted, she says, so accept "the concensus that middle age is an absolutely great time of life, probably the greatest, which you want to postpone as long as you can," but never, never fall for the "Principle of Distraction so often advocated by the barely pubescent copy writers." She once knew a lady who carried her pet a everywhere for just that purpose, and people would ask, "Who's the old girl with the monkey?" '-a M-'usnou 0 p.

m. y' .1 I 5 p. Friday re- feuraS Syr'a Moiqua, 9 r'q cona-jCTing, AO p. w. Steinberg, Mu- Saturday rc 0 -Fru'a, Carreq's Hard, S.30 p.

m. attracted that sort of support in ages. Symphony Back Friday The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra returns to Syria Mosque for a pair of concerts Kempis and Miss Bracken Richard A. Bissell. Pertinent Questions and Topics for Discussion also add stimulus to her work, such as "Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut save you 30c?" The book can also be called "Answers to Questions I Never Got Asked," but the author does not pretend to know everything.

In fact, she covers just such contingencies by inventing the Levitation Mark, a refinement in punctuation "which indicates that the thing is still somewhat up in the air." Definitely not up in the air is her aid and comfort to the housewife. "I daunt quickly in the kitchen," she admits, no surprise to the happy readers of "The I Hate to Cook Book" and the Housekeeping ditto. "I ponder with misgiving in My rounds with broom and shovel That it doesn't take much living in I A house to make a hovel." 1 Advice abounds. "Take your old sheets and cut them up for dust covers; you want to keep your dust looking nice." "Never check a laundry list; the price of a washrag isn't worth it." The Bracken brand of feminine logic is evident in "A this week end after a two-week tour of several states in the East and Midwest. William Steinberg, who led the orchestra on tour, will direct the iy Pittsburgh fdKlUl Chamber 5 Society Presents Friday eve- Byron ning and Sunday afternoon programs here.

Byron Janis will be soloist in the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for Piano and Orchestra. Howard Hillyer, principal French horn player of the orchestra, will be soloist in David Amram's Horn Concerto. Also on the program will be Mahler'i Symphony No. 1. PARKENIN QUARTET Monday, Nov.

54 8:30 P.M. Carnegie Music Hall Oakland Tickets: $3.90 $3.00 On sole of Xoufcnenn'j, Nnrne'l, Gimbfls, Pitt Student Union and the Boi Office. YUCOSLAV CHAMPIONS Fmla, the Yugoslav folk ensemble of 45 dancers, singers and instrumentalists, will moke its second Pittsburgh appearance for International Theater on Saturday at 8 :30 p. m. in Camegis Hall.

The group won first prize in the World Folk Festival competition in Moscow in which artists of 143 nations took part. They come here direct from engagements in London and Spain. Dollar Is a Sometime Thing," or "If I owed precisely as much as I have, I'd know I was in terrible shape, but the 5 months on the bestseller Urtf An NAL Book 10 WORL0.