Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 3

SATURDAY, PECMBEft9; JR9j5i" i THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS PAGE 3 A Stern warning: Don't be late Jock to sign books butts, but even he has some limits 6.v Rick Selvin Checker would visit the book store. Philadelphia police in response to concerns by South Street merchants have devised a crowd-control plan aimed at keeping the street open during the crucial holiday-shopping day. According to Lt. Robert McCar-'. thy of the 3rd District's South Street detail, the Stern line will start on Passyunk Avenue, near 5th and South, then be diverted down Bain-bridge and ultimately to a playground at 6th and Lombard.

"We figure we can accommodate about a mile and a half of people that way," McCarthy said. Those fans who reach the store can buy "Miss America" for S19.25, 30 percent less than the cover price of $27, de Forge said. "We're minimizing our profit as a Christmas present to Howard's fans," he said. iwnnrc'rrT-nf Vi.nnnr mriiimr" imiii iiiiim ht America" are ready for signing GEORGE MILLER DAILY NEWS session today at Tower Books Boxes of Howard Stern's "Miss "Hybrid," first in line for book signing in Center City, gives thumbs-up sign Daily News Staff Writer First, try prayer. If you're near South Street now and reading this as you wait for Howard Stern to autograph his new book, contact the Supreme Being of your choice and say these words: "Please, oh, please, don't let me be the five-thousand-and-first person on line." Five thousand.

That's the number of copies on hand at Tower Books squirreled into every nook and cranny of the place to accommodate fans of shock jock Stern. The radio personality was coming to town today officially declared "Howard Stern Day" by Mayor Rendell to sign his new bestseller, "Miss America." The visit is part of a publicity tour that has drawn mobs of fans at every stop. Tower Books, at 425 South is ready for the onslaught, manager Robert de Forge said. The doors will open at 9 a.m. but only to Stern customers.

"We're closing for business other than the book signing," he said. "Any other arrangement would be a security nightmare." Stern's publicist, Hayley Sumner, said he would sign only copies of "Miss America" purchased that day at the store. "No posters, no books somewhere else," she said. "He won't even sign copies of his earlier book, 'Private she said, "although he has been known to sign the private parts of fans." What parts would that be? "You know breasts, tushes," she said. De Forge says there's no way "humanly possible" Stern could handle more than 5,000 books.

And even that figure would be pushing the envelope. "He'd have to sign one every 3.6 seconds to reach even 1,000 an hour," de Forge noted, checking his electric calculator. Stern's visit, de Forge said earlier in the week, could last five to seven hours, but even at the longer figure, he would have to write his name and any personal message in five seconds. On his radio program, which originates from station K-ROCK in New York and is heard locally over station WYSP-FM, Stern vowed yesterday to sign books for everyone who was on line by a.m. But Stern's on-the-road record is about 750 books an hour, said Sumner.

"That's just his signature," she said. "No greeting." Appearing with Stern, Sumner said, will be the two "exotic dancers" who were with him last Thursday on 'The Tonight Show." Viewers who saw that show will remember the pair, who disrupted the taping by kissing each other and then offering themselves to Leno "for a spanking." Stern also said on his show yester-. day that rock legend Chubby 1 Nature's story a real chiller by Myung Oak Kim Daily News Staff Writer Howard Stern fans camped out in tents and hoping to be first among hordes expected at his book-signing today may be shocked even before they see the infamous radio celebrity. A cold front from the Midwest is expected to charge through the Philadelphia region, starting around daybreak, dumping snow, sleet and rain before blowing out to sea in late afternoon. Philadelphians can expect an inch or two of snow, the northwest suburbs three to four inches.

The snow will change to rain by midday, possibly mixing with sleet. Temperatures will reach a high of 39 degrees and low of 19 tonight, freezing whatever snow is left. "It's going to probably end up being more of a nuisance than anything," said Accu-Weather meteorologist Ken Reeves. "When all is said and done, the storm will be noted for the colder air it brings in." It will be frigid Sunday, "to say the least," Reeves said. Those venturing to the Vet tomorrow for Eagles vs.

Cowboys: Bundle up. Temperatures won't top 26. Winds will gust to 35 mph, making it feel like zero degrees or lower, Reeves said. Next week: more cold. For first fan, no place GEORGE MILLER DAILY NEWS like dome Like many of the people in line, Ventimiglia, a computer engineer, is a college graduate.

1 His college buddy, Sunny Yang, also 23, came from New York for the event. While conceding Stern can be "vulgar," Yang called him "a humorist who can get away with making fun of people." A dissenter: Pat Michael, 54, from the Greater Northeast, said she thinks "Stern goes too far. He represents everything that's wrong with our culture today." Her daughter, Nicole, 17, disagreed. She "loves" Howard. Dave Blttan called himself "Hybrid." He arrived at midnight Thursday and was prepared to spend a second night in the cold.

He is black, 23 and "works for the city." Is it odd that he's a fan of a man considered by some to be racist? "I just want to meet Howard. I don't take offense in what he says. I've been a fan for three years." Mark Ventimiglia, also 23 (most of the Stern gang were males in their 20s), said he flew from his Miami home for the signing. Why does he like Howard? "He's a guy who shoots straight from the hip. Every time I listen to him, he is.

telling it like it is." Even freeze can't numb the ardor for their hero Shivering in bone-chilling weather in hopes of getting their beloved idol to autograph his book, 400 or so bundled-up Howard Stern fans lined up in an overnight wait for the radio host to show up on South Street this morning. First in line on narrow Pass-yunk Avenue just south of South was a guy in. a dome tent who.