Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 33

Variety Minneapolis Star and Tribune cc OO en CO en CO Thursday GOOD DATE OF co -J August 181983 SALE ONLY 1C. CD Novelist Greeley says motives misunderstood I II! i i 6 By Joseph Berger Newsday New York, N.Y. Andrew Greeley, the writer of steamy best-selling novelsabout priests struggling with the temptations of sex, money and power, perhaps the richest priest in America today and one of the most controversial, was being interviewed over brunch in the glitzy opulence of the Helmsley Palace Hotel. As much as Greeley savored the raspberries and cream, his critics would have savored the symbolism of his Staying at this hotel. The lower floors were once the headquarters of the Archdiocese of New York.

God has been supplanted by Mammon, which is something that detractors suggest has happened with Greeley a respected sociologist, a maverick thinker on church issues and writer of almost 80 books and monographs, who turned to writing novels several years ago. Greeley scorns such critics. "They would be perfectly happy if I wrote novels that people didn't read," he said. "I don't write the books to be best-sellers. I don't write them to make money.

If lots of people read them, then that's fine. If the royalty checks are substantial, well, I'll give most of that money away. "But I think the people who raise that charge reveal a lot more about themselves than they do about me when they make them: That they're envious, that they read into me motives that they might have, but they have no way of knowing what my motives are." The only corruption, Greeley said, is that he has been forced into "endlessly fighting off that kind of baloney, and that can become a preoccupation. I'm faced with the danger of losing my tranquility and serenity. And that would be a mistake." No, Greeley insists at 55, success has not spoiled him.

Indeed the Chicago priest, who owns residences in Chicago's John Hancock Center, in Tucson and a vacation home in Michigan, who has a 1 .3 million contract with Warner Books, who has enough money to spend on scholarships, does not even regard himself as a success. "I think most of the things I wanted to be and do as a priest I failed at, and I really consider much of my life a failure. I guess I'm a successful fiction writer, but since that's not an integral part of my identity, it doesn't make much difference "I did a lot of work with young people when I was in parish work; I poured a tremendous amount of myself into that, and it didn't succeed. I wanted to be a sociologist in the service of the church; the church couldn't care less about my sociology. I wanted to be sort of a contributing member of my archdiocese; I'm an outcast there, and will be a permanent pariah.

The cardinal (Joseph Bernardin of Chicago) pretends that I don't exist, and I'm sure he will continue that pretense. "So I can't look back over the 29 years in the priesthood and think that I'm anything but a failure in the terms of what I wanted to be. I didn't want to be a novelist. It has happened. It's nice.

I'm glad of it. But so what. "I lost some of my friends when I turned to writing novels, too, because they said to me these were people who had been friends since we were teen-agers and they said, 'If you're going to do this, we're not going to defend you anymore. We're not going to be identified with I'm not complaining about any of these things. They go with the territory." Greeley 4C The Rev.

Andrew Greeley in front of the doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. 0 If! I ti i 3mm) I If Jill jWM 1 1 1 WW ni -V Tf jr. -yti ii mini in 'mimmt If 1 "lit! 1 1 -fh 1 ft 23 iTiiifT Ira Gershwin, lyricist for numerous Broadway musicals, dies at 86 i A By JohnS. Wilson New York Times Ira Gershwin, the lyricist who collaborated with his brother, George, on scores for Broadway musicals that included "Porgy and Bess" and "Of Thee I Sing," died at age 86 Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Gershwin had a heart condition and was in frail health for several years. He died in his sleep at his Beverly Hills home. His biographer, Robert Kimball, said Wednesday that Gershwin had been unable to attend this spring's Broadway opening of the hit musical "My One and Only," which relies entirely on George and Ira Gershwin songs from several shows for its score. "But he was greatly pleased with this new success so late in his life, and he made suggestions of songs to include in the show, and even made slight changes in some lyrics to fit the new plot lines," Kimball said. Gershwin watched this year's live telecast of the Antoinette Perry awards, which featured a number from "My One and Only." In the course of the telecast from the Uris Theater, the Uris was officially renamed the Gershwin Theater in honor of the brothers.

Gershwin, in collaboration with his brother, wrote the lyrics of such familiar songs as "Embraceable You," "Strike Up the Band," "The Man I Love, Wonderful," and "I Got Rhythm." But he also furnished lyrics for Kurt Weill's songs for "Lady in the Dark," Harold Arlen's compositions for the musical remake of the movie "A Star is Born" and Jerome Kern's songs for the movie "Cover Girl." The Gershwin brothers' "Of Thee I Sing" in 1932 was the first musical (and Gershwin the first lyricist) to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama. The show's memorable score included the songs "Who Cares?" and "Love Is Sweeping the Country." Words written by Gershwin, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, to accompany music of some of the leading song composers of the time had a wit, polish, freshness and depth of feeling that set them far above ordinary popular lyrics. Collaborating with his brother, he wrote the words for such songs as "Our Love Is Here to Stay," "Lady Be Good," "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Funny Face." With Weill he also wrote the musical show "The Firebrand of Florence" and with Arthur Schwartz, "Park Avenue." For many years, Gershwin lived in the shadow of his younger brother, whose music had captured the imagination of America. Ira used the name "Arthur Francis" to avoid confusing matters. For five years, beginning in 1920, whenever anyone Gershwin 3C The Gershwin brothers in 1935: George, left, and Ira.

Ch. 1 1 names Paul Magers, Diana Pierce as its new coanchors Nick Coleman The name Magers famous in local broadcast journalism will return to Twin Cities television next month. Paul Magers, little brother of former KSTP-TV anchorman Ron Magers, has been hired by WTCN-TV (Ch. 1 1) to coanchor its main news reports. Magers, 29, has been given a 3-year contract at more than 1 00,000 a year to come to WTCN from a San Diego, station where he was a news anchor and reporter.

Coanchoring the news with him at Channel 1 1 will be Diana Pierce, also 29, who has been hired from a Fresno, Calif, station. The new Channel 1 1 duo, making its on-air debut Sept. 1 9, will replace coanchors John Bachman and Cora-Ann Mihalik. Bachman and Mihalik are being given new assignments (demoted is the term some might use). Bachman, 34, has been asked to preside over a syndicated news feature program called "Newscope" that will start next month and air at 5 p.m.

each day. If he accepts the job, Bachman would coanchor the show with Marty Burns- Wolfe, who recently joined Channel 1 1 from a Denver, station. Bachman, on vacation this week, has told station management that he will decide by next week whether to accept the job. WTCN reportedly has offered him a substantial pay increase to help him make up his mind, even though the job won't have as much visibility or prestige as does anchoring the 10 p.m. news.

Tom Kirby, WTCN's vice president for news, said, "We're still negotiating with Bachman but we've made him an offer we think he'll take. We'd really like to hold onto him because we would like people to feel that all of our (anchor) teams are prime-time quality teams." Kirby said Mihalik has been reassigned to coanchor the weekend news with Joan Steffend. Mihalik handled the weekend chores alone before being named last spring to coanchor the weeknight news with Bachman. But if Bachman and Mihalik aren't happy Coleman 4C Diana Pierce Paul Magers.