The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 33

Varie The Minneapolis Star Wednesday, July 18, 1979 IB Jim Klobuchar 3 01 Among the personal calamities I had not seriously credited to my potential was being marooned in a South American banana plantation. I have now filled this void, and I detail it today as part of a confession before God and the Peruvian authorities and an even higher tribunal, the readers of The Minneapolis Star. Until last week, I had not knowingly filched the possession of another living person since my days as the bandito of the graham cracker hour in the Washington school kindergarten in Ely. I count It a sorrow, but still something short of a disgrace, that 1 have broken this long record of obedience to the laws of man and Moses. I don't think you would have done differently.

There were pressures and provocations, which began when Wilson and I boarded a bus In Huaraz for the journey to Lima 250 miles away. The running time, including a lunch stop at Bar-raca, was registered at eight hours. "More than enough," I said confidently, "to allow for any delays In reaching the airport. Our plane is scheduled to leave at 12:30 a.m. The bus Is due in Lima at 6.

It should be a beautiful and relaxing ride." An English-speaking native regarded me with disbelief. "Senor," he said, "there is no way you can ride 250 miles In Peru and be totally relaxed. This is a mighty new bus from Brazil, modern to the last detail, but some'' thing will happen, I promise you." The bus virtually shrieked modernity. It was powerful and splendidly appointed, with a constellation of overhead signal lights and switches for the passengers' convenience, a microwave oven under the ceiling rack midships, and a stylishly paneled lavatory in the rear, In my total tenure on the bus, none of these was ever activated or gave any symptoms of being operable, although several were attempted. Random research by a half dozen passengers within an hour after departure disclosed that the lavatory door was locked.

No explanation was ever given. The bus was full and the first scheduled stop would not occur for at least four hours. Even granting heroic disciplinary powers on the part of the passengers, nature would certainly demand outlets before then. These took the form of sudden flights from the bus by clumps of three and four passengers whenever the driver paused for a tire check or a dawdling burro on the road. But the exodus was massive when the bus unaccountably came to a stop beside a banana plantation 20 minutes north of Barraca.

Amateur mechanics on board joined the paunchy little driver in the traditional circuit of the ailing vehicle. The problem revealed itself soon enough. The skirts and fenders of the bus were riding no more than six inches off the ground. The suspension system was gone. A passing motorist was handed a message to take to Barraca.

"Will there be another bus?" the driver was asked. "No, senorl We are sending for the mechanic." "In Barraca?" "No, senor, in Lima. He will be here in three or four hours. After that, he may be able to fix the bus. On the other hand, he may not." The airport passengers among the Americans and English on board quickly invoked a committee and designated an American priest serving in Huaraz, Father Noel, to recruit a couple of colectivos or taxis for a pooled attempt on Lima.

Before he left, I asked the padre what were those graceful, bladey palm trees next door. "They are banana trees, my son," he said, "probably owned by some cooperative." I examined our predicament. Wilson, suffering for days from undernourishment during a mountain climb, had not eaten for seven hours. It occurred to me that I hadn't, either. The rest of the pas- Klobuchar Turn to Page 3B OLOH Dracula' lure is in our blood i i ml I Sr- Xs Bp bis, iMiVcS-v V-vJr i iihi, mwim 1 1 1 hit imnwi.

1 i 4 'MVT i ui; i 11 i.im mhiihj niniw.i.inWfrwM By JOHN HOFSESS Centaurs, satyrs, mermaids, dragons almost every mythical creature that once thrilled and enthralled the human Imagination have lost their spellbinding appeal in this scientific age. We live, so we like to think, beyond the reach of the supernatural. There is one ancient creature, however, that continues to haunt our dreams. Though we pretend that stories about this kind are a campy game, a flirtation with anachronistic horrors, the vampire continues to fascinate people. Historians Raymond T.

McNally and Radu Florescu, in their 1972 study "In Search of Dracula," list more than 100 vampire movies since 1931, the year of Tod Browning's classic starring Bela Lugosl. The number of novels and stories about vampires that followed the publication of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in 1897 is incalculable it includes the science fiction variations of the You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! You thinkyou have left me without a place to rest. My revenge is iust beminll h- spread over xm centuries, i I work of Ray Bradbury, Colin Wilson and A.E. Van Vogt, and even runs to a cameo appearance in Lawrence Durrell's otherwise non supernatural "Alexandria Quartet." There is no doubt that the vampire is as compelling as he is repulsive, that as an exploration of the darker side of human nature the vampire continues to tap something deep in our minds, if not in our veins. Each landmark in vampire lore Stoker's novel; F.W.

Murnau's silent film "Nosferatu the Vampire" (1922); Christopher Lee's portrayal in "The Horror of Dracula" (1958); and the new film version released Friday (the 13th) starring Frank Langella is notable for the way it alters the basic ingredient of the legend to create a vampire that reflects the obsessions and fantasies of its particular era. Many of the early vampire stories, for example, emphasize the religious aspect: vampires as satanic creatures that can J- 1 Li 1 Langella ana ume is i on mv KS" Bram Stoker's Dracula only be vanquished by moral fortitude (crucifixes and other symbols play a large part). Stories and films about vampires made in the late 1950s and early '60s made much of the violence that accompanies these bloodthirsty creatures. 't The new "Dracula" in which Langella repeats the perform- Evil Torn to Page 4B Sur Illustration by Todd Grand? John Carman wears, with 1 wins core rise James Rosenfield, CBS Television Network president, told a story in Minneapolis this week that might lend credence to the persistent reports that ABC is trying to lure Johnny Carson away from NBC. Rosenfield said that when he was vacationing in southern France last week, he walked into a restaurant in a town that's off the usual tourist track.

In the restau- Carman Turn to Page 2B 17 197S WCCO-AM 30.4 280 kOWB-AM and FM S.2 10.0 KQRS-AM ind FM 7 8 KSTP-FM 8.1 4.t WAVL-FM 5 4.4 KEEY-FM 5 7-4 WCCO-FM S.8 7.8 WDGY-AM 3.7 4.1 KSTP-AM 3-3 4.1 WAYL-AM 20 2 0 KFMX-FM 18 2.0 WLOL-FM 18 1.2 RSI-AM 11 2.6 KFJ.Y-AM 10 IS KTCR-FM 10 IS KTCR-AM 8 .4 WWTC-AM .8 1.8 WMIN-AM Arbitron said it had only a 1 .9 percent share of the audience. Another apparent loser in the ratings was WWTC-AM. It switched from an all-news format to contemporary music, dropped the popular Bob Allard talk show, and fell from a 1.9 share to a mere six-tenths of a share point. Arbitron measured the radio audience from April 19 to May 16. The April-May audience share figures for this year and last year are: responsible for the spurt in the ratings.

WCCO-AM broadcasts Twins baseball games. WCCO-AM's own surveys this year have shown growth in the popularity of the Twins broadcasts, the spokesman said. The Twins also are drawing better at the gate than they did last year. KDWB-AM and FM held onto second place In the ratings, followed by the KQRS-AM and FM combination. KSTP-FM, which has spent heavily on promotion and switched from an automated to a live-personality soft-rock format, jumped Into fourth place with a 6.1 share.

Its gain appeared to be at the expense of WCCO-FM, which fell from a 7.9 share to a 5.8 share. WDGY-AM solidified its position as the Twin Cities' leading country-music station, while WAYL-FM moved Into a dead heat with KEEY-FM for the "beautiful-music" audience. Despite the success of disco formats elsewhere, KFMX-FM continued to languish. WCCO-AM has widened its already auspicious lead in the local radio ratings, according to newly released Arbitron figures for April and May. Advance statistics from Arbitron give WCCO-AM an average quarter-hour share of 30.4 percent of the metro area radio audience, up from a 2S percent share in the spring 1978 book.

A spokesman for WCCO-AM said he believes heightened Interest In the Minnesota Twins Is largely Qmm pdsfes pack a piiidksro MlMte i Gedney makes a dilly of a pickle, (naturally).