Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 29

The Detroit News A Today in Accent Susan Stark on movies Here's your guide to what's showing this weekend. Page 2C Monday in Accent Supporting the arts Corporations benefit when they give, because they enhance life in Detroit. Section Saturday, August 30, 1997 Readers Respond A. tie Joe A Jta ricv Painting Some call mural 'a great idea others picture something different LVJ which will be be painted at no cost to the city by the California-based, Metro Detroit-born artist known as Wyland. Some local artists had complained that the mural would function as a giant commercial billboard for Wyland's chain of 37 galleries one of which opened this month in Birmingham.

Other artists argued that the That controversial mural that's supposed to go up on the riverfront wall of Detroit's city-owned Joe Louis Arena in October still has people wailing. More than 70 Detroit News readers responded to last week's Accent story about objections to the proposed whale mural, topic of whales seemed out of place in the Great Lakes region. City officials countered that the mural, which would be the 76th "whaling wall" painted in various cities by Wyland, is a win-win situation for Detroit because the artist is working for free and because whales are an innocuous subject. jf In addition to having two CDs due out this fall, Aretha Franklin has been busy filming scenes for the movie "Blues Brothers 2000" due out in February. Franklin plays Pine Knob on Sunday night.

Detroit's Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin has no plans to give up crown By Kevin Ransom Special to The Detroit News When it comes to respect, Aretha Franklin gives as good as she gets. At least that's the case during a phone interview the other day from Franklin's Bloomfield Hills home. Three times during the conversation, Detroit's own Queen of Soul addresses the writer as "Mr." although she's senior by at least 12 years. Admittedly this unfailingly polite Aretha isn't quite the Aretha that might have been expected. She's always been ambivalent toward the press, and her reticence about doing interviews means they usually I Music Preview TTTB I have to be canceled and rescheduled.

But on this day Franklin, whose soul-stirring vocals will swoop and soar at Pine Knob on Sunday, has reason to be in amiable spirits. She's fresh from a three-day taping session for the Blues Brothers 2000 film, in which she lent her astonishing mezzo-soprano to a remake of "Respect" 30 years after the original catapulted her to super-stardom. "That was just a dynamite taping," effuses Franklin. "In the film, my character has risen from poverty and now owns a Mercedes dealership, so we're living high on the hog." The new Blues Brothers is due for a February release. Fans of the original will recall that Franklin romped I i Aretha Franklin with Keith Ruff 7:30 p.m.

Sunday Tickets $25 pavilion, $12.50 lawn Pine Knob, Clarkston Call (248) 377-0100 Photo illustrations I The Detmit News Larry Walocko of Birmingham says the mural should honor Great Lakes fish such as the white sturgeon, shown in this artist's conception. rr ere's what you had to say about emblazoning the "Joe" with whales: .4 ftfc- if )W itf 1 11 1 MtrmmW1 ir lr I David of Madison Heights says the Joe Louis wall, seen here from the People Mover, should sport a painting of Darren McCarty pummeling Claude Lemieux. through a playful yet show-stopping rendition of "Think," another of her classic soul benchmarks. And after going six years without releasing an album of new material, Franklin will deliver two albums in the next three months. In late September, her new, still-untitled pop-soul CD hits the street, followed in November by a Christmas album.

That disc was recorded live last December at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, where her late father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, once presided. Franklin also is working on her autobiography, slated to be published next spring. "Right now we're up to about the year 1978," she says, prompting recollections of a storied musical history that was launched in earnest with the 1967 LP I Never Loved a Man arguably the greatest soul album of all time.

Of her upcoming pop-soul release, Franklin can only say: "It's like, I just love everything on it. It's both contemporary and classic soul, because I write from a traditional-soul mode, but I used contemporary producers." Among those producers were Puffy Combs aka Puff Daddy and Lauren Hill of the hip-hopsoul sensations the Fugees. The Christmas recording teamed Franklin with gospel-music mainstays like Vanessa Bell Armstrong and Bobby Jones and New Life, as well as the church's choir. When asked her favorites among the current crop of female singers, Franklin pauses for a moment. Before she can answer, we narrow the question are there any worthy enough to inherit the title of Queen of Soul? "Oh, no!" retorts Franklin quickly, with a big laugh.

"I plan to be around. I'm definitely going for the long run." We need to have Great Lakes fish on that mural. Lake sturgeon, lake trout, even perch. Not whales. They don't belong on there.

Larry Walocko, Birmingham I think the whale mural would be totally inappropriate. I think a better mural would be a huge painting of Darren McCarty pummeling Claude Lemieux. David, Madison Heights Instead of whales, I believe a ship that is native to the Great Lakes, such as the Edmund Fitzgerald, would be more appropriate. Wendy, Brownstown Township Wyland is a clever charlatan. Where in Detroit is the sea or the whales? Why does he paint only whales? Is that all he knqws? Why not RcnCen and the Ambassador Bridge and the cars? Alexander Jozwik, Detroit What do these local artists want, another picture of a car? Kathy Hayden, Fraser I think it's a great idea.

I think the whales are a worldwide symbol. What would a local artist rather have? A perch? Or maybe a car? Or maybe graffiti? Emma, Rochester Hills Where is it written that murals or other art work depicting the automobile industry or sports figures be the only things that should be Please see PAINTING, Page 6C I 2 I i I At his 37th "whaling wall" in Portsmouth, N.H., mural artist Wyland teaches a group of students about the unique animals and their characteristics. But Wendy of Brownstown Township believes a Great Lakes ship, like the Edmund Fitzgerald, above, would be better suited for the wall. Writer and critic Kevin Ransom is a longtime contributor to The Detroit News. Health Kiddie Lit Cosby's 'Little Bill' gives kids words of wisdom The verdict is in: Jury duty can be harmful to your health By Elizabeth Neus Gannett News Service Sure, serving on a jury can be stressful, particularly when the trial's on Court TV and agents are banging down your door for the book rights, but now two researchers say it can be hazardous to your physical health.

In a study of 40 Cincinnati-area jurors, researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine found that nearly two-thirds of them suffered physical or 1 1 In the course of The Treasure Hunt, Little Bill learns an important lesson about values emotional and spiritual, rather than material. Cosby writes in simple, correct but conversational language with an easy, jogging rhythm and plenty of lively, clipped dialogue. No more imposing a word than little old "so," for example, takes on enormous importance in The Meanest Thing To Say. Scholastic is planning three more Little Bill books for 1998. All 4 the books in the scries are dedicated to Cosby's late son, Ennis, and carry his favorite greeting: "Hello, friend." illustrations in bright colors by Varnette P.

Honeywood. All feature a sound mix of entertainment and education in the patented Cosby style. The Best Way to Play tells how Little Bill and his pals survive living without the hottest new video game by using their imaginations and energy to make up their own game by playing outdoors together. The Meanest Thing to Say pits Little Bill against a new kid at school who decides it's great fun to say nasty things. Little Bill's father comes up with an alternative and proves to his son that it's even more fun being nice.

By Susan Stark The Detroit News Between the loss of a son and the blackmail tactics of a would-be daughter, it has not been a good year for Bill Cosby. Happily, things are looking up. Come September, Cos bows as a children's book author. Scholastic Press will launch his Little Bill Books For Beginning Readers with three titles. All are priced at $13.95 ($3.99 in soft cover) and are aimed at children ages 5-8.

All are narrated by a young African-American lad, the Little Bill of the title, but feature a fully integrated company of children. All come with simple, upbeat Four became depressed. Four became anorexic. One got hives for the first and only time in his life. One became sexually inhibited after a pornography trial.

One developed a severe fear of bathrooms (the murder victim in that trial was found in a bathroom). The researchers, writing in the Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, say the stress is caused by missed work, time away from family, the disturbing content of the trials, and the feeling that the defendant's future (and sometimes life) is in one's hands. Media attention adds to the stress, they said. psycnoiogicai symptoms aiier In Bill Cosby's new children's book, "The Best Way to Play," Little BUI and his friends use their imagination to make up games. their trials ended.

Among them: Thirteen jurors developed insomnia. Four developed heart palpitations..