News in print

In October, Madison House will publish a ``serious'' coffee-table book by Nancy Reagan's former chief of staff, James Rosebush, in which he examines the role of the First Lady in terms of Mrs. Reagan's approach to the job. ... The University of California will publish a 12-volume edition of Martin Luther King's papers. The first volume will appear in 1989 and the last (their guess is as good as anybody's) in 2002. ... Random House's acquisition of the British literary publishing group (Chatto, Virago, Bodley Head, and Jonathan Cape Ltd.) reflects the growing trend of transatlantic ownership of publishing, as does Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of 96 percent of Harper & Row (4 million shares at $65 a share). ... In the fall book list we find the autobiography of the TV evangelist of good sex, Dr. Ruth Westheimer. ... Viking Penguin is about to publish `Spycatcher,' a memoir by a British spy (Peter Wright), which was barred from publication in Britain. Viking expects the Thatcher government to try to prevent publication in the US. ... It appears that Richard and Elizabeth Stern have no way to bar anyone - including the surrogate mother of their daughter - from selling book or film rights about the Baby M Case, as Gary Skoloff, their attorney, found out when he asked a roomful of constitution lawyers recently at Yale Law School. ... The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction went to Richard Wiley for ``Soldiers in Hiding'' (Atlantic Monthly Press). Wiley is executive director of the Association of International Schools of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya.