Guinness Book

Paul S. Newman -- known as "King of the Comic Book Writers" and listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific comic book author of all time with 4,121 tales to his credit -- died Sunday of a heart attack at Howard County General Hospital. He was 75.Mr. Newman, who was fond of saying, "I made the name famous," is not related to the movie actor of the same name.Though his aspiration was to become a Broadway playwright, Mr. Newman's comic book career began in 1947 after the director of a radio show sent a script Mr. Newman had written to DC Comics.

On last Wednesday's Parent and Child page, Susan Rapp, director of the Village Reading Center, explained that your child's age and developmental stage will probably correspond to certain interests, and you can encourage her reading by selecting books that match those interests.This week, she discusses the older reader.Learning to Read: ages 9 and 10Blooming readers like series books, informational books, mysteries and stories about sports. They like adventures with heroes, funny books, factual material (such as the "Guinness Book of World Records")

It's official: Kenny G is the world's most long-winded musician.In early December, the frizzy-haired saxophonist set the record for the longest-held note -- an E flat sustained for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. With an official from the Guinness Book of World Records on hand to verify the feat, G played the E flat in front of a reportedly breathless crowd at the J&R Music World store in Manhattan.What ultimately stopped him was not a lack of air, but a surfeit of spit. "He eventually was forced to stop because of all the saliva that built up inside the instrument," Mark C. Young, the Guinness Book's publisher, told reporters.

Haji Mohammad Alam Channa, once named the world's tallest living man in the Guinness Book of World Records, died from kidney disease Thursday in Westchester County, N.Y. He was 42.Mr. Channa, a farmer from the Pakistani village of Shawan, had been sick for two years and was hospitalized last month.At 7 feet 7.25 inches, Mr. Channa was listed as the world's tallest living man in the 1997 Guinness book, slightly taller than Washington Wizards basketball player Gheorghe Muresan.David Duval Thomas,85, a principal architect of the country's air traffic control and safety system, died June 17 in northern Virginia.

The star is dozing, enjoying the warmth of an unusually strong winter sun pouring through the window, when his manager comes for him. Slowly, he stretches his legs, then sits with exaggerated patience while his manager runs a plastic blue comb through his sleep-mussed locks.Then he relieves himself against a tree.Josh the Wonder Dog, ever the trouper, is ready to go, but first he needs to go.Josh the Wonder Dog? But certainly you've heard of him. Local hero, presidential candidate, one of this year's grand marshals at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Guinness Book of World Records honoree for being the most-petted dog in the world.

For Jared R. Beads, the Westport marathon runner known as the "human running machine," taking a daily 26-mile run was as much a part of his normal routine as eating breakfast, going to work and spending time with his family.Mr. Beads, in "The Guinness Book of Records" for five years for having the longest nonstop run, died Saturday at Frederick Villas Nursing Center in Catonsville of complications from a stroke suffered several years ago. He was 68.The familiar runner, who seemed to be all over the city at once in his running prime, was known not only for his unconventional approach to the sport but for his persistence as well.

It's hard to say which is Larry Adler's greater talent -- playing harmonica or telling stories.Granted, his reputation on the mouth organ is formidable. It would be tempting to call him the Casals of his instrument, except that Adler's interests extend well beyond the classical repertoire. True, he has had pieces written for him by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Hector Villa-Lobos, Darius Milhaud and Malcolm Arnold. But the Baltimore-born musician has also recorded with everyone from Duke Ellington and Django Rheinhardt to Sonny Terry and Sting.

Dan Rodricks is on vacation. His column will resume when he returns.April Fool!Man goes to the automatic teller machine in a Giant. He asks for $60 from his checking account. Eighty dollars drops out of the machine. The printed receipt indicates the man's account has been debited only the $60 he requested. He reports this at the courtesy booth. He's told to "Check with your bank."Right. The bank. The bank that charges $25 each time the man's checking account is overdrawn by a buck-fifty. The bank that charges 50 cents for a telephone transfer from savings to checking.

They finished six hours ahead of schedule, but nearly came up three miles short.Eight medics at Fort Meade, out to set a world distance record for carrying a stretcher with a 140-pound dummy on board, started their endurance test believing they had to go 150 miles to top the mark set a decade ago.But as they passed the halfway point of their non-stop, two-day journey, the volunteer litter-bearers of the 85th Medical Battalion learned the ante had been upped....

'Tis the season to experience the unexpected. Finding Santa and his reindeer on your roof. Finding just the right gift. Well-behaved children. And the world's largest Christmas wreath, on Clemsonville Road near Union Bridge.The decoration weighs 9,060 pounds, has an 116-foot diameter and is made with 8-foot evergreen trees attached to an oak frame.Clemsonville Tree Farm owner Michael Ryan and his sons build it afresh every year. It takes 200 trees and a football field-length of ribbon. No wonder it's in the "Guinness Book of World Records" (page 125 of the 1992 paperback edition)

For some, it was a chance to fullfill a dream of being part of the Guinness Book of World Records. For others, it was a chance to try something new and a little ... different. But for many people, it seemed like just another good reason to disrobe. The Maryland Area Naturist Society sponsored a skinny-dip Saturday in Baltimore, one of dozens of locations across North America where nudists and naturists were trying to set the first record for the Guinness Book of World Records in skinny-dipping.

Emiliano Mercado del Toro died Wednesday at his home on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, a month after becoming the world's oldest person, his grandniece told the Associated Press. Mr. Mercado del Toro was born when Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony and trained as a soldier the year World War I ended. He never married and had no children. In the seaside town of Isabela, he became a local celebrity after he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for his longevity.

Carry Me Down M.J. Hyland Canongate Books / 192 pages / $23 If we got rid of the child narrator, would anybody miss him? Surely his characteristics have gone from enduring to inuring. First and most foremost, there's his fractured family, usually in the form of a drunken father and an ineffectual mother - one overly close to her charge, mourning a great and fragile beauty. His parents have often produced an alternately raging and principled older brother, already dead or soon to die, and a preternaturally innocent young sister, who utters gnomic statements and, if the older brother lives, is not long for this world herself.

No one in movie history has managed to segue from lightweight TV-series star to deep-dish actor more convincingly than Johnny Depp. In the 17 years since he made his leap from Fox-TV's 21 Jump Street, he's managed the transition in a manner worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records - or the Alec Guinness School of Screen Chameleons. In his major roles he's been a shape-changer, going from the conscience-ravaged FBI agent of Donnie Brasco to the conscience-free Hunter S. Thompson surrogate ("Raoul Duke")

David Diamond, 89, a distinguished American composer who wrote 11 symphonies and 10 string quartets, as well as ballets and film scores, died Monday of congestive heart failure in Rochester, N.Y. Considered a traditionalist, Mr. Diamond was part of what some call a forgotten generation of great American symphonists who had a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. Percy Arrowsmith,105, who with his wife set the record two weeks ago for the world's longest marriage, died yesterday at his home in Hereford, northwest of London, his bishop said.

Chauncey Whitehead wanted quiet at the start. So the people who gathered at the Druid Hill Family YMCA for his world-record attempt didn't know what to think or say. Some read books and wrapped Christmas presents in the third-floor aerobic room as he sought to surpass the mark of 8,555 sit-ups in one hour. But when Whitehead, 42, began to cramp up 29 minutes into his quest - part of a fund-raising and holiday-toy-drive effort by the YMCA - he knew he could count on his onlookers for their support, for their voices.

Norris McWhirter, 78, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, final arbiter on everything from the fastest climb of Mount Everest to the world's longest hot dog, died Monday after a heart attack at his home in southern England. The first Guinness book appeared in 1954, edited and compiled by Mr. McWhirter and his twin brother, Ross, both noted British athletes and journalists. At first, it was published by the Guinness brewery as a book for settling trivia disputes in pubs. Ross was murdered by the Irish Republican Army in 1975, but Norris McWhirter continued to edit the book until 1986 and was advisory editor until 1996.

Under yesterday's early-afternoon clouds, children in handmade red and white top hats streamed out of Lansdowne Elementary School in Halethorpe trying to assemble themselves into a line and two circles, spelling out the number 100. The eldest of their classmates, the fifth-graders, squatted down around the masterpiece they were there to celebrate: a birthday card to the late Dr. Seuss, born a century ago today. Even if Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, were alive to receive the card, this wouldn't be one for the post office to deliver.

Nothing says promotional gimmickry quite like radio morning shows and minor-league baseball. Morning shows on commercial radio are notorious for their relentless pursuit of the comically idiotic, while minor-league baseball teams like the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been known for such things as shooting bratwurst at fans during home games. Combine these worlds, and nothing says Fourth of July like flags, fireworks and record-breaking flatulence - at least according to the latest promotional stunt by the Bowie Baysox, sponsored by WQSR Radio and B&M Baked Beans.

Norris McWhirter's Book of Historical Records, by Norris McWhirter (Sterling Publishing Company, 288 pages, 24.95). From the originator and author of The Guinness Book of World Records comes this lavishly illustrated and designed addition to any coffee table or to the smallest room in the house. Beginning 680,000 years ago ("Homo erectus migrates to Europe."), it is divided by general subjects -- "Everyday Life," "The Arts," "Sports." Neither scholarly nor daunting, it is full of provocations and entertainments.