National Enquirer

In Sunday's Maryland Living section, an article from the Chicago Tribune incorrectly said the Maine Antique Digest is suing the National Enquirer in a dispute over the Enquirer's use of Digest photographs. Samuel Pennington, Digest editor, said the matter has been referred to a lawyer, but no lawsuit has been filed.CHICAGO -- When photos of TV star Oprah Winfrey buying at a Shaker auction showed up in the National Enquirer, it came as a surprise to editor Samuel Pennington of the Maine Antique Digest, whose publication originally took the pictures.

As the scandal that sunk Rupert Murdoch's News of the World continued to unfold last week, one of the questions that loomed was whether there would be any fallout on this side of the Atlantic. What most American analysts were wondering was whether evidence would show that employees in Britain or at one of Murdoch's U.S. properties like the New York Post had hacked into the voice mails of family members or victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — or paid off police for information on celebrities and others here or abroad.

It's classic tabloid copy -- scandal-filled, hammeringly upbeat, simply stated, writhing on the verges of vulgarity, wallowing in celebrity gossip, direct, defiant, thriving on the stuff of dreams. It's The Untold Story: My 20 Years Running the National Enquirer, by Iain Calder (Miramax, 336 pages, $24.95). Calder is the retired editor in chief and president of that supermarket tabloid. He was born an impecunious Scot, working in his teens for a small regional paper rather than going down in the coal mines.

UNTIL YOU'VE lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is," said the great Gone with the Wind writer Margaret Mitchell. I wonder how "free" John Edwards is feeling these days? If Edwards thought by breaking his story of infidelity late Friday, as the Olympic Games began, that he'd soften the blow, he was greatly mistaken. The scandal grows, and the editors and reporters of the National Enquirer - who are now treated like Woodward and Bernstein by an embarrassed mainstream media - are smugly confident that there is oh-so-much more to reveal.

The National Enquirer: Thirty Years of Unforgettable Images, with essays by Steve Coz and Jonathan Mahler (Talk Miramax books, 256 pages, $45). Something squarely between total, dismissive contempt and shameless adulation is where most sane Americans hold The National Enquirer. It's considered mannerly, I suppose, to scorn it as despicably tabloid!!! -- but it seems to rustle off the racks in America's supermarkets, faster yet than its close cousins, which reach even further out into the mystical, mythic and mindless.

Blast coach Kenny Cooper reacted angrily to a story in yesterday's editions of The Sun, which reported that he had sent his wife and children to Dallas to escape fan criticism."

Given the success of Faye Resnick's steamy book on Nicole Simpson -- 750,000 copies rushed into print and brisk sales in many cities -- can these other tell-all books be far behind?* "He Never Lifted a Finger: My (Messy) Life With O.J. Simpson," by Maria Baur, with Mike Walker.With the help of the veteran National Enquirer columnist, O.J. Simpson's former domestic reveals for the first time what it was like to live with a football legend, but a Hall of Fame slob.Here is the shocking story of her 2 1/2 years of employment, a daily nightmare of old pizza boxes strewn around the kitchen, empty cans of Dinty Moore beef stew littering the bedroom and demands for sex, sex, sex.In the introduction, Ms. Baur writes: "I saw him in bed with many women.

THE ONLY topic of conversation that anyone will pay attention to is the O.J. Simpson trial. Therefore, it is important that when you meet people you are prepared to say something intelligent to prove that you understand what's going on.Here are a few one-liners you can drop at a dinner or party:I haven't watched the trial, but I read the book.I was once on a sequestered jury for a month, and I wound up taking Prozac.It doesn't matter if O.J. did it or not -- he should be punished for screwing up our day.The only thing I know about the trial is that you can't have enough DNA to make the prosecution happy.

As the scandal that sunk Rupert Murdoch's News of the World continued to unfold last week, one of the questions that loomed was whether there would be any fallout on this side of the Atlantic. What most American analysts were wondering was whether evidence would show that employees in Britain or at one of Murdoch's U.S. properties like the New York Post had hacked into the voice mails of family members or victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — or paid off police for information on celebrities and others here or abroad.

Until Michael Jackson was suspected of pedophilia, until thugs clubbed Tonya Harding's rival, until O. J. Simpson was charged with murder, and for that matter, until Lisa Marie Presley married the aforementioned Mr. Jackson, it was easy to dismiss the National Enquirer as the pit bull of journalism, a sleazy tabloid that sank its teeth into only the most tawdry of stories and never let go.Now that the celebrity news has escalated from the pedestrian to...

It's classic tabloid copy -- scandal-filled, hammeringly upbeat, simply stated, writhing on the verges of vulgarity, wallowing in celebrity gossip, direct, defiant, thriving on the stuff of dreams. It's The Untold Story: My 20 Years Running the National Enquirer, by Iain Calder (Miramax, 336 pages, $24.95). Calder is the retired editor in chief and president of that supermarket tabloid. He was born an impecunious Scot, working in his teens for a small regional paper rather than going down in the coal mines.

The National Enquirer: Thirty Years of Unforgettable Images, with essays by Steve Coz and Jonathan Mahler (Talk Miramax books, 256 pages, $45). Something squarely between total, dismissive contempt and shameless adulation is where most sane Americans hold The National Enquirer. It's considered mannerly, I suppose, to scorn it as despicably tabloid!!! -- but it seems to rustle off the racks in America's supermarkets, faster yet than its close cousins, which reach even further out into the mystical, mythic and mindless.

THE ONLY topic of conversation that anyone will pay attention to is the O.J. Simpson trial. Therefore, it is important that when you meet people you are prepared to say something intelligent to prove that you understand what's going on.Here are a few one-liners you can drop at a dinner or party:I haven't watched the trial, but I read the book.I was once on a sequestered jury for a month, and I wound up taking Prozac.It doesn't matter if O.J. did it or not -- he should be punished for screwing up our day.The only thing I know about the trial is that you can't have enough DNA to make the prosecution happy.

Given the success of Faye Resnick's steamy book on Nicole Simpson -- 750,000 copies rushed into print and brisk sales in many cities -- can these other tell-all books be far behind?* "He Never Lifted a Finger: My (Messy) Life With O.J. Simpson," by Maria Baur, with Mike Walker.With the help of the veteran National Enquirer columnist, O.J. Simpson's former domestic reveals for the first time what it was like to live with a football legend, but a Hall of Fame slob.Here is the shocking story of her 2 1/2 years of employment, a daily nightmare of old pizza boxes strewn around the kitchen, empty cans of Dinty Moore beef stew littering the bedroom and demands for sex, sex, sex.In the introduction, Ms. Baur writes: "I saw him in bed with many women.

Until Michael Jackson was suspected of pedophilia, until thugs clubbed Tonya Harding's rival, until O. J. Simpson was charged with murder, and for that matter, until Lisa Marie Presley married the aforementioned Mr. Jackson, it was easy to dismiss the National Enquirer as the pit bull of journalism, a sleazy tabloid that sank its teeth into only the most tawdry of stories and never let go.Now that the celebrity news has escalated from the pedestrian to...

Sacramento -- FOR WEEKS on end, the O.J. Simpson case has transfixed the nation with a compelling combination of horror, suspense, high drama and celebrity.At the same time, this case has raised serious questions about whether O.J. Simpson -- or anyone else charged with a high-profile crime -- can receive a fair trial. At a minimum, any thoughtful person must wonder how, in the aftermath of such intense media coverage, there could possibly be 12 impartial jurors left in the city of Los Angeles.

The only reason I bought a National Enquirer at the grocery store the other week was its teaser to its list of best- and worst-dressed celebrities of 1990.Under normal circumstances, I would never buy such banal, tabloid trash. I never glance at scandal sheet headlines while in the grocery line. In fact, someone else had to point out the fashion connection on the covers.Because I am a dedicated professional determined to bring you, the very latest in any fashion-related news, I forced myself to buy the periodical.

Sacramento -- FOR WEEKS on end, the O.J. Simpson case has transfixed the nation with a compelling combination of horror, suspense, high drama and celebrity.At the same time, this case has raised serious questions about whether O.J. Simpson -- or anyone else charged with a high-profile crime -- can receive a fair trial. At a minimum, any thoughtful person must wonder how, in the aftermath of such intense media coverage, there could possibly be 12 impartial jurors left in the city of Los Angeles.

Things I'd like to know:Why everyone hates the obnoxious Burger King guys. I think they're cool.How a guy gets a golden parachute like the ones Blue Cross and Blue Shield have been handing out.That, just for kicks, the other inmates ate Jeffrey Levitt's desserts.Whatever happened to Jerome "Too Sick For Prison" Cardin.Whatever happened to Ross Crystal.Ditto Mike Hambrick.How I'm gonna live without Sally Thorner for a whole year. Good thing I taped some of her better shows.When education became a budgetary burden, instead of an investment in our future.

Blast coach Kenny Cooper reacted angrily to a story in yesterday's editions of The Sun, which reported that he had sent his wife and children to Dallas to escape fan criticism."