Zuckerman

"I Married a Communist," by Philip Roth. Houghton Mifflin. 336 pages. $26.Philip Roth's stature in American letters is so great, and one is reminded of it so often (a new publication every 18 months, on average, for the last 30-something years, for a total of 23 books) and so insistently (two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle Awards) that it begins to seem almost un-American not to read him.Roth's primary narrator in "I Married a Communist" is again his alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman, in his 60s and living alone in a small house in the woods when he encounters his beloved and inspirational high school English teacher Murray Ringold, now 90 years old.Murray unfolds (over six nights on the back porch of Zuckerman's cabin)

In the past 18 months, the Zuckerman boys have slept on a schooner, mined for gems, fished for lobsters, rafted down a river, sung along with musical theater and explored an old fort, an ice cave and many science museums. And that's just on the weekends."One big vacation: You go and then it's over. With weekend trips, there's always something to look forward to. We go 15 or 20 times a year," says their father, Art Zuckerman, who runs a computer business in New Rochelle, N.Y.Move over, couples and singles.

Player of the YearSara Zuckerman, Severna Park, senior, midfield: The Anne Arundel County Player of the Year completed a stellar three-year career by leading the No. 2-ranked Falcons (18-1) to their second straight Class 4A state championship and their 11th overall. A complete player with dazzling stickwork, Zuckerman was a second-team All-America pick last year and is a two-time first-team All-State pick. A three-year veteran of the U.S. Field Hockey Association's Futures Program, Zuckerman was selected this year to B Camp, just one step below the nation's elite field hockey players.

If an auto repair shop says it charges $70 an hour for labor, and the job takes one hour, how much is the labor bill? David Verdiner thought the answer should be $70 when he had his car fixed at a Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. garage in Los Angeles two years ago. The store had signs stating that its hourly labor rate was $70. But instead, Verdiner claims, he was billed $112 for the labor, even though the job took only 40 minutes. Verdiner paid his bill. But in October 2002 he sued Pep Boys for fraud and false advertising.

Exit Ghost By Philip Roth Houghton Mifflin / 294 pages / $26 The process of dying is long, lonely and arduous, which goes a long way toward explaining why we don't like to discuss it much in literary fiction. The failure of the body - incontinence, impotence, jagged scars and missing hair - it's grim stuff, nightmare material. There's the dramatic dying, of course - the opening pages of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead certainly exploit the harrowing nature of sudden, youthful death.

After every season, Severna Park field hockey coach Lil Shelton hands out individual awards that best describe that particular player. Following the Falcons' Class 4A state title -- a state record 10th -- last fall, it was only fitting midfielder Sara Zuckerman walked off with the Spark Plug Award. "She's just that, our spark plug. She keeps us going. Without a spark plug, you don't have an engine," said Shelton. The top-ranked Falcons have it revved up once again this season, having outscored opponents 21-0 in a 3-0 start.

Larry Zuckerman introduces himself as a "historian." And he is, of sorts. His subject is the potato.Now, you can do a lot with the potato: You can boil it, fry it, bake it; you can mash it, scallop it, flatten it into pancakes. You can even, as University of Maryland researchers just reported, instill it with a vaccine. But can you make a book out of it?This question is, of course, rhetorical. Even now, "The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World" (Faber & Faber, $22.95) is being readied for sale in bookstores from coast to coast next month.

On September 2, 2004, FANNIE KREMEN (nee Hiberman); widow of Benjamin D. Kremen; mother of Jeffrey E. Kremen, M.D. and Richard M. Kremen; mother-in-law of Judith S. Kremen and Gladys R. Kremen; sister of Ida Zuckerman and Ceil Israel, and the late Milton and Abe Hiberman; grandmother of Sarah Kremen, M.D., and husband Jonathan Aurnou, Amy, Alexis, Michael, and Peggy Kremen. Contributions may be made to the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation of Baltimore and to Beth Tfiloh Congregation.

Carr Realty to go publicCarr Realty Corp., a Washington company, plans to go public with an initial offering of 6.25 million common shares for $20 to $21.50 each through Merrill Lynch & Co., Lehman Brothers and Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. Carr is a newly formed company that was developed to take over the interests of The Oliver Carr Co.The company said it is the largest full-service realty company active in Washington, according to a Securities and Exchange...

The St. Paul Cos. said yesterday that James E. Gustafson, who had been considered the heir-apparent to run the nation's fourth-largest business insurer, will leave his post as president and chief operating officer after just 19 months. Gustafson, 53, joined St. Paul in January 1999. At that time he was widely considered the likely successor to Douglas W. Leatherdale. St. Paul has significant operations in Baltimore, having acquired Baltimore-based USF&G Corp. in April 1998. In a statement, Leatherdale, St. Paul's chairman and chief executive, said that in recent months it has become "apparent to the board and me that there was not a fit between the St. Paul" and Gustafson.