Hudson Writing Autobiography to Aid AIDS Research

--Screen star Rock Hudson is writing about his battle with AIDS in an autobiography and plans to donate proceeds from the book to help fight the deadly disease, his publisher said in New York. Hudson will dictate the memoirs, titled “My Story,” from his bedside to writer Sara Davidson, said a spokeswoman for William Morrow & Co., which is publishing the book. The spokeswoman added that the proceeds from the book would go toward the battle against acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Hudson, 59, stunned the world in July when he announced through a spokeswoman that he suffered from AIDS. The diagnosis had been made a year earlier. The revelation that Hudson suffered from the incurable disease gave AIDS increased national attention. The top male star of the late 1950s and 1960s, big, rugged, Hudson was the stereotypic masculine American hero of the time. He won an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a determined and independent Texas rancher in “Giant” in 1956, then surprised many observers by leaping successfully to a series of frothy romantic comedies, often teamed with Doris Day in such films as “Pillow Talk.”

--Republican patriarch Alf Landon celebrated his 98th birthday in Topeka, Kan., with birthday greetings from Vice President George Bush, who said the “birthday boy” lost the 1936 presidential election but won the hearts of all Americans. Landon, who is still highly regarded in the GOP despite his crushing defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt, grinned as 260 smiling students and faculty members from the Topeka school named after him broke into applause at Bush’s remarks.

--American evangelist Billy Graham, on a seven-city tour of Romania, had to limit his preaching before a crowd in Vorona estimated at 30,000 people to conform to state-imposed strictures. Seeking converts in public is against Romanian law, and Graham dealt with this limitation by urging prayers for non-believers.

--Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder and Una Loy Clark, widow of the first artificial heart recipient, Dr. Barney Clark, will be guests for a United Way walk at Churchill Downs on Saturday, Louisville, Ky., authorities said. Schroeder, 53, and Clark are expected to ride a horse-drawn carriage as they lead the Cardiac Walk, a race for 200 graduates of the Humana Hospital Audubon cardiac rehabilitation program.