Reception Gets to Heart of Matter

--A dozen of the guests at a reception in St. Louis had an unusual feature in common--they all are recipients of heart transplants. Dr. R. Morton Bolman, head of the transplant program at Barnes Hospital, thought it would be beneficial to get the patients together. So the hospital staff popped open bottles of wine and whipped up fried mozzarella sticks, stuffed mushrooms and quiche for the gathering. “This really builds people up,” Bolman said. “I’m convinced that a lot of them feel they aren’t going to make it.” Judy Altes, who had a heart transplant more than four years ago, agreed. “You’ve accepted the fact that you’re going to die,” she said. “It’s hard to turn around and believe that you’re going to live.” Bill Kirby, who received his new heart July 31, described the experience as “sort of a rebirth.”

--Former Beatle Paul McCartney said in London that the late John Lennon was “no angel” but that he loved him dearly. McCartney said he was worried that an article in the current issue of Britain’s Woman magazine, based on an interview he did four years ago, would be misinterpreted. In the interview, McCartney was quoted as describing his song-writing partner as jealous, insecure with women and suspicious of McCartney’s motives. “He could be a maneuvering swine, which no one ever realized,” McCartney was quoted as saying.

--At least one New Yorker will not be answering Republican Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato’s letter seeking campaign contributions. Her name is Geraldine A. Ferraro and she has been prominently mentioned as a Democratic challenger to the senator next November. D’Amato’s letter, part of a mass mailing, came to the former vice presidential candidate’s Queens home and asked her to contribute “whatever you can afford” to the senator’s campaign. “I don’t think she’ll have the time,” an aide said. “Or the inclination.”

--It’s been done before in Michigan and California, but that is little consolation to a crew trying to balance a Rolls-Royce atop Wedgwood china cups in Springfield, Va. Ever so carefully, the workmen at the J.C. Penney store hoisted one end of the car with a jack and set a pair of cups beneath the tires. But when they jacked the other end, the already-set china cups cracked. So they tried again. And again. And again. “Well,” said Deborah Masten, a Penney’s spokeswoman, “we broke all eight” in the set. But Masten said more cups were being shipped to the store. Officials were reported somewhat apprehensive but still confident that the car would be up on the Wedgwood--which is noted for being sturdy--by the time Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive to see the store’s “Best of Britain” display on Monday.