Step by Step, Journalist Made Way Around the World

--He was attacked by bandits in Thailand, arrested as a spy in Turkey and almost washed away by a flash flood in Australia. But Steve Newman, 32, arrived none the worse for wear in his hometown of Bethel, Ohio, exactly four years to the day after beginning a 15,000-mile walk around the world. Newman was greeted by a cheering crowd of nearly 2,000 well-wishers as he walked into the snow-covered yard of his mother, Mary, and gave her a hug and a kiss. Newman’s father, Edwin, died in November, 1984, while Newman was walking through India, one of 20 countries he visited. Newman said he stayed with about 300 families along the way and collected three books of autographs of people he met. He said he made the trip because he is a journalist who wanted to know more about people. “I thought the best way to do it was to walk among them. . . . It was a wonderful mixture of Huckleberry Finn and Marco Polo,” he said. “That’s all I could have asked for.”

--President Reagan’s favorite childhood book was a collection of outdoor tales called “Northern Trails.” Singer-actress Bette Midler and Dr. Karl Menninger were partial to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Yoko Ono and New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch named “Black Beauty” by Anna Sewell. Reading Is Fundamental, a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering reading and literacy among children, asked celebrities, parents, teachers and nearly 750,000 schoolchildren to name their favorite childhood books. “Charlotte’s Web,” E.B. White’s bittersweet tale of friendship between a pig and a spider, was the overwhelming favorite of teachers, librarians and parents. “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott was second. The children named more than 2,000 titles, including fairy tales like “Cinderella,” modern classics like “Charlotte’s Web” and the Dr. Seuss books.

--Another milestone in aviation history may have been recorded when an Alaska Airlines pilot reported possibly the first ever mid-air collision between a commercial jetliner and a fish. Minutes after Flight 61 carrying 40 passengers left Juneau en route to Yakutat, Cordova and Anchorage, the jet flew close to a bald eagle. The startled bird opened its beak, let go of its lunch and split. Jerry Kvasnikoff, Alaska Airlines customer service manager, said the eagle’s lunch--either a cod or a salmon--landed right behind the cockpit, with a loud ker-thump. “It was a small enough fish that it did no damage,” Kvasnikoff said.