Policeman Closes the Books on Some Overdue Cases

Police Detective Pat Taylor doesn’t throw the book at suspects. Rather, he asks them to return the book because, along with his duties of tracking down murderers and burglars, Taylor has opened a new chapter in his crime-fighting career--he hunts people with overdue library books. In a recent case, Taylor tracked a family to Connecticut and recovered more than $300 worth of art books. The Maitland, Fla., Public Library’s Dusty Gres estimates that Taylor has recovered more than $3,000 worth of books. “People don’t take the library seriously when we call about overdue books,” she said. “When Detective Taylor calls, they take it seriously.” The largest fine the library levies is $5, and Gres said that doesn’t scare people. “We don’t want to put anybody in jail; we just want the books back,” Gres said. Taylor added: “Anytime anything worth more than $300 is taken, that’s a felony. I don’t care if it’s books or diamonds.”

--William Shawn, the retired editor of the New Yorker magazine, has been recruited by a Manhattan book publishing company, and at least two New Yorker writers have followed him. Roger Straus, the founder of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, confirmed that he has recruited Shawn, who was revered by writers at the New Yorker, to edit books. A report on the deal appears in this week’s New York magazine. “He’s going to be acquiring and editing a number of books--I would hope maybe six to eight in the next year and a half,” Straus told the magazine. He said Shawn already has acquired books by New Yorker writer Edith Iglauer and New Yorker contributor Lillian Ross, and has completed editing Iglauer’s book.

--A six-day luxury cruise ended for eight stowaways when they stepped ashore in the Bahamas. Since stowing away July 8 in the Bahamas, the six men and two women have been cruising back and forth between Freeport and Miami on the SeaEscape Scandinavian Sun because immigration officials in both ports balked at accepting them. The Bahamas finally relented. “The Bahamian government had a legal and moral obligation to accept the stowaways back,” said Perry Rivkind, district director of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami. The eight ran up a bill of more than $4,400, Jill DeChello, spokeswoman for SeaEscape, said. The cruise company said it would absorb the cost.