Just a Little Gift

‘Twas the rainy day before New Year’s when William J. Popejoy, former chief executive of American Savings, opened his front door to find a gift from his new business partner, Texas billionaire Robert M. Bass.

There, in the driveway of his Newport Beach home, sat the car Popejoy had been looking for: a 1955 Chevrolet convertible in mint condition. The turquoise and white car, with white sidewall tires and a white roof, carried a pink bow on its hood and a personal note from Bass. “It bowled me over,” Popejoy said.

Christmas before last, Popejoy found a Lincoln Mark VII in his driveway with a ribbon on it, and he thought the car was a present from Ford Motor, which at the time was about to buy American Savings. The car turned out to a be neighbor’s gift to his wife.

Ford Motor never did buy American Savings, but Bass did, and now Popejoy is one of his business partners. “This one gets to stay in your driveway,” Bass told Popejoy in his note. “Welcome to the team.”

Worriers Take Wing

Scared of flying, are you? Fear no more. Help is on the way.

USAir, which has conducted schools for fearful fliers since 1975, begins such a program in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The seven-week class will meet once a week from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Where? Where else? At the airport.

The classes will be conducted by a clinical social worker and a 40-year veteran pilot, Frank Petee. He’s the perfect teacher. He piloted his carrier’s (then called Allegheny) first passenger flight in 1949 and hasn’t been afraid of flying since.

On the syllabus are such items as: “Turbulence, what causes it and how does it affect the passenger and aircraft?” “Fears and phobias” and “Relaxation exercises on aircraft.”

The course at Los Angeles International Airport will cost $250. At the end of the course, on Feb. 22, there is a one-hour graduation flight. Once they have been allowed to take off their seat belts, it is presumed that the graduates will walk down the aisle.

‘Toh-t’l’ Hoops and Stars

What in the world are Michael Jordan and Danny Manning doing on the same basketball court with Aretha Franklin and Rich Little?

Well, they won’t be shooting hoops, but they will be shooting the breeze in a two-hour television special produced by a tiny, minority-owned, Los Angeles production company that goes by the phonetically spelled name, toh-t’l kun-trohl Productions.

This will be the company’s first production--the Eighth Annual National Basketball Players Assn. Awards. Players from all NBA teams will be present--as well as a dozen Hollywood celebrities. But this is the first time that the event has been syndicated and televised.

And in an attempt to mesh the worlds of sports and entertainment, the neophyte production company found one celebrity guest that fits the worst of both worlds: Howard Cosell.

Hold On to Holiday Barbie

The word from toy land is that Ken isn’t alone in his pursuit of Barbie.

It seems that little girls are still searching for that hard-to-get Holiday Barbie, a special version of the popular fashion doll manufactured by Mattel just for Christmas. The doll is so scarce that its price has doubled to $60, and it is fast on its way to becoming a collector’s item.

Holiday Barbie is dressed in a glittering red gown, trimmed with fake holly. It comes complete with an autographed color picture of Barbie. “It’s beautifully packaged,” says Evelyn Burkhalter, who runs a Barbie doll museum in Palo Alto.

Mattel said it made a small number of the “limited edition” Holiday Barbie dolls, although the exact number is a company secret. The Hawthorne toy maker is pleased with Holiday Barbie’s success. It plans a second Holiday Barbie this year.