ROCK HUDSON Friend of Mine <i> by Tom Clark with Dick Kleiner (Pharos Books: $18.95; 276 pp.) </i>

In 1964, Tom Clark met Rock Hudson at a bridge game at the home of a mutual friend. Clark, who at the time was a publicist at MGM, had met and worked with a number of top stars and so he was not daunted by this first encounter with Hudson.

According to Hudson’s own posthumous autobiography (“Rock Hudson: His Story,” actually written by Sara Davidson although Hudson initiated the project in 1985 when he was near death), the two men grew close and eventually became lovers. In 1973, Clark moved into Hudson’s home, where he lived until 1983, and he later returned to help care for Hudson in the months before the movie star died of AIDS-related diseases.

Now Clark has written his own book about their life together, but anyone expecting a great love story will be sorely disappointed. Clark’s book is more that of a publicist than of an intimate.

He writes about the fabulous parties they gave, the trips they took and the famous people they met. There are anecdotes aplenty. Clark portrays Hudson as a somewhat innocent, friendly and sincere man who needed guidance, from someone savvy like Clark, in both his personal and business affairs.

But Clark never acknowledges that their relationship went beyond being roommates and business associates. It’s an odd fact, given that their alleged relationship was revealed in some detail in the Hudson-Davidson book.

It’s also a missed opportunity. Hudson, who won only occasional accolades for his acting, was one of the major sex symbols of Hollywood. If word had gotten out to the public during his working years that he was a gay man, it surely would have scuttled his career. Clark could have given us a fascinating insider’s view of this kind of secretive arrangement and the conflicting emotions that must have gone along with it. At the least, he could have acknowledged that side of Hudson’s life and explain why he didn’t want to write about it.

“Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine” is not a completely gentle book--Clark strikes out with a vengeance at those who he feels misused Hudson. But it is a shallow one.