Odds & Ends Around the Valley

Novel Curse

Attorney-turned-author Chester Oksner, who lived in Sherman Oaks for 20 years before becoming a Maine-iac, is back in the Valley getting condolences from friends and former neighbors.

Since hanging up the law books, Oksner has been sailing around the Western world on his 46-foot ketch, the Tempest, building a home on five wooded, waterfront acres in Maine, and writing novels, the first being a critically well-received courtroom drama called, “Punitive Damage.” His second effort, out now, is “Burdens of Proof,” and--like his first book--it is a riveting story about greed, deception, discovery, love, hate and all the delicious stuff of which best sellers are made.

This book, however, is not a best seller.

For one thing, the main thing, it has almost the same title as Scott Turow’s “The Burden of Proof,” and that is the thorn in Oksner’s side.

Oksner said it was not that he begrudged Turow his just rewards. Writing books, after all, is a difficult business, and Oksner wishes his fellow attorney-author well.

That’s not what bothers Oksner.

The maddeningly bothersome thing is the barrage of repetitive questions people ask Oksner about the other book.

To wit:

Did you know that there’s another book out that has almost the same title as yours?

Did you know that Scott Turow is a lawyer, too?

Did you know that Scott Turow has been on the cover of Time magazine?

Did you know that Scott Turow is raking it in hand over fist?

Oksner is bemused by the questions, but undaunted.

Bookstore Groupies

Any time is a good time to go to the bookstore, but summer is sometimes better than good, if Dutton’s New, Old and Rare Books and Prints in North Hollywood is any indication.

Dutton’s is never going to win any neatness awards. There are books on tables, books on chairs, books in alcoves and books stacked on top of the books in all these places.

But, according to John Patterson, a young man who calls himself a regular, Dutton’s is nirvana for those looking to come in out of the summer heat and smog.

He said kids go to camp, teen-agers go to the beach, Valley girls of all ages go to the mall and the literate go to a nice, cool bookstore.

Patterson said using Dutton’s as an oasis can get expensive.

He comes in expecting to just enjoy the air-conditioning, the baroque music wafting over the stereo, the other bookies who strike up conversations, and to browse. But, like the guy trying to exercise self-control in a pickup bar, he falls in love with some hard covers he was just intending to skim, and ends up taking them home.

Patriot of the Galleria

Judy Kory is hanging out in the Sherman Oaks Galleria just like a Valley girl, although she’s really a grown-up, not a teen-ager, and she’s from West Hollywood not, like, Encino.

Kory has time to hang around the mall because she isn’t doing her usual summer job, which is playing the lord mayor’s wife at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. At least, that’s what she did when it was out in Agoura.

Now that the fair has moved to San Bernardino, she’s into something else. Registering voters.

She said going up to people in the mall takes all of her thespian skills and her psychological know-how. Sometimes people are rude, just on general principles, assuming she is trying to sell them something. Other times they want to sit and talk because they are lonely.

She said the job isn’t a big income maker--she makes close to minimum wage--but it does give her a chance to feel as though she’s doing something important. After the November election, she’s going back to her real job as an environmental theater consultant, which means she takes plays about the environment into school classrooms.

Scoping It Out

While the “Tonight Show” is on, there’s a good chance Johnny Carson is star gazing in Malibu with his $4,000 telescope that he bought from a store in Simi Valley.

Parks Optical just opened a new branch on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, and if you think watching heavenly stars means scoping the skies, not Spago, you might like to check it out.

For $23,000 you can buy a 16-inch telescope that gives you a good look at deep space and is used by Northrop, Hughes, TRW and Caltech.

For $4,000 you can imitate Carson, king of the night, by purchasing a designer brass and wood Harbormaster telescope.

For about $500 you can buy a do-it-yourself telescope kit.

Once a month, just before the new moon, the clients of the store go as a group to Mt. Pinos, where they join astronomy buffs from around Southern California in setting up telescopes for optimum star gazing. Even if you don’t have a telescope, you can join the excursion, and sneak peaks through the telescopes of others. For information about the next trip, Aug. 18, call (818) 789-5805.

Overheard

“Everything I like is either fattening, expensive or politically and environmentally incorrect.”

--Woman in checkout line at Gelson’s market