WORDS AND IMAGES : Frankie Laine Still on Center Stage : The veteran performer, his autobiography just out, is looking to his seventh decade in show business.

He’s got 20 gold records to his credit and inspired standing ovations during an incredibly long singing career. What does he do when he reaches the age of 80? In his own words, he looks forward to his seventh consecutive decade in show business--and this after just co-authoring a book. “That Lucky Old Son,” the autobiography of Frankie Laine, written with Joseph F. Laredo, has just been published by Pathfinder Publishers of Ventura. The book includes lists of Laine’s recordings, films, television and radio performances, and the lyrics of the songs he wrote. Incidentally, Laine has active fan clubs in Van Nuys and England.

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Recovery Publications has just released “Divine or Distorted, God as We Understand God” by Ventura author Jerry Seiden. A pastor and Christian school administrator, Seiden’s work focuses on the need to help, rather then condemn, the victims of family dysfunction and fragmentation. He will be discussing and signing his book from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Serenity Unlimited Bookstore, 120 S. Fir St., Ventura. Call 653-1012.

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Swiss director Xavier Koller won an Oscar for “Journey of Hope,” his film on the struggles of a Kurdish family. The Classic Cinema presentation will screen at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road. A $2 donation is suggested.

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“A Brief History of Time,” the award-winning documentary based on physicist Stephen Hawking’s book of the same title, will screen at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave. Call 646-8946.

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The Pleasant Valley Poetry Club meets from 1 to 3 p.m. every Tuesday to read and critique members’ work. Poets are encouraged to attend. Just come to the Senior Citizen’s Center, 232 W. Pleasant Valley Road, Oxnard.

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The Baseball, Sports Card & Comic Book Exchange is scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Thousand Oaks Library. No one over age 16 will be admitted to the trading-only, no-cash event. Call the children’s division at 497-6282 for details.

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Professional research librarian Henri Mondschein will explain how to access special collections, corporate libraries, government archives and computerized resources at a Writer’s Guide to Research seminar scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Thousand Oaks campus of Learning Tree University. Call 497-2297.

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And take note of “The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s” by Marc McCutcheon, published by Writer’s Digest Books. The author has compiled hundreds of obscure definitions and facts on the customs and culture of 19th-Century America. Wonderfully organized, the book is a boon to writers and trivia buffs. For example: Did you know that the first envelopes were manufactured in New York in 1839? And that the typewriting machine appeared in 1843?