Serving Sinners and Saints

What do you do for an encore after you publish what has been widely skewered as one of the trashiest biographies in years?

How about something by best-selling author Pope John Paul II?

The publisher is Dove Audio, the Beverly Hills-based company responsible for the print and audio versions of Faye Resnick’s controversial and racy tell-all about murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson.

In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dove says that it also “has entered into arrangements pursuant to which the company intends to publish in audio format a compilation of blessings read by Pope John Paul II.”

As for the Resnick book, the documents say that the company spent some $1.1 million to obtain rights and launch the bestseller, and that the company expects to recoup its investment.

Growing Market

Question: Name two things that the Palm Springs area is shipping east this winter.

Answer: Freshman Congressman Sonny Bono and replica palm trees.

California Country Trees in Palm Desert claims it is doing a thriving business this winter shipping to snowy locations palm and other “faux trees” made from steel, pieces of real trees and preserved leaves.

Recent shipments include 10 replica palm trees some 26 feet tall to a health care center in Wisconsin.

Faux trees, however, usually take a lot of real green to buy. The company, which is uprooting soon to move to San Diego County, says prices start at about $1,000 for a faux ficus and can grow to as much as $250,000 for a 50-foot oak.

Fore: What It’s Worth

Recent court records show that the trustee in the bankruptcy case of Los Angeles sports mogul Bruce McNall is selling his membership in the posh Bel-Air Country Club.

Attached to the documents are bylaws and other papers providing a peek into the kind of budget one must maintain to belong to one of the nation’s more exclusive country clubs.

According to the documents, a regular membership costs $100,000, with dues set at $400 a month.

The minimum to be spent on food and drinks is $375 every three months. Renting a locker runs $150 a year, and storing your golf bag is $50 paid biannually.

Briefly. . .

A video company is selling for $19.95 a tape of speeches by the late President Richard Nixon--including his Checkers speech and presidential resignation speech--using the slogan: “We promise no blank spots on this Nixon tape!” . . . Can you do anything about earthquakes? A Northridge company’s ad in a New Age-style magazine carries the title Ghostbusters and promises to “Rid your home/office of unwanted influences/energies.” . . . A recent financial analysis on the bond market by Midwest banking firm Norwest describes the bond market as being in a “Panda Bear” stage because though the market isn’t technically a bear, it “occasionally mauls its handlers.”