STIRRING PRAYER: One of the county’s leading...

STIRRING PRAYER: One of the county’s leading anti-gay advocates, the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, has new respectability in Washington with the Republicans in control of Congress. On Thursday, he gave the invocation on the floor of the House, praying about “what is morally right, and morally wrong.” . . . Gay response in Orange County? “That makes my skin crawl,” says Ray Mungo, a volunteer at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. “The man is filled with hate; his views about gays are truly twisted.”

NEW LOOK: One of its own student’s films will be screened at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa tonight. Lam Nguyen, 19, was born after the Vietnam War ended, but says there is still “a struggle going on and I wanted to show the connection between 25 years ago and today.” . . . The short film, “Nostalgia,” with battle scenes, still photos and dream sequences, already has won a gold medal at the prestigious Chicago International Film Festival.

ACTING HAPPY: Julie Hagerty doesn’t mind that she’s still known best for her first movie (“Airplane”). But she’s proud that she’s had lots of acting jobs since--both on stage and in films. . . . Right after “Raised in Captivity” at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa--which runs through Nov. 19--she goes on location in Colorado for a movie called “Fresh Paint.” . . . Meantime, she’s keeping busy on stage with eight performances a week. Plus, she says, “There’s a big old mall across the street that I like.” That would be South Coast Plaza.

BLACK KNIGHT: Dean Koontz is such a successful author his publisher is happy to promote his works (E1). But the Newport Beach dark suspense writer has been known to produce, on his own, black T-shirts promoting several of his books. He’s given the T-shirts and autographed books to some 2,000 charity auctions. . . . “They tell me they’ll get as much or more for the T-shirt as they get for the book,” he says. “I guess you wear the T-shirt while you read the book.”