Starr Wars: We Clarify Any Cases of Mistaken Identity Concerning . . .

California state librarian Kevin Starr, leading chronicler of America’s love affair with the Golden State.

Central Texts: “Americans and the California Dream”: Five volumes of cultural history spanning 100 years, the culmination of a quarter-century of scholarly research. Sixth and final volume in progress.

Price Tag: $107. Publisher’s list price for all five volumes of “Americans and the California Dream.”

Job Titles: Formerly distinguished visiting professor of public policy at Pepperdine University.

Weather Watch: “Nothing is perfect, even weather. The rains of Southern California can be unleashed in blinding sheets.”--”Inventing the Dream,” Page 4.

Observations: “Like Hollywood films of the 1930s, Palm Springs offered ordinary Americans . . . opportunities for gawking and vicarious satisfaction.”--”The Dream Endures,” Page 27.

Web-Sightings: “Where can I find a picture of Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress for Clinton’s testimony?”--Query that pops up when “Kevin Starr” is plugged into Alta Vista search engine on the Internet.

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Independent counsel Kenneth Starr, leading chronicler of Oval Office trysts involving Monica Lewinsky. Central Texts: “Starr Report”: 445 pages of illicit presidential sex spanning 18 months of President Clinton’s administration, the culmination of a four-year investigation. Possible impeachment in progress.

Price Tag: $45 million. Taxpayer cost for all four years of independent counsel investigation.

Job Titles: Turned down positions of dean at Pepperdine University law school and founding dean of Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy.

Weather Watch: “. . . Ms. Lewinsky complained to the President about not having seen him for months, and he replied, ‘Every day can’t be sunshine.’ “--Starr Report.

Observations: “In the course of flirting with him, she raised her jacket in the back and showed him the straps of her thong underwear.”--Starr Report.

Web-Sightings: “Where can I find a picture of Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress for Clinton’s testimony?”--Query that pops up when “Kenneth Starr” is plugged into Alta Vista search engine on the Internet.