This Book Is Murder on Shoe Leather

Southern Californians are known for their obsession with health and fitness. But still, Lou Rosenblate of West Hollywood was a bit surprised to read in the 1999 Beverly Hills Visitors Guide that the Beverly Hilton is “within walking distance” of “downtown Los Angeles, sunny warm beaches and 3 airports” (see exhibit below).

And Disneyland’s just a cab ride away.

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POTTY TALK: A colleague reports that while he was in a Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley he saw “a man at a urinal talking on a cell phone. I remarked to the guy, ‘You think this is the right place for that?’ He said, ‘We’re right next to the freeway. The signal’s great.’ ”

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GREAT MOMENTS IN TV: In his book “The Father of Combat TV,” Orange County personality Wally George recalled this incident on “The Sam Yorty Show,” which he co-hosted with the former L.A. mayor:

Actor “Georgie Jessel came on to plug a new book. He was getting quite old, and he drank a lot. As he was leaving the stage following the interview, he fainted and collapsed on the floor. We all feared he had died. No way. His publicist, Stanley Cowan, hovered over Georgie, and finally he opened his eyes. I can still remember him looking up at Cowan and asking weakly, ‘Stan, did Sam remember to plug my book?’ ”

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BRUTAL HONESTY: I read to my son Jamie’s first-grade class at Fremont Elementary School in Long Beach the other day and received a new pencil and a thank-you certificate in return. Afterward, Jamie’s teacher invited me to come back to read again, which pleased me. “Yes, you can read again,” Jamie told me later, “but we can’t give you prizes next time.” The lecture circuit can be brutal.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (800) LATIMES Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com