Truth and Fiction at the Bank

When romance novelist Danielle Steel auctioned off character names to residents of Squaw Valley, adventure author Dale Brown took notice. He now convinces real people in Lake Tahoe to pay to appear in his novels. The money benefits Incline Academy, a private school.

“It actually makes it easier because I get a real background to work with,” the former Air Force captain told us. David Duffield and Susan Bailey paid $30,000 each. In “Warrior Class,” published this month by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Duffield’s daughter Kelsey, 9, is a child savant who develops high-tech weaponry, while homemaker Bailey is a widow who tries to overthrow Islamic leaders after her husband, the Egyptian president, is assassinated.

Brown uses two other Lake Tahoe residents as recurring characters. Real estate developer Les Busick paid only $12,000 to be an American vice president and Annie Dewey’s mother’s bid of $12,000 bought her daughter’s portrayal as a young B-1 bomber pilot.

Another real estate developer, Duane Deverill, who has been married for more than 20 years, paid for his character to have an extramarital affair in a book, according to Brown. The fictitious Deverill romances the fictitious Dewey in a hot tub in Las Vegas. “I think they would hit it off in real life if they met each other,” Brown mused.

Boss, we need a raise so Brown’s readers can get to know Ann O’Neill as a scheming trophy wife, Gina Piccalo as a glamorous diva and Louise Roug as a wily international spy.

She’s Baaaaack

Message to rhyming lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.: If she won the appeal, perhaps you should deal. A state appeals court on Wednesday reinstated a palimony suit by a woman who was the Simpson “Dream Team” lawyer’s significant other for 18 years. It’s the third appeal and second lawsuit in five years over Cochran’s relationship with Patricia Cochran, who assumed his name and is the mother of his grown son.

According to the court’s 25-page opinion, the relationship began in 1966, and in 1974 the couple bought a house together in North Hollywood. She says he promised to support her for life, but abruptly cut her off in 1995 when she discussed the relationship on Geraldo Rivera’s show.

A three-judge appeals panel found that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. erred when he ruled in Johnnie Cochran’s favor in December 1999. Mortimer had determined that the statute of limitations had run out because the couple broke up in 1985, when Johnnie Cochran married another woman. But Patricia Cochran said in a deposition that even after the split, “When I needed funds he always provided funds as he promised.”

Johnnie Cochran’s lawyer, Larry Feldman, said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court. “Three different Superior Court judges have looked at this case and thrown it out, and we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will see it as those judges did,” he said.

Chatting Up Mr. Personality

Steven Seagal looked out of place the other night at the 18th annual Pop Music Awards hosted by ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Other boldfaced names at the Beverly Hilton bash, including honoree Tom Waits and members of the band Savage Garden, virtually ignored Seagal. So he spent the better part of two hours alone, chatting into his cellular phone.

Thinking he might be lonesome standing by the pool, we moseyed over to ask Seagal whether he was a Waits fan. “Yes.” What’s an action star doing at a music event? “I write music.” Really? You dabble in music? “I don’t dabble.” No, of course not. No slight intended.

Trying to get the conversation flowing, we asked whether Seagal plays any instruments. “Yes.” Er, what kind?

“Guitar.”

Weary of the sparkling conversation, we moved on.

Some ‘Surprise’

Disney kept promising a “big surprise” at this week’s extravagant “Pearl Harbor” premiere in Hawaii. Aboard the John C. Stennis, the rumor mill was buzzing that former President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell might show up.

It was not to be. A spokeswoman in Houston said pater Bush wasn’t invited. And Powell spokeswoman Susan Pittman said there were bigger issues on the secretary of state’s plate, like AIDS and regional conflicts in Africa.

Disney spokeswoman Elizabeth Wolfe said the two statesmen “were talked about originally, but that never materialized.”

At times like this, Hollywood must really miss the Clintons.

The Bill Watch

Speaking of Bill Clinton, first he was egged in Poland and now he’s been booed in Northern Ireland, where protesters blamed him for American policy on Iraq. “People have a right to be wrong, and loudly wrong,” Clinton shrugged. “Nobody demonstrates against me anymore. This is fun.”

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Times staff writers Gina Piccalo and Louise Roug contributed to this report.