Hayden Recovering from Operation

Former mayoral candidate Tom Hayden is recovering from quintuple bypass surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The 61-year-old political activist and former state lawmaker underwent emergency surgery on Thursday afternoon to improve blood flow to his heart.

Hayden awoke in the middle of the night Aug. 24 and had trouble breathing while vacationing with his wife, actress Barbara Williams, and their toddler, Liam, in Santa Fe. Doctors in Santa Fe examined Hayden, discovered significant blockage, and he was flown by private jet to Santa Monica and then driven home to Brentwood.

Williams, who was working last week on location in Toronto, was unable to leave to be at her husband’s bedside. Hayden’s son, actor Troy Garrity (who played Hayden in last year’s “Steal This Movie”), is keeping his dad company. Hayden is expected to be released soon. Recovery usually takes six to eight weeks.

Hayden’s in good company: Other notables who’ve had successful quintuple bypasses include David Letterman, Regis Philbin, James Garner and Boris Yeltsin.

Dear Gary

Was it just five weeks ago that all we cared about was Connie Chung’s interview with Rep. Gary Condit? It’s no secret that Condit’s camp felt burned by Chung’s interview. His daughter and son went on TV with Larry King, bashed the media and declared that their dad picked the wrong interviewer.

We hear that Condit’s handlers were leaning toward CBS’s Ed Bradley until they were wowed by Chung’s letter, handwritten on her personal ABC stationery. For sure, the letter is a tad fawning, but there’s certainly precedent for that.

King himself wrote a particularly obsequious “it’s time to talk” letter, personalizing his plea with an anecdote about his wife and sons, according to MSNBC’s super scooper Jeannette Walls.

A close reading reveals that Chung promises nothing she didn’t deliver. Condit may have expected a softball interview; instead, he underwent cross-examination.

Certainly, the Modesto Democrat would have fared better if he’d given a straight answer or two.

Here’s the letter. Judge for yourselves:

“Dear Congressman Condit--

Thank you so much for considering me to interview you at this most important moment in your life.

Please know that I would conduct the interview with fairness, dignity, with no preconceived agenda and in a nonjudgmental manner.

I am a fair, honest, straight-forward person with integrity. I do understand the impact of a media frenzy and strongly believe in allowing an interviewee the opportunity to set the record straight.

My aim is for you to say what you want to say. I would look forward to the opportunity to met you and treating you with the utmost respect.

Take care--

Connie Chung.”

Believe

Cher took the witness stand Monday in L.A. Superior Court, testifying in a wrongful termination case filed against her by a man who handled money matters during construction of her latest Malibu palace.

“I just thought it was nuts,” the diva replied when asked about the suit, filed by Salvatore Sampino. “I was pretty flabbergasted.”

Sampino claims he was forced to leave his job in May 2000 after his employers reacted with hostility to his concerns about the use of unlicensed contractors and undocumented workers at the construction site. In his court papers, Sampino bashed Cher as “a temperamental, spoiled and conniving entertainer.”

“I was astonished by ... how virulent the attack on me personally was,” Cher testified.

Cher’s lawyer says Sampino never worked directly for her.

During questioning, Cher said she didn’t pay much attention to the day-to-day details of the project. But when it came to design issues, Cher was all over it: “I have pretty good taste, and I know what I like,” she said. “Aesthetically, none of the decisions really were made without me.”

On Hold

Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords has postponed the release of “My Declaration of Independence,” in which he writes about his split from the Republican Party. He explained in a statement, “As we come to terms with the immense scope of the terrorist attacks and the search for those responsible, we must come together as one nation at this time.” His book will come out in November.

Anne Rice has canceled her tour for “Blood and Gold,” her latest “Vampire Chronicles” installment. And retired General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch’s tour for his memoir, “Jack: Straight From the Gut,” has been postponed, despite a reported $7.1-million advance and an additional $1 million pledged for promotion. “We’re putting everything back a couple of weeks. We’re going to assess what the mood of the country is,” Laurence J. Kirshbaum, chief executive of Time Warner Trade Publishing, told the Associated Press in New York.

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Times staff writers Gina Piccalo and Louise Roug contributed to this column. Email: angles@latimes.com.