Tabletop tombs recall days of legends

‘Shooting The Pistol’

By Danny Brown

LSU Press, $23

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Pistol Pete Maravich, soaring through the air, basketball in hand, sinking the shot that made him the NCAA’s all time leading scorer, a record that still stands today.

That was Jan. 31, 1970 against archrival Ole Miss. What could be sweeter?

Author Danny Brown, a journalism major at Louisiana State University, shot hundreds of pictures of Pete from courtside, some 80 of which are in this book. But the cameraman’s outstanding shot of Pete’s record-breaking score was taken after Brown left LSU, causing him to plead for a press pass for the historic game.

Brown’s conversational narratives add interesting sidelights to Pistol’s achievements, but it is his pictures that tell the story.

‘Frank Sinatra: The Family Album’

By Charles Pignone

Little Brown, $29.99

Here’s another picture book of a great star, one whose talent, in my opinion, has never been equaled. “Old Blue Eyes” is pictured here with his family: wife Nancy, their two children, Nancy and Frank Jr., his mother, friends and other family members.

The book includes notes by Charles Pignone, a producer and friend of Sinatra, as well as personal memories from daughter Nancy. The colorful anecdotes, like many of the photos, have never been previously published.

The pictures, some of which were taken by Frank himself, are contained in a beautifully-padded scrapbook, making this a treasure for all Sinatra fans.

‘Stealing Lincoln’s Body’

By Thomas J. Craughwell

Harvard University Press, $24.95

This is the incredible true story of a band of Chicago counterfeiters (yes, counterfeiters) who attempted to steal the 16th U.S. president’s body and hold it for ransom for $200,000.

President Abraham Lincoln was originally laid to rest not at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (that came later), but in his hometown of Springfield, Ill. The thieves’ pathetic efforts are laughable as they got no farther than moving the casket from the sarcophagus. Authorities had been tipped off and foiled the brazen scheme.

Author Thomas J. Craughwell interestingly connects the fascinating history of counterfeiting, beginning with the arrival of the English to America; the development of embalming, made necessary for the long viewing period of Lincoln’s body; and the creation of the Secret Service.

Funny, they never taught me any of this in school.

‘Simon Says’

By Kathryn Eastburn

Da Capo Publishing, $25

This is the frightening, heartbreaking account of young, naive boys gone tragically wrong.

The story, ripped right out of recent headlines, focuses primarily on 15-year-old Isaac Grimes, a shy, lonely Colorado Springs high school sophomore, with few, if any, friends. He presents an easy target for Simon Sue, a senior, who enlists Isaac and two other boys into his secret (and imaginary) “paramilitary organization with international ties.”

As a test of their loyalty, under orders from Simon, Isaac slashes the throat of his schoolmate and former best friend Tony Dutcher while fellow classmate 17-year-old Jon Matheny shoots and kills Tony’s grandparents on New Year’s Eve 2000.

The boys’ parents, not surprisingly, were totally unaware of their sons’ activities, even though guns, knives and other deadly paraphernalia were later found hidden in their rooms.

Author Kathryn Eastburn, a former reporter for the Colorado Springs Independent, covered the story for three years and presents a detailed and chilling account of these horrific crimes.

‘Rick Stein’s Complete Seafood’

By Rick Stein

Ten Speed Press, $27.95

If you would like to prepare fish the way it’s done in fine restaurants, you can learn step-by-colorful-step, from Stein, whose book won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year.

The first chapters show exactly how to prepare all kinds of seafood, and feature many taste-tempting recipes. If the illustrations on the cover don’t whet your appetite, you’ll have to take my word that it is, indeed, a complete seafood book.