NEWSMAKERS

Mondale has brain cancer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, the Star Tribune reported.

Mondale spoke to the newspaper just hours before she began her first session of radiation and chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Just a week ago, Mondale married local rock star Chan Poling.

“It’s bad but not that bad,” she said from her farmhouse in Prior Lake. “I’ve got a really good chance to beat it.” The Star Tribune reported her illness in Tuesday’s editions.

Mondale, 45, said her vision had bothered her in recent months but didn’t believe there was anything seriously wrong until a camping trip May 16, when she suffered two seizures.

Doctors determined she had two tumors, both in her frontal lobe, and on May 31 they were found to be cancerous.

Mondale will undergo nearly seven weeks of oral chemotherapy and radiation, which could either zap the tumors completely or reduce them to a size that makes surgery safer.

Anchor pens Jackson saga

NEW YORK (AP) – The Michael Jackson saga is coming to bookstores.

Court TV anchor Diane Dimond is writing a book about the singer’s legal struggles, to be published this fall by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Judith Curr, executive vice president and publisher, announced Tuesday.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The book is not yet titled.

Jackson was acquitted last week of child molestation charges following a 4-month trial, but his supporters have long alleged that Dimond’s reporting favored the prosecution, a charge she has denied.

She even obtained a temporary restraining order against one Jackson fan, Bobby Joe Hickman, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn. Dimond alleged Hickman was inciting people to attack her and she felt so threatened that Court TV hired three guards to protect her.

Steve Earle sparks protest

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Steve Earle’s appearance at the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines is drawing protest.

Earle has been the subject of angry letters and paid newspaper commentary in the Chilkat Valley News since early May.

Letter writers have complained that Earle’s music has un-American or Marxist undertones. Some have said he’s not right for the nonprofit family fair, and have called for a boycott.

Earle, a 50-year-old, Grammy-nominated country rocker who champions social justice issues, has frequently drawn critical acclaim over his career. His more recent albums, including “Jerusalem” and “The Revolution Starts … Now,” have been critical of President Bush and the war on terror.

But the controversy hasn’t translated into troubles at the fair’s box office. More than 300 people have reserved spots for the July 30 show.

“We’ve never pre-sold that many tickets to anything before,” fair Director Herb VanCleve said. The fair, which runs from July 27-31, has an outdoor capacity of 1,200.

VanCleve said the negative attention seems to have generated a rush of radio play for Earle.

“The general reaction I’ve gotten from virtually everyone has been 100 percent in support of what the fair is doing,” VanCleve said.