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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sensitive O.J. Wanted A Raise So Much It Hurts

Compiled By Staff Writer Dan Web

Some two years before the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and her friend, O.J. Simpson couldn’t understand something.

According to the New York Daily News, Simpson wrote to Hertz chairman Frank Olson asking was he so underpaid when guys like Magic Johnson and Bo Jackson commanded huge endorsement fees.

“Every time I read about this crippled Bo Jackson, not to mention Magic Johnson (I’ve tested negative on all recent physical exams), getting paid millions for limited involvement, it amazes me,” Simpson wrote.

The letter was revealed as part of the civil suit lodged against Simpson by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Fred Goldman.

“Frank, in the words of my wife, ‘I’ve given you the best years of my life, and all you want to do is control me,”’ Simpson wrote.

Loose talk

“M*A*S*H” actor Gary Burghoff, now a wildlife painter, on the efforts by television producers to put together a reunion show (as reported by the Associated Press): “It’s very curious to me why that is so important.”

One thing for sure, he never tried to Dodge the issues

Gerald R. Ford turns 83 today.

‘Out on the West Texas plains of El Paso…’

Bernie Taupin - longtime collaborator with Elton John - got into music because of a completely different kind of tune-making: the songs of country singer Marty Robbins. “There was something about his gunfighter and cowboy ballads that was like poetry to me,” Taupin told the Los Angeles Times. “They’re what made me realize that you could create characters and tell stories in songs.”

Dear Janice: Having a great time, glad you’re not here

Janice Dickinson, who is trying to hawk her celebrity-sniffing memoirs, is having difficulties signing a contract. Seems it’s a legal thing. “I’ve gotten letters from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attorney,” she said, “and word came back from Sly (Stallone), too. Bruce Willis and Mick Jagger, too. And you can’t get more powerful than that.”

They’re not in love, they’re just acting like it

Elisabeth Shue and Val Kilmer, co-stars of the film version of “The Saint,” were all comfy-cozy at the recent Wimbledon tennis tournament. Said a spokesman, perhaps protesting a bit much, “They are not a couple. They’re good friends, and she’s happily married.”

It’s nothing that Prozac and a polo mallet won’t cure

Now we know what’s wrong with Michael Jackson: It’s called body dysmorphic disorder. “If (sufferers) don’t look perfect, they feel worthless and are afraid of being shunned and lonely,” British psychiatrist David Veale recently told a group of colleagues.

Then again, sometimes you surely can

Following in the footsteps of celebrities signing book contracts, radio personality Don Imus - who embarrassed Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton during a Washington speech in March - is reportedly writing one called “You Can’t Suck Enough.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster