Mcmanus And Behrens Will Be Grousing Together

Brace yourself for a double attack of McManus this fall.

Patrick F. McManus, the best-selling author from Spokane and Sandpoint, returns to the nation’s bookstores on Oct. 9 with his 10th collection of short stories, “Into the Twilight, Endlessly Grousing” (Simon and Schuster, $20). The book consists of his columns from Outdoor Life as well as some new stories from just plain life.

Meanwhile, McManus also will return to the national stage with a third comic play, “Pat McManus, Endlessly Grousing.”

To be accurate, it is actually Tim Behrens who is returning to the national stage. Behrens plays McManus (plus every other character) in these one-man shows written by McManus. The two previous shows, “A Fine and Pleasant Misery” and “McManus In Love,” have played to more than 120,000 people.

This new show is about 50 percent old material from the other two shows, and 50 percent new material, taken mostly from “Into the Twilight, Endlessly Grousing.”

And in an inspired variation on the traditional book tour, McManus and Behrens will be touring together throughout the Western states from Sept. 20 through Nov. 23. McManus will sign books at the play’s performances as well as do his own readings at bookstores.

One final note: “Into the Twilight, Endlessly Grousing” is McManus’ first book with Simon and Schuster, following a long relationship with Henry Holt.

‘Grousing’ at The Met

By the way, “Pat McManus, Endlessly Grousing” will play The Met in Spokane on Dec. 12-13 (with a performance of “McManus In Love” on Dec. 11). Tickets go on sale Nov. 3 through G&B Select-a-Seat.

Leonardo Lives!

Here’s some early warning about one of the biggest cultural events to come to the Pacific Northwest in years.

The Codex Leicester, which is Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook of scientific writings and drawings, will be at the Seattle Art Museum from Oct. 23 to Jan. 4. It will be accompanied by a collection of Leonardo’s drawings and an art exhibition of works influenced by Leonardo. The entire exhibit, the biggest ever attempted by the Seattle Art Museum, is called “Leonardo Lives: The Codex Leicester and Leonardo da Vinci’s Legacy of Art and Science.”

The Codex was shown at the American Museum of Natural History in New York last year, and Seattle is the only other place it is scheduled to be shown.

Why Seattle? Because Bill and Melinda Gates own the collection. They purchased it in 1994 for $30.8 million.

Tickets are now on sale, through Ticketmaster outlets, $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and children under 12 and free for children 6 and under. Call (509) 735-0500 to order by phone, or visit one of the four Ticketmaster outlets at PayLess Drug Stores in Spokane (University City, Northgate, downtown and South Hill).

Just tell them what day you want the tickets for, and they’ll issue you tickets for a specific time.

Tickets can also be purchased on the “Leonardo Lives” Web site: www.leonardolives.org.

Sweeney in Spokane

Spokane audiences will finally get a chance to see excerpts from Julia Sweeney’s one-woman Broadway show, “God Said ‘Ha!’ “

Sweeney, a Gonzaga Prep grad, will do a benefit performance at The Met on Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. for the Spokane Unit of the American Cancer Society. This will be similar to a wildly successful benefit Sweeney recently performed in Dallas. She did about an hour of material from the play, or somewhat more than half.

At the time, she said the Dallas benefit “earned a lot of money, and it kind of restored my faith in the show.”

Not long after, she offered to do the show here, and the local chapter could hardly say yes fast enough.

Tickets are $20, available through G&B Select-a-Seat.

Where’s that ‘Voyager’?

We’ve received a number of calls and letters from people who still haven’t found “Star Trek: Voyager.”

Well, I know I shouldn’t be an “enabler,” but here, once again, is the new home of “Voyager”: Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on KSKN-22.

Laurine Jue’s new job

Remember Laurine Jue, former reporter and anchor for KREM-2?

She has just been named assistant vice president for community relations at Empire Health Services, the company that runs Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital, among other institutions. Priscilla Gilkey recently retired from this job after 17 years.

Jue worked as a spokesperson for the Spokane Public Schools for the past year.

, DataTimes MEMO: Spotlight is a weekly column of news and commentary on the arts and media. To leave a message on Jim Kershner’s voice-mail, call 459-5493. Or send e-mail to jimk@spokesman.com, or regular mail to Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.