O.J. Book, TV Special, Cancelled

[YAHOO] After a firestorm of criticism, News Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."

In the projects, Simpson speaks in hypothetical terms about how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Goldman.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

A dozen Fox affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week before publication of the book. It was being published by ReganBooks, a HarperCollins imprint owned, like the Fox network, by News Corp.

The industry trade publication Broadcasting & Cable editorialized against the show Monday, saying "Fox should cancel this evil sweeps stunt."

One of the nation's largest superstore chains, Borders Group Inc., said last week it would donate any profits on the book to charity. This is a breaking story. Follow this link for any updates.

And now a question: The book was due to appear in stores later this week. That means that tens of thousands of books have already been printed. What happens to those books? Could this be the first book burning that people could actually feel good about?

And another: Murdock apologizes to the families of Ron and Nicole for any pain this might have caused them. Are we expected to beleive that they didn't know well in advanced that Nicole's children might be a little ooged out by hearing their father describe how he would have killed their mother if he had done it? That thought didn't cross anybody's mind?

Lucy More Needs Less

With holiday gift-giving season upon us, I want to call your attention to one of the best children's books I've ever read. It's a fantasic book about rampant consumerism and the perils of trying to buy happiness.

It's not carried by a major publisher because the author is not a celebrity. Thank goodness for Lulu.

Lucy More Needs Less examines the ethics of simplicity and moderation, but to a young reader, it is also a lively tale of a preposterously overindulgent family. Seven-year-old Lucy More wants to play with her best friend, Mimi, but is stymied by her inability to find what she needs in the great towers of playthings in and around her house. Her loving parents “cure� her frustration by buying her new toys every day, which makes the towers — and her frustration— grow. Lucy’s wealth of toys eventually proves disastrous, and it is Mimi who shows the More family that the solution to every problem is not found in the marketplace.

It's written and illustrated by a co-worker of mine, a talented, award-winning graphic artist. You're gonna fall in love with the illustrations. You're gonna appreciate the moral of the story as you read it to your kids. You're gonna feel like you did the first time you read a Dr. Seuss book.

If you're in the market for a children's book -- and if you care about the message as well as the story -- you've got to give this book a try. Do I even need to mention it's available through Lulu, the font of all good things published? It's called Lucy More Needs Less. Here's a preview.