Florida writer's novel comes to big screen

By MARY EVERTZ

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 6, 2001

Along Came a Spider, which opens at theaters across the country today, is based on the work of one of America's most popular novelists, James Patterson.

Patterson, who has become rich and famous with six novels featuring Alex Cross, a Washington, D.C., detective and psychologist, lives much of the year in Palm Beach.

His latest book, the first of a new series, called 1st to Die, features four women in a loose crime-solving confederation and opened at number one on the New York Times' bestseller list when it came out two weeks ago.

It leads the list for the second week.

Patterson's name on a book generally means sales of a million hardcovers, which puts him right up there with John Grisham and Stephen King.

After graduating from Manhattan College and then receiving a master's degree from Vanderbilt University, Patterson got a job at the J. Walter Thompson ad agency. He became chairman of the company in 1990 but didn't leave until 1996, holding the position long past any financial necessity.

Patterson began writing in the mid '70s. His first book, The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar award in 1976, when he was 27 years old. But until his first Alex Cross novel, Along Came a Spider, was a hit in 1992, Patterson didn't find popular success as a novelist.

In the first 50 pages of the first draft, Alex Cross was a white woman. "I decided it wasn't working, but I was nervous about writing about a black character. But it turned out a lot of readers thought I was black and still do," he said in a recent interview in the Palm Beach Post. Morgan Freeman plays the role of Cross in the movie version.

Last year Patterson published two books, and this year he plans to publish three more. The next one is a love story called Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, which is coming out in July.

His wife, Sue, and his 3-year-old son, Jack, were the inspiration. "Even before we had Jack, I thought it was a neat idea for parents to videotape themselves for their children. Sue has been keeping a diary for Jack, so I thought of a story to go with that idea," he said.

"When I was in business, writing was an escape, an avocation," he said. "It has never been a job. To be able to be home, to watch my child grow every day, is such an enormous pleasure."

Patterson and his wife never thought about moving to Florida until Jack was born. That and the fact that Sue's parents live in Delray Beach were the reasons they picked the Gold Coast. Jack is scheduled to attend school in Palm Beach, so the Pattersons will be in Florida most of the time.

In the summertime they move north to their home in Westchester, N.Y.

For now, it looks as if Alex Cross will be on the big screen in a series of movies (Along Came a Spider is the second, following 1997's Kiss the Girls), and Patterson has sold 1st To Die to NBC for a miniseries planned for the November sweeps.

Baseball is their game

The National Geographic Society hosted a big party of baseball Hall of Famers in Washington last week. The party included 45 of the 62 living Hall of Famers -- the most ever gathered outside of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Stan "the Man" Musial, who has been very much a part of the Tampa Bay area scene for decades, was there playing his harmonica, while Reggie Jackson clapped along. Other greats attending included Yogi Berra, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Sparky Anderson, Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench, Tommy Lasorda, Lee MacPhail and Billy Williams.

The legends of baseball were in Washington to kick off the Hall of Fame's first traveling exhibit, "Baseball as America." According to Jeffrey Idelson, the hall's vice president of communications and education, the three-year tour will open at New York's Museum of National History next year. National Geographic is publishing a book to accompany the exhibit.

The hall is still firming up museums for its three-year tour. A natural for this exhibit, if the powers in charge could swing it, would be the Florida International Museum. Few cities are as steeped in baseball history as is St. Petersburg.

Palm Beach seen

Superstar Clint Eastwood and his wife, Dina Ruiz, spent last weekend in Palm Beach. The couple stayed at Mar-a-lago and attended a $5,000-a-head fundraiser given by David and Julia Koch last Saturday at their mansion. The gala was for Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.).

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