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Judy Miller Leaves The New York Times
From: www.writerswrite.com

" Reporter Judith Miller has agreed to leave The New York Times, according to an article in the paper. Miller and the newspaper have been negotiating for two weeks, and she reportedly waltzed out the door with a six figure severance package. Now that her reporting on the run-up to the Iraq War was said in retrospect by the newspaper to be inaccurate, it was just a matter of time before she was shown the door.

The New York Times and Judith Miller, a veteran reporter for the paper, reached an agreement yesterday that ended her 28-year career at the newspaper and capped more than two weeks of negotiations.

Letter to the Editor: Judith Miller's Farewell Ms. Miller went to jail this summer rather than reveal a confidential source in the C.I.A. leak case. But her release from jail 85 days later, after she agreed to testify before a grand jury, and persistent questions about her actions roiled long-simmering concerns about her in the newsroom and led to her departure.

Bill Keller, the executive editor, announced the move to the staff in a memorandum yesterday, saying, "In her 28 years at The Times, Judy participated in some great prize-winning journalism."

In a statement, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, said: "We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle," adding, "I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well." Ms. Miller, 57, said in an interview that she was "very satisfied" with the agreement and described herself as a "free woman," free from what she called the "convent of The New York Times, a convent with its own theology and its own catechism."

Stone worked with songwriters Denise Rich, Mark Feist and Damon Sharpe on "Come Together Now," which will be released as a CD single on Nov. 29. Proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity, which helps needy families build homes, and Angels' Place, a Louisiana charity destroyed in the hurricane that helps terminally ill children.

Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Patti LaBelle, Chingy, Joss Stone, The Game and more than a dozen other artists lent their voices to the song. The single will also be part of a compilation album by the four major record labels, "Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now," which includes contributions from Elton John, John Mayer, Barbra Streisand and James Brown. Stone, who is currently filming Bobby, about Robert Kennedy, has been writing songs with various collaborators for the past year, she said.

Speaking of Darkhorse Comics, they are starting a new Buffy comic, and as I understand it, it will take place after the end of Buffy and Angel and be canon in the Buffy world. And I understand it that way 'cause I'M WRITING IT. I'm kicking off the book with a four issue arc that finds Buffy -- you guessed it -- living in Italy with The Immortal. (Scott -- don't be mad I spoiled the announcement -- saying it means I have to finish it.) Then I'll be overseeing the book more closely, to make sure it remains true. Gonna be interesting. And it just might tie in to...

The infamous Spike movie. Still haven't finalized anything, but I feel that very soon I'll be able to go to James and say something a lot more interesting than "Wouldn't it be cool if..." 'Course, I just hope he's free some time this decade. See how my peeps is all actifying! Tomorrow night is AMIAS, (that's alias with Acker in it.) Happy. And totally jealous.

See, the Buffyverse glows in my brain with a new, overreaching arc that will include the comics, Spike, and more. It's taking shape and soon you will know its name. And you will tremble.

Then of course there's a little thing called X-Men, who are apparantly supposed to become astonishing again real soon. I miss me my Cassiday. Can't wait to see the fan response when I kill Wolverine and replace him with fan-fave Marrow.

Well, I certainly can't say much more, except that Wonder Woman is finally kicking ass that is not my ass, as in, I'm loving this script. She's saving the world in a tiara, people; this is why there's a me!

Van Allsburg got a further push when he discovered a two-sided board game in a 1906 Sears catalog that he was paging through one day. "It made me think that there could be two games in one box," said Van Allsburg in a recent telephone interview from his home in Providence, R.I. "One side could be the game with jungle perils. Maybe the other side could be an outer-space game."

Thus was born "Zathura," Van Allsburg's 2002 sequel to "Jumanji." "Zathura," which has been made into a just-released children's movie, picks up where the first book left off, with the quarrelsome Budwing brothers finding the game left in the park by the "Jumanji" characters.

When the Budwings begin to play the game, however, they discover that their house has been propelled into outer space. The brothers soon learn that they have to call a temporary truce to sibling rivalry and work together if they want to successfully fight off space aliens and get back to Earth.

*****

Van Allsburg likens having a film made from a book of his to "selling your home. ... You just have to hope they don't tear it down." "I think that, in the scheme of things, I've been lucky. I understand that, as a creator of picture books, I'm not providing filmmakers with a blueprint. All I am providing is a little inspiration."

A London production company is planning to bring 44 Scotland Street - first published as a serial in The Scotsman - to the small screen, while BBC Scotland is working on a serialisation of The Sunday Philosophy Club, the 57-year-old writer's 1994 novel in which the amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie investigates the suspicious death of a man at the Usher Hall.

Jan Rutherford, the author's agent, said: "Sandy is very excited about the two new projects." The Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella has already bought the rights to McCall Smith's The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Richard Curtis, who directed Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral, is to write the script.