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\A CY'S GHOST
After successes like autobiographies of Lee Iacocca, Tip O'Neill
and the "Mayflower Madam," writer William Novak makes a
dream come true by working on Sharansky's gulag journal
and pulls off the "as-told to" coup of the year. The First
Lady's memoirs.
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■ 1111 ■ 111111M1!•
ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
nlike some writers, William
Novak enjoys sharing by-lines for
his books with other people. First
came double-billing with
Chrysler's Lee Iacocca, then with
Massachusett's 'Tip O'Neill and
finally with a woman who kept a
certain notorious household,
"Mayflower Madam" Sydney
Barrow, who provided high-priced
prostitutes to well-heeled clients.
Currently on book stands is yet another
book in which Novak had a hand — Fear
No Evil, the story of Natan Sharansky's
eight years hi the Soviet gulag and his re-
union with his wife, Avital.
Now comes word from Washington that
a new Novak "as-told-to" book is in the
works: Nancy Reagan's White House
memoirs. The White House announced in
early July that the First Lady's recollec-
tions, courtesy of Novak, of eight years at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is expected to
come out within a year after the Reagans
leave the White House next January.
Rumors have been circulating in publish-
ing circles for weeks that Novak, probably
the best hired pen in the business, was be-
ing teamed up with a "very, very promi-
nent Washington figure." Before the an-
nouncement, several reporters at the
Washington Post had been playing guess-
ing games about the name of that figure.
Most put their money on the President;
only one or two guessed his missus.
Mrs. Reagan,. Novak and their publisher,
Random House, are quite close-mouthed
about the book. But Peter Osnos, the Ran-
dom House associate publisher who has
worked with Novak on his O'Neill and
Sharansky books, said, "Bill is first class.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST.12, 1988-
Mrs. Reagan has selected an absolutely
superb craftsman, a man who knows how
to get the most out of people and make the
books they work on their books."
One party close to the project said it was
"not inconceivable" that the Reagan book
would address the most stinging anti-
Nancy charges to come out of Washington
since she packed her bags to move to the
capital: Claims that Mrs. Reagan ruled the
White House roost — and her husband's
presidency — with astronomical pres-
tidigitations.
Novak has previously said he would not
ghost a book for "anybody whose politics
I can't stand." The Nancy Reagan book, he
said, perhaps with some sophistry,
"doesn't fall into that category. This isn't
even a political book. This will be a book
about one woman's experience of living in
the White House and being married to the
President."
lb be fair, Novak has rejected some
ghosting offers "for political reasons," in-
cluding one from "a prominent military
figure in Israel."
The 10 meetings Novak has had with
Mrs. Reagan to date have convinced him
that she is not the "dragon lady" of her
public image. At their first get-acquainted
session, he found her to be "intelligent,
forthcoming and real, with a sense of
humor. I liked her immediately."
The Nancy Reagan book is the latest in
a string of high-powered politicos and
celebrities whose life stories Novak has
ghosted. First, of course, came Motown
panjandrum Iacocca, whom Novak found
in private to be "not as extroverted as I
expected and more soft-spoken."
Iacocca's instant success (it hit the best-
seller list in one week — and stayed there
for a year) put Novak on the literary map.
In the four years since Iacocca's publica-
tion, Novak has been asked to ghost books
by a member of a European royal family,
two Fortune 500 executives, several major
pop singers, a few madams whose relatives
did not come over on the Mayflower, and
an almost legendary consumer advocate.
Novak turned down each of these. His
success has allowed him to pick and
choose. With each potential subject, Novak
is "looking for someone who's had an in-
teresting life and lived a lot of it. With the
Mayflower Madam, I made an exception.
She's about 35 now and only had a five-
year story to tell. Iacocca had a 40-year
story; O'Neill had a 50-year story."
Novak also looks for "a distinctive
voice" — and whether the book "will be
commercial. lb some extent, my earnings
depend on how well it sells."
But he tackled the Sharansky book for
other reasons: "I had fantasized about
working with Sharansky long before he
was released. It was a dream come true for
me."
Arguing for a cause
For years, Novak had a standard answer
to a standard question from interviewers:
"Whose book do you want to do next?"
Beatle Paul McCartney and refusenik
Sharansky, came Novak's answer. McCart-
ney because "only three people in the world
really know what it was like to be one of
the Beatles and Paul is the one I would like
to work with." And Sharansky "not
because I dared to dream about working
on his book, because no one even knew
whether he would survive his experience
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