Gail Buckley

As a young girl during World War II, Gail Buckley tended to the radishes in her victory garden, learned the hymn of every branch of the U.S. armed forces and dreamed of being a hero. But despite growing up in the relative privilege of Hollywood as the daughter of singer Lena Horne, she soon learned that black patriots were rarely recognized in America.

As a young girl during World War II, Gail Buckley tended to the radishes in her victory garden, learned the hymn of every branch of the U.S. armed forces and dreamed of being a hero. But despite growing up in the relative privilege of Hollywood as the daughter of singer Lena Horne, she soon learned that black patriots were rarely recognized in America.

We expect indecent exposure from books by children of celebrities. Not so from Gail Lumet Buckley, one of Lena Horne's two children from her marriage to Louis Jones of Pittsburgh. Rather, Buckley has written a family portrait with her mother and herself at the center, which reaches out to include her mother's people--the Hornes of Tennessee and the Calhouns of Georgia.

We expect indecent exposure from books by children of celebrities. Not so from Gail Lumet Buckley, one of Lena Horne's two children from her marriage to Louis Jones of Pittsburgh. Rather, Buckley has written a family portrait with her mother and herself at the center, which reaches out to include her mother's people--the Hornes of Tennessee and the Calhouns of Georgia.

"Stormy Weather" was Lena Horne's signature song as well as a chillingly apt metaphor for her career. Long celebrated for her striking beauty and silky voice, she overcame profound racism on her way to becoming one of the best-known African American performers in the country. At MGM, she had a seven-year contract in the 1940s when no other African American had such long-term deals. But her movie scenes were filmed so they could be easily excised for release in the Jim Crow South.

Gail Buckley complains that "(Steven) Corbin's three black male characters are lamentable in the extreme. Two are more or less homosexual. . . ." This shockingly homo-phobic statement is an example of a biased and ignorant kind of thinking that is itself much more "lamentable in the extreme" than the sexual orientation of any person, whether fictional or not. SIBYL MARSHALL LOS ANGELES

VERY glad to see your article on this Chilean wine ("Wanted: Fighting Varietal, March 22). I had recently been browsing at Albertson's and saw this varietal under the Origin label. Always willing to try something new, especially at a very reasonable price, I picked it up, and my husband and I enjoyed it with lamb chops. I thought it good enough to go back and purchase another bottle to share with friends. GAIL BUCKLEY Los Angeles

Janet Jackson has been left out in the rain after "Stormy Weather" singer Lena Horne balked at having the younger star play her in a planned television movie. The 86-year-old Horne reportedly is angry about Jackson's breast-baring stunt at the Super Bowl and pressured ABC to drop Jackson from the project, the trade newspaper Variety reported Tuesday.

El Nido Family Centers and the United Way North Angeles Region will honor Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky today for his dedication to social service agencies in the San Fernando Valley. A reception will be held at 8 a.m. at Airtel Plaza Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave., Van Nuys.

"My life has been about surviving," Lena Horne says. "Along the way I also became an artist." She is precisely right about that. At 79, Horne is not only a survivor with incredible presence and a well-tuned sense of self, she also continues to be a gifted and articulate performer. Her thoughtful commentary is a key element in "Lena Horne: In Her Own Voice," the first installment in the 11th season of PBS' "American Masters" biography series. "It's been an interesting journey," she adds.

It TOOK Jenny Lumet almost three decades to find her true calling. Initially, she wanted to be an actress. And her father, director Sidney Lumet, gave her juicy role in his 1990 cop thriller "Q&A" as a drug kingpin's lover whose life becomes more complicated when her old boyfriend, now an assistant district attorney, reenters her orbit. Her reviews were pretty good, she recalls. "It wasn't a flat-out disaster by any means, but I just couldn't get another job."