Martha Stewart

Martha Kostyra, the Polish American mother of Martha Stewart who passed on to her daughter enough cooking, sewing and other household tips to fill several books, has died. She was 93. Kostyra died Friday at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut, according to information provided by Kevin Lesko of Lesko and Polke Funeral Home in Fairfield Center, Conn. Stewart told her daytime TV audience last week that her mother had been hospitalized after suffering "a small stroke."

I HAVE A FANTASY ABOUT MARTHA STEWART. WE ARE STANDING at the edge of the 30-acre property she recently purchased at auction in the wealthy New York suburb of Fairfield, Conn. The land is the site of an abandoned nine-hole golf course, now overgrown by rank grasses and weeds: no fairway, all rough. The season is April in a late spring, the weather still faintly raw. But Stewart raises her arm, gestures toward the horizon, and the land turns opulent, the season advancing swiftly into midsummer.

Dickens at Huntington In a bit of news that may elicit a chorus of "Bah, humbug!" from disappointed rival collectors, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens said Tuesday it has acquired a cache of 35 letters that Charles Dickens wrote from about 1838 to 1869. Highlights, the San Marino museum said, include missives to Dickens' best-known illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne (a.k.a. "Phiz"), and to poet Robert Lytton. Among the letters are Dickens' instructions to Browne about how a scene in a women's hat shop in "Nicholas Nickleby" should look.

Many of the corporate executives charged with crimes in recent years have been accused of looting their companies, perpetrating long-running scams that allowed them to reap tens of millions of dollars in personal profit. Martha Stewart's crime was the act of a moment, didn't involve her business empire and saved her about $50,000 -- the equivalent of bus fare for a woman who at her peak was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Does she need an introduction? Martha Stewart, lifestyle queen of television, magazines, books and just plain living, has prepared for the future. She's hit the Internet, video-on-demand, bought Emeril Lagasse's TV and cookbook franchise and is providing a food line through Costco. "The Martha Stewart Show" will air its 500th episode Thursday. We talked to her -- she was on speakerphone in her offices -- just after yoga. How's your day? It's on its way. Partially over. So how is yoga going after last year's hip surgery?

Martha Stewart returns to Los Angeles on Monday for a 5 p.m. book signing at Sur La Table at the Grove. If you've ever witnessed the mob known as a Martha Stewart book signing, you'll know why we called ahead and talked in advance. Though she craftily steered the conversation to "Dinner at Home: 52 Quick Meals to Cook for Family & Friends," a 272-page cookbook released by Clarkson Potter this week, we did manage to slip in a few questions about recession entertaining. Is home entertaining more important than ever?

Even in one of her least glamorous moments, one not too far removed from a perp walk, Martha Stewart has proven she can still set off a mega-trend. It's that poncho. The one she wore when she left prison earlier this month and boarded a private jet for the trip home. With paparazzi bulbs popping, Stewart was captured for posterity in the lacy cover-up crocheted for her by another inmate.

Defense attorney J. Michael Nolan hasn't seen a witness list and he isn't familiar with the physical evidence or other details of the government's case, but he already knows what his final words to the jury would be: "If it wasn't Martha Stewart, do you think we'd be here?" That's the money line, and if Nolan were defending Martha Stewart, he'd build his whole case around it.

If Martha Stewart can go public, why not "Punky Brewster"? West Hollywood-based Webstation.com Inc.--co-founded by 23-year-old actress Soleil Moon Frye to develop an entertainment and chat site aimed at young people--filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial stock sale valued at up to $36 million.

Whatever happens to Martha Stewart in real life, her influence on everyday style can be summed up with a line out of Monty Python's "Holy Grail": "I'm not dead yet." Judging by her record since the 1982 breakthrough cookbook "Entertaining," chefs, stylists, decorators, gardeners, magazine editors, book publishers, television hosts, retail behemoths and other autocrats of American taste will still be engaging in grand larceny of the lifestyle variety.

Dickens at Huntington In a bit of news that may elicit a chorus of "Bah, humbug!" from disappointed rival collectors, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens said Tuesday it has acquired a cache of 35 letters that Charles Dickens wrote from about 1838 to 1869. Highlights, the San Marino museum said, include missives to Dickens' best-known illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne (a.k.a. "Phiz"), and to poet Robert Lytton. Among the letters are Dickens' instructions to Browne about how a scene in a women's hat shop in "Nicholas Nickleby" should look.

The Early Show Matt Damon. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Kate Hudson; Aretha Franklin. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Jennifer Hudson performs. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Jeff Probst; Kate Hudson; Kerry Washington; chef David Burke. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Cast members from the daytime drama "All My Children." (N) 10 a.m. KABC The Doctors Fitness guru Jack LaLanne tells how he continues to live a healthy life at age 95. (N)

The Early Show A performance by the cast of "Dreamgirls." (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Taylor Lautner; Kellan Lutz and Nikki Reed. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Penélope Cruz ("Nine"); Taylor Lautner ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon"); Kelly's and Mark Consuelos' recent return to "All My Children." (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Author Joseph Califano ("How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid")

The Early Show Author Mary Lou Quinlan ("What She's Not Telling You"); former First Lady Laura Bush; Tony Curtis ("Some Like It Hot"). (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Leona Lewis performs; authors Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt ("How to Be Famous"); Wayne Newton. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Norah Jones performs; chef Jamie Oliver; chef Sandra Lee. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Anderson Cooper; the Hayes family ("Table for 12")

Martha Stewart returns to Los Angeles on Monday for a 5 p.m. book signing at Sur La Table at the Grove. If you've ever witnessed the mob known as a Martha Stewart book signing, you'll know why we called ahead and talked in advance. Though she craftily steered the conversation to "Dinner at Home: 52 Quick Meals to Cook for Family & Friends," a 272-page cookbook released by Clarkson Potter this week, we did manage to slip in a few questions about recession entertaining. Is home entertaining more important than ever?

Susan Lyne, who helped rebuild the Martha Stewart Living business in the aftermath of its namesake founder's legal woes, has stepped down as chief executive, and the job is being split between two company executives. The management changes come as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. navigates through a tough advertising climate and uncertainty about whether consumers will spend freely on merchandise when they are being squeezed by high gasoline and food prices.

Does she need an introduction? Martha Stewart, lifestyle queen of television, magazines, books and just plain living, has prepared for the future. She's hit the Internet, video-on-demand, bought Emeril Lagasse's TV and cookbook franchise and is providing a food line through Costco. "The Martha Stewart Show" will air its 500th episode Thursday. We talked to her -- she was on speakerphone in her offices -- just after yoga. How's your day? It's on its way. Partially over. So how is yoga going after last year's hip surgery?

Martha Kostyra, the Polish American mother of Martha Stewart who passed on to her daughter enough cooking, sewing and other household tips to fill several books, has died. She was 93. Kostyra died Friday at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut, according to information provided by Kevin Lesko of Lesko and Polke Funeral Home in Fairfield Center, Conn. Stewart told her daytime TV audience last week that her mother had been hospitalized after suffering "a small stroke."

Lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart, who has stamped her name on all things domestic including sheets, towels, pots and pans, will be serving up another addition: wine. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. said Friday that it forged a partnership with E. & J. Gallo Winery to develop a brand of wines under the label "Martha Stewart Vintage" to be offered in six cities beginning in January. The wines will sell for about $15.

Ninety minutes east of Los Angeles, in the scorching heat and barren hills of western Riverside County, a bit of New England is rising out of the desert. And California home buyers are intrigued. The East Coast-style models in developer KB Home's 125-unit Olive Grove tract draw some 70 visitors a week, more than double the number who visit the developer's adjacent communities. Executives at the company think they know why.