Tom Selleck

TOM SELLECK and his wife, dancer JILLIE MACK, had just finished renovating and expanding the home on their Thousand Oaks-area ranch at a cost of $2 million when the Green Meadow blaze threatened to destroy it. The October firestorm, which claimed more than 60 residences from Thousand Oaks to Malibu, burned 50 of the 60 acres on the Sellecks' ranch and came to within 20 feet of a newly built complex housing their movie theater, guest suite and gym.

Every Sunday afternoon, for the last eight weeks, I have started to write this letter, but reconsidered, figuring "Nah, it will get better." Well it hasn't, so here is the letter: Enough already! Enough gardening, home repair and enough of "some washed-up star moves out of the area." At a time when Los Angeles is taking over as the real estate and financial capital of the United States, we are being informed that Burl Ives is moving to Washington state. In a year when major Century City and Westwood high-rise office buildings have changed hands, we are being informed that now is the time to plant fava beans and rhubarb.

Tom Selleck reportedly makes $4.8 million per season of "Magnum, P.I.," which could buy a lot of pineapple. Selleck's salary was revealed in an article on star wages in Adweek magazine, which said Selleck turned down another $4 million to make the Diet Rite ads that Lee Majors stars in for $500,000-plus. Gavin MacLeod's salary was listed as $1.4 million per "Love Boat" season, which is better than the $60,000-a-year earned by the average real life cruise ship captain.